grandma's mac & cheese
Inspired by, Grandma Romney
Serves: 4 +/-
Prep Time: 20-30 mins.
Cook Time: 30 mins.
Skill Level: Easy
Cooking Method: Fry Pan and Oven
ingredients:
- 6-8 tablespoons Butter 3 T. Flour
- Salt and Pepper
- 2-3 cups milk
- 3+ cups of grated cheddar cheese
- 3 cups of macaroni
instructions:
Step 1 - Make the white sauce by melting the butter on medium high. Before it starts to brown and with a wire whisk, stir in the flour a little at a time trying to avoid lumps. You can put in the salt and pepper at this point which I go sparingly on. Turn the heat down to about medium low. I figure people can add their own s and p. Start adding milk a little at a time stirring furiously with your wire whisk. You add a little milk, it incorporates, you add more and keep doing that till you get a medium consistency. (Not too thick, not too thin. But don’t worry, you’ll probably keep working on the consistency even after you put the cheese in.) Now add your cheese in batches stirring them in. I like the sauce to get a bit orangish in color, but not too much.
Step 2- You can be doing this while you are making the sauce: Cook the mac noodles till they are al dente. (Keep concentrating on your white sauce, though. Haha. For less skillful cooks such as myself, I’ve learned that when I lose concentration, the thing goofs up. Many a time I have started over on the white sauce. I’ve learned to forgive myself.)
Step 3- Put a little Pam in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan so the macs won’t stick. Pour in the drained Macs. Then pour in your perfectly beautiful sauce onto the Macs and stir in all around. Hopefully you don’t have too much Macs or too much sauce. Be a good judge here. Throwing some Macs out is okay. Throwing the sauce out is not okay:)
Step 4—Put your hot dogs on the top. Cover with foil. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
grandma’s thoughts:
Our kids grew up on this dish because it was one that I could do! They kept bragging about it to my new son-in-law when he joined the family; so, of course, when I made it for him the first time it was dry and awful. The poor kid didn’t know what to say. I don’t know what I did wrong that day. Either it was too many macs, too long in the oven. Idk. This is why I leave the bulk of the cooking in our house to Grandpa. I’d rather slink off and write a poem or something so that he’ll take over and things will taste delish. . .