A Mother's Day Feast!

For Mother's Day, my hubby and I had all of the special ladies in our lives over for a little barbecue action. All in all, I think it went well--it seemed like everyone had fun, and, most importantly, there was plenty of food. We had burgers (beef and salmon), mac and cheese, grilled asparagus, corn on the cob, roasted veggies and a salad. And for dessert, there was a slew of cakes. It goes without saying that now we have left overs enough to feed a small zoo.

I also had fun decorating. I decided on "rustic" as the theme for the day, and I used lots of flowers, Mason jars, burlap and Kraft paper. I think I pulled off the look, but I'll show you part of it later this week, so you can be the judge.

In the meantime, here's the hit of the day: the mac and cheese. I've struggled over the years to come up with a recipe I like, and I think I've finally found one. Here's what I did:

Mac and Cheese to Covet

For bread crumbs:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 pound grated Cheddar
2 c freshly crushed crackers (or you could just use bread crumbs, but that's not very exciting.)

For sauce:
1 stick butter
6 T all-purpose flour
5 c milk
1 pound grated cheddar
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano
1 pound whole wheat shells

Preheat oven to 400 F.

First, melt the butter for the bread crumbs. Once the butter is nearly browned, add the cracker crumbs. Remove from heat and toss with Cheddar. Set aside.

Melt butter for sauce and add flour. Once the flour has cooked for a few minutes, add the milk slowly and whisk. It helps to warm the milk before mixing it in. Slowly add cheese while stirring.

Cook pasta until al dented. Mix in with sauce in a wide and shallow casserole dish. Add topping and bake for 30 minutes or until browned.