Stovetop Mac & Cheese

Photo credit: Me
 Polonez Restaurant And Banquet Hall
 St. Francis WI .

I love this Mac and Cheese.

To begin, make a white sauce:

While you are working the sauce, don't forget to cook your elbow macaroni as directed on the box. I  suggest about 2 cups of cooked macaroni, maybe 3 cups, depends on how saucy you like it.

          (I work the macaroni first and let it drain while cooking the cheese sauce)

You need a saucepan,

4 Tablespoons butter (use the real stuff)
4 Tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups milk
1 cup Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

Instructions:
Melt butter in saucepan, using low heat, add flour and heat until combined, (you are making a rue) when rue is warm add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir until well combined. (No chunks of flour in the pan, if there is, add more butter)

Slowly add milk to rue mixture and stir constantly until mixture begins to thicken. (might need to adjust the heat here, but only until it begins to thicken)

When mixture begins to thicken add Velveeta cubes and mix well until all cheese is melted and blended into the white sauce.

NOTE: this cheese sauce is pretty flexible, if it's to thick add more milk, not cheesy enough add more cheese.
Also, if you want it baked, pour it in a pan and bake at 350* for 20 minutes or until it starts to brown on top. (This added step will dry our the mac and cheese, it will not be as saucy)

I'll add a picture next time I make it.

Merry Christmas 2017

Intresting Observation

Hello there,
     It's been a while.
We were shopping today, we shop Kroger and picked up some of the .99 cent deals, who wouldn't?
While filling the sugar jar, looked at the bag and thought to myself, the bag reminded me of times Great Grandma would pick up commodities, those unfamiliar with commodities, they were food staples the government gave to less fortunate.
Here is a link to the history of this program. http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/fdd-history-and-background

Anyway, the bag took me back to this time, when we would all load up and take Grandma to get her commodities. Didn't think much about it then.

Made comment to the hubby it reminds me of A&P grocery stores, back in the day.
Really like the, what I would call a RETRO look. Clean, simple, no this, no that, it's just sugar.
Oh, the back has recipes, about 5, some look very tasty.

No, not an endorsement for Kroger, only that I can reminisce about Grandma and the time we would spend together over 50 years ago.

til next time,

~ ~

*

.

Oatmeal sour dough cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs - (add one at a time)
3 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour dough starter - (link toward the bottom of the page)
2 - 2 1/4 cups flour - (all-purpose)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups oatmeal - (I use quick)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup cranberries, dried
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1 cup flake coconut

 

*note: you can omit any of the last 4 ingredients and still have a very tasty cookie.

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

I use a counter-top mixer, like kitchen aid.

In a large mixing bowl, use a hand-held mixer to cream the butter and sugar until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.

Add in the ingredients, one at a time, in the medium mixing bowl and mix well, adding sour dough starter last.

Combine the flour, salt, oatmeal, nutmeg and cinnamon and add to the cookie batter. Mix thoroughly.

Add the remaining ingredients, one at a time to the batter and mix until just combined.

Drop generous tablespoons of the cookie dough onto a lined cookie sheet. Press the tops of the dough to flatten slightly.

Bake 10-13 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Here is a link, it will help with the starter you need to make these cookies
~Sour dough starter~

I use any milk I have on hand at the time and haven't had a bad batch,
I've used coconut milk or heavy cream, to make starter. Both very tasty.

til next time

~ ~

*

 

 

.

Honey Wine (Mead)

I wanted to try something I never thought I would. Every now and then I enjoy an adult beverage. Thinking to myself, I cannot have processed foods or drink, I would make some.
I used fruit juice, I froze making a fruit salad at Christmas.
Thought I would make a fruit cake, (the old fashion way, fermented) but there is still time to get the starter for that. At least a month. lol

I don't want to use purchased yeast, if it sits from now until Valentine Day, it should catch it's own wild yeast and can go from there.

Just a small batch, about 1/2 gallon.

 

 

I hope to balloon it on Valentine Day and it be ready in November for our anniversary.

 

That's all for now, hope you've had a tolerable winter.

 

 

til next time,

 

connie

 

 

~ ~

*

 

 

 

 

 

.

Merry Christmas

 

Wishing All the very best at this Special time of year.

till next time
connie

~ ~
*

 

.

Homemade Western Salad Dressing

Late summer here in central Illinois, still hot, really hot. Time for fresh greens, tomatoes and vegetables from the garden. There are so many things people should not eat in foods they buy on the store shelves.

Like salad dressings.

Did you know you should not consume soy bean oil?

It really isn't good for you, but it is in most of your processed foods. Even when the label reads vegetable oil, the vegetable oil is; soybean oil.
I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the Western Dressing I made, the label read canola and sunflower oil, it wasn't pure olive oil. Note: read the label.
Still better for you than soy bean oil.
The best oil to use would be coconut but it firms up when stored in a cool place.

I worked this recipe up for Western Dressing and thought I would share.

 

 

Western Dressing

 

Ingredients;

 

1 cup brown sugar (you can use granulated, same amount)

 

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

 

1/2 cup water

 

2/3 cup ketchup (catsup)

 

1/4 tsp paprika

 

1/2 tsp salt

 

1/2 tsp dry ground mustard

 

1/2 tsp celery seed

 

1/2 tsp chili powder

 

1 Tbls onion flakes, dehydrated

 

Directions:

 

In a blender, add oil, ketchup, vinegar, sugar and all spices, blend, adding water to thin mixture, only add as much water as needed to make the constancy you want for dressing your salad.

 

Store in a quart jar in the fridge. Should keep a long time as long as you keep it cold.

 

Note: I'm going to try a food processor next time, due to the fact my blender is 40 plus years old.

         Could be time to find another good blender.

 

 

til next time

 

Connie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ ~

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.