Old School Mac and Cheese

Sometimes I shy away from the basics, but then I remember that's exactly why I started this blog. I had a number of friends who had problems making the basic things without mixes (or in this case, Kraft boxes). But I really think that it's so much better to make something from scratch -- it tastes better, looks better and is just plain ol' more impressive:) So here's an old stand-by.

What you'll need:
A box of macaroni (elbows or shells)
Mustard (Spicy? Dijon? Weber's? up to you)
2 slices of bread
2 Tbsps of Flour
2 Tbsps of butter
1 package Shredded Cheddar

What to Do:
Boil some water. Once boiling add about half a box of pasta and keep boiling until pasta tastes soft enough to your taste. Drain.

Using the saucepan that you just emptied, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Once it's melted turn off the burner, stir in about 2 tablespoons of flour -- it'll get all clumpy. Add about 2 tablespoons of mustard and stir as smooth as you can. Add your drained, hot pasta to the mustard paste and stir until the paste is evenly distributed.

Pour pasta into a bakeable caserole dish. Stir in package of shredded cheese, saving a big handful to spread across the top.

Toast 2 pieces of bread. Then process in a food processor (I love my Magic Bullet!). Add a tablespoon of butter and process until you get some nice small clumps of buttery breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over top of the mac and cheese. If you don't have a food processor, you could just use bread crumbs or even crackers (Ritz crackers, yum).

Bake at about 350 degrees until the cheese is all melty and the top is nice and toasty.

Everybody has their own favorite version of Mac and Cheese. My grandma does the best which hopefully I will be able to capture at Fourth of July (her traditional dish!) because I've never been able to get the recipe before. My Mom has a couple of pretty good versions. But this one will get you through just about anything.

Old-School Variation: Cook some hotdogs in the broiler, cut them up into pieces and stir in with the pasta and cheese.