comfort food with a brain defect

I was very much unprepared for how cold it was outside today. I stepped out in my ballet flats with no socks and coat with no hat, gloves or scarf. Oh, and I wore a silk shirt with a tank top underneath. I looked and felt like a dumb Floridian. So when I walked into the house (actually, on the bus ride home), all I could think was: comfort food. To my delight, we have a ton of cheese left over from Thanksgiving (honestly, our cheese drawer is always full). Macaroni and Cheese! Perfect!

I have my mom's recipe, but I didn't really want to make a huge pan since we had enough trouble polishing off our T-day pan. So I halved the recipe, and also I didn't really follow it at all. Tonight was a prime example of a typical Mandi-in-the-kitchen frenzy. When an adult with ADHD cooks. It went something like this:

boil water
tear up 1/2 of the bread to make breadcrumbs
spend 5 minutes picking out a baking dish
take the milk out of the refrigerator
eat a handful of peanut M&Ms
tear up the rest of the bread for breadcrumbs
put the bread in the oven
play with the cat
add pasta to water
and so on...

Somehow, though, the dinner got made.

Half of the recipe meant about 1 1/2 c milk, 1T melted butter, eh... half a box of pasta and a 1/2 lb of cheese. I didn't feel like figuring out how much cheese equals 1/2 lb, so I just guessed or, "eyeballed" it. You guys, we're adults. Do we really need a recipe to tell us how much cheese goes into our macaroni and cheese? Just keep adding it until it looks cheesy enough for you.

I used Asiago, sharp cheddar and a little Pecorino.

the cheesez 

Pour drained noodles over a tablespoon of butter...

 Mix in the milk...

yes, I am aware that dry ingredients measure differently than wet. I do what I want!

This is two slices of whole grain bread, torn to pieces and baked until dry at 350 degrees.

heh heh

Not nearly enough cheese. I don't want to see noodles.

I decided last minute to mix some of the breadcrumbs into the mixture instead of just adding them on top. It's my prerogative.

There. Now go into the oven and make me proud.

25 minutes later...

sigh.

food porn!

It's perfect. Just what I needed on this frigid day. Apparently, Alyssanne had the same idea because she searched baked macaroni and cheese on google today. This is why we are hetero life partners. Food ESP.

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