Tag Archives: Food

Macaroni and cheese has to be one of the most comforting of the comfort foods for me. That rich cheese, soft noodles, a dash of pepper – when I’m sad, mad, or in need of any kind of comfort, I go for this. My mom usually made the blue box mac and cheese – you know, the one with the powder in a screaming shade of orange that does not exist naturally in nature. However, my Maw-Maw made an AMAZING baked macaroni and cheese. I wish I had her recipe – super creamy noodles in a rich but smooth cheese sauce, topped with a baked-on cheese and breadcrumbs crust to give it some crunch. I loved her mac and cheese, and have been looking for a close recipe since.

I found this recipe in one of my CrockPot cookbooks, and decided to try it out. It’s extremely cheesy, oh yes. No crunchy crust, but that’s okay. It tastes really good, and is enough where you can use this as a great side for a big family dinner. I think I may spruce it up by changing out the cheese, and adding some herbs or additions to make it a more complete meal. It needs more evaporated milk to give it more of a creamy consistency – maybe 1/2 cup, but no more.

Macaroni and Cheese
from the CrockPot Cookbook

Ingredients:

6 cups cooked macaroni
2 tbsp butter
4 cups evaporated milk
6 cups (24 oz) shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

In large mixing bowl, toss macaroni with butter. Stir in evaporated milk, cheese, salt and pepper; place in 4 1/2 quart slow cooker. Cover; cook on HIGH 2 to 3 hours.

A few years into attending annual Thanksgiving dinners with Doug’s family, I decided to be nice and bring an apple pie one year. I decided that a homebaked version was the way to go, but I had never baked a pie before and didn’t really know much about making them.

After some digging online, I found this recipe from Paula Deen (do not knock mah homegirl Paula…she is awesome), and it seemed so simple and straightforward that I had to try it out. It turned out amazing, and from that day forward I was instructed to bring this pie to all holiday events or suffer the consequences. The one year I was fighting a bad cold and didn’t feel up to making the pie, I was ragged on incessantly. For one of my wedding gifts, I was presented with a pie carrier. This has become my signature dish – not only at family gatherings, but also at work potlucks.

Crunch Top Apple Pie
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, 2007

Serves:
6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:
(2) 9-inch pie crusts, store-bought or homemade
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
3 1/2 cups peeled, chopped cooking apples
1 (16-ounce) jar applesauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

Crunch Topping:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Dash salt
1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of dough. Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the apples, applesauce, and lemon juice. Spoon the apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter. Cut remaining crust into strips; arrange in a lattice design over top of pie. For crunch topping, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over top of crust.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown.

Some notes:

I prefer Honeycrisp apples for this recipe. I love Granny Smith apples more than anything but the one time I tried them in this it was a little too tart for some people. Honeycrisp still have a little bit of tartness but they are nice and sweet. If you’re using a standard foil pie plate, you only need to chop up about 2 medium apples. Only do three apples if you have a deep pie plate.

I add a sprinkle of nutmeg and brown sugar to the dry mix. I also use cinnamon applesauce. I love lots of cinnamon with apples.

The crunch top is optional – sometimes I leave it off.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!