Wednesday: homemade mac-and-cheese

Macaroni and cheese.

Homemade macaroni and cheese was probably my favorite meal as a kid. A few years ago, however, when I first proposed the idea of mac-and-cheese for dinner, Giselle looked horrified. In her youth, mac-and-cheese had meant that fluorescent orange gooey stuff that came in a blue box - but I think she's come around.

Although this isn't something you'd want to eat every night, it's a reliable and satisfying staple meal for us. The trick is to use good cheese - if it's not good enough to eat straight, you shouldn't be cooking with it. The preparation is just a classic Bechamel sauce with melted cheese. The sauce is poured over pre-cooked macaroni and dusted with paprika, and then the casserole is baked at 350 F until golden and bubbling.

If "just a classic Bechamel" means nothing to you, dear readers, do not fear. We'll elaborate more in a future post.