comfort food at its best

If someone told me that I was only allowed to eat one dish for the rest of my life I wouldn't even have to think twice about what that would be.  Sure...I would love to eat lobster or shrimp or smoked salmon everyday for the rest of my life...but the one thing I would love the most, and miss the most if I could not have it, would be....MAC N CHEESE.  Macaroni and cheese is...by far...the best dinner/lunch/breakfast/snack/comfort food/guilty pleasure in the world (to me anyway) and after a week of leftovers and chocolates and desserts and booze....when I should have opted for a salad....I made a KILLER mac n cheese to see us through the first couple of days of the new year.  

This wasn't a spur of the moment idea...I had planned it...sad, I know...but true.  As soon as I saw those three chunks of mystery cheese hiding on the corner of the cheese board I knew....it's a macaroni and cheese fate for you my friends! No one even nibbled the cheesese on Christmas....so I wrapped them back up and put them back in the fridge...and then I waited.  Waited for the turkey to be finished, waited for the bubble and squeak to be finished...waited until all that was left in the fridge was those three mystery chunks of cheese.

In truth I didn't have to wait long, by new years eve the cupboards were bare...a special trip outside (gak!) for some treats for new years eve dinner...and then, new years day....the MAC!! 

I love all kinds of mac n cheese, I love it baked, I love it soft, I love it with breadcrumbs on top, I love it with tomatoes and veggies in, I love it...from a box (Canadian delicacy)...I just love love love it.  But...new years comfort food calls for special treatment.  Normally I would just cook up the pasta and layer it in a casserole dish with shredded cheese and then pour over a bit of milk and pop it in the over (a la Grandma Kay) but with some forethought (ok...a lot of thought) and time on my hands...I made a three cheese sauce with the mystery cheese chunks, tossed the cooked pasta in that...and then into my new shallow casserole dish...topped with more mystery cheese and then...into the oven.  

Comfort at its finest :)