A recipe never before written down... A tribute to moms and dads whose children have been dubbed "picky eaters," have sensory integration issues, or just have a plain old stubborn streak when it comes to food.
With thanks to families who so often let me bring Will's mac'n'cheese to dinner. Your hospitality toward my pan of mac permanently seals our friendship.
With apologies to moms whose children beg for "Linda's Mac'n'Cheese" and turn their noses up at their plates of "real food."
And for Annie, who Will and Liam love, perhaps more than my mac'n'cheese...
Here's Will's favorite: Homemade Mac'n'Cheese
Bring water to a boil. Dump in 1 cup of Prince Elbows. While that cooks, gather 2 T. real unsalted butter; 4 slices of Kraft Singles orange prepared cheese product; and 1 1/2 T. of 2% milk and 1 1/2 T. of half & half. I usually get a 1/4 measuring cup out and just dump in equal parts of these two.
Put colander in sink and dump cooked mac into it. Put pan back on low heat and add, in order, butter, milk/half&half, and cheese slices. Turn heat up a little bit and stir constantly until individual ingredients combine into cheese sauce. Remove from heat. Stir in macaroni. Cover with lid. Let set about 5 minutes (while you finish preparing everyone else's dinner...) then stir again and serve. In a bowl with a spoon = ultimate comfort.
After years of perfecting this, I rarely veer from these ingredients. The one addition I do of our "at-home Will & Liam-only version" is a little Benefiber in the cheese sauce. I also occasionally substitute real Kraft orange deli cheese. Also, microwaved leftovers just aren't the same as the fresh stuff.