The Hungry Apple

I hope that if you had a long weekend you enjoyed it thoroughly.

Pumpkin waffles got Thursday off to a great start. Recipe to post soon.

For the festivities that afternoon, I made Mac and Cheese-see recipe below.

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving Dinner. Since no one was hell bent on the usual, we had traditional mixed with non traditional.

We had lamb chops instead of ham or turkey.

Salad. Random and delicious.

Brussels.

Celery stuffed with whipped onion cream cheese. Strange family tradition.

Dressing. Super traditional.

We also had cranberry sauce and homemade rolls. Yum.

Leftover dough from my mother’s homemade rolls produced these. They might have been my favorite thing from the whole weekend. She could sell these. They are that good.

The rest of the weekend consisted of breaking out the holiday decor.

The holiday aprons made an appearance.  Yes, I wear aprons.

Testing lights and fluffing trees.

Ornaments everywhere! We are total colored-lights-on-the-tree kind of people. White lights outdoors. How about you?

Self portrait.

I am not too sentimental but my favorite time of year is here and I adore it.

This is not my favorite mac and cheese recipe but it is everyone else’s favorite. I don’t argue with the masses.

It isn’t complicated so put it in your arsenal.

You start out with the elbow mac. I like Barilla because the noodles are textured. I feel like it makes it cling to the cheese. It is probably just my imagination.

You shake the flour with the milk and spices to help thicken things up.

While the mac is boiling you can grate the cheese.

The breadcrumbs give the mac a nice crust.

2 tablespoons of divided butter helps everything melt together without being oily.

MAC AND CHEESE

Ingredients: 

2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles

2 cups milk (i used 1%)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

10 grinds of fresh pepper

12 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese (1 1/2 blocks) grated (will be about 3 cups after grated)

1 cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons butter, cut into 8 pieces

Instructions and directions: 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions- al dente.  Drain and set aside

Place milk, flour, garlic powder, pepper and salt in a “shakable”  jar. Shake for 1 minute.

Stir together flour mixture, 2 cups cheese, and noodles.

Pour macaroni mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.  Sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese, breadcrumbs and 8 pats of butter.

Bake  for 45 minutes or until golden brown.