My Mother's Macaroni & Cheese

 

My mother is a dump cook.  But she is a very, very good dump cook.  I am not actually sure I have ever seen her measure anything. She just throws stuff in a pot or a bowl and voila! Out comes perfection.  I LOVE my mom's food.  At college I spent many days dreaming of "mommy food."  There is something so wonderful and so comforting about foods made by mom...especially MY mom.  She cooked a lot. And when I say cooked, she really cooked.  Not like the preparing done by many people using prepackaged and frozen foods.  She did most things from scratch and although the food was basic (just the way we liked it) it was mouth-watering delicious.

So, I knew since I was in high school that the one thing I wanted from my mom for a wedding gift was a cookbook of all her recipes.  Now, I use that term lightly since she just throws in whatever is around.  But, in her love for me, she tried to watch herself and make some guesses and the result was a cookbook that she gave me on my wedding day.  I love it...it is in her handwriting and it contains my very favorite foods...spaghetti sauce, french toast, roast beef, and macaroni & cheese.  Oh that macaroni & cheese!  Heaven. On. Earth.

There is one problem though...my mom made the cookbook using a book that had reusable pages.  And over the last ten years the cookbook has been used and abused and I can barely see any of the recipes anymore.  Exhibit A:

Yea, that is no camera trick or spot focusing.  That IS my recipe for Mac & Cheese.  Kind of hard to see, huh?

And so, I have decided, to slowly start redoing these recipes (and our other family favorites) and start putting together a pictorial book for me and for my kids.  Each child will then be able to take their "mommy" food with them wherever they go.  I sure have appreciated it and I hope they will too!  And, since I will be writing them out anyway, I might as well share some of them!

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Now remember, my mom is a dump cook.  Everything is approximate and it tastes best that way!

My mom's recipe calls for 4 cups of pasta and 4 cups of cheese in a 8x10 pan.  I was only making an 8x8 pan so I went with 3 and 3. 

3 cups elbow macaroni

3 cups grated cheddar cheese

milk

flour

butter

salt & pepper

1.  Cook macaroni for half as long as directions on the box/bag call for.

2. Grease and 8x8 pan and add half the cooked macaroni.

 

3. Sift a little flour over the the macaroni (here is where her non-measurements get a little tricky.  I just do a light layer over all of it).

4.  Add salt.  Again, a little ambiguous, don't you think?  I just lightly salt at this point so that after it is cooked, people can add the salt they like. But definitely don't miss the salt...it totally brings out the flavor!

5. Add 1/3 of the cheese.

6. Add the rest of the macaroni on top.

7. Add some cut up margarine/butter (aren't her directions to die for??  I just do a few globs here and there)

8. Top with the rest of the cheese

9. If desired, sprinkle a little paprika over the top of the cheese.

10. Pour milk over the top of the cheese and macaroni until you can see it coming up the sides.   

11.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and is just beginning to brown.

12.  Serve and enjoy! (I am not sure what tastes better..the fresh out of the oven variety or the leftovers the next day!)

Comments

[Stephanie]

Yum! I've been digitizing my recipes too to make them more pretty & permanent (and so I can reprint them easily in case they meet with a food accident LOL). Thanks for sharing!

[Rebecca]

How will you be designing the pages? I've been making our family favorites in digital 5.5 x 8.5 using a simple picture of the dish and the text below, but I'm not happy with the design. Would you mind sharing what yours looks like? I LOVE your style. :o)

[sally]

heh, that's a staple in our house! Except Wesley makes me add diced ham. Maybe I'll make it tonight...

[Jaime]

YUM!!! This sounds so delicious... my 5 year old and I am baking it right now... Thank you for sharing!

[Melissa]

I used your recipe for this last night, and it was yummy.