Cheesy!

Mmm yum. One of my favorite things is homemade macaroni and cheese. It's so easy to make, and so tasty and certainly one of my top comfort foods. My friend and I had both had slightly rough weeks, so Friday I had her over for dinner and we happily devoured the warm deliciousness that is mac and cheese. I highly recommend it, whether it's a cold night, you need an easy entree, or you're looking for some comfort food to delight in. I'd like to say this is a family recipe, but I believe it's originally from the back of the Prince pasta box, though I've made a few edits to it. As I recall the original recipe called for all cheddar cheese. Once we had some leftover asiago in the fridge, so I tossed that in, and it gave it a great extra zing. Somewhere along the way I started doing about half monterey jack and half cheddar, with an eighth or a quarter of a lb of asiago. Play around with the cheese ratios and find one that fits your tastes best!

1 cup elbow macaroni

1/2 lb cheese

2 T butter

2 T flour

1/4 t dry mustard

1/2 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1 1/2 cups milk

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook elbow macaroni, drain, and add to a buttered casserole or baking dish (approximately equivalent to an 8" x 8" size pan). Cut cheese into small cubes. Over medium low heat, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour, dry mustard, salt and pepper and blend with a whisk. Add milk slowly, whisking while you pour it in, and keep stirring until sauce thickens. Add cheese cubes to saucepan, stirring until melted. Pour over macaroni and casserole dish and stir just a bit to make sure everything is mixed together. Bake for 30 minutes, serve and enjoy!