Kent's Mac 'n Cheese

Kent’s Mac ‘n Cheese

1 TB Salt
1 lb elbow macaroni (or other pasta on hand)
6 TB Butter
6 TB flour
3 Cups Whole Milk
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 lb Cheddar Cheese (4 cups)
1 Cup Fontina Cheese
1 Cup Mozzarella
¼ Cup Parmesan
1 TB black pepper
2 Cups crushed Cheese It’s (or other cheese cracker)

Preheat the oven to 350

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and cook, whisking to make a paste (or roux), about 2 minutes. Add the milk and whisk vigorously until smooth. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sauce is thick and bubbly. Add the heavy cream, all four cheeses, the 1 TB salt, and the pepper. Cook, stirring, until the cheeses are fully melted.

Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a 9X13-inch baking dish (or 3 loaf pans for 3 meals to serve 3 people) and top with cheese cracker crumbs and cheddar cheese. Bake the macaroni and cheese until hot and golden brown, about 30 min. Enjoy!

(we baked one dish for dinner and put 2 loaf pans in freezer for another time. We are going to top the freezer meals with crumbs later so they don’t get soggy.)

Orange Bread

It seems that Sundays spark an interest in baking. It's nice to start off the week with some yummy snacks for lunches. Today I adapted a recipe and created Orange Bread. My dear friend at work has an orange tree that produced a lot of oranges this year. I decided I would use one for a sweet orange bread. It's great for breakfast on the run and a whole lot cheaper than the bread at Starbucks.
I'll share the recipe:




Orange Bread
1 stick butter
1 1/4 C sugar
2 eggs
3 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 C water
1/3 C orange juice
1 orange sliced into small pieces
1 C chopped nuts (optional)
1 T grated orange zest
Cream butter and sugar, blend in eggs. Shift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; add alternately with water and orange juice, mixing well after each addition. Fold in orange pieces, nuts and orange zest; pour into greased 9X5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 40 - 50 min. check with a toothpick. (I made 2 short loafs, but could have made one taller one)
Enjoy!