Mac and Cheese, hold the radioactive powder stuff...

This weekend included a trip to Stratford to see Evita, one of the musical offerings of the Stratford Festival's 2010 season. It was a great performance and I had a nice afternoon exploring the great shops of Ontario Street with my SIL. Since we attended a Sunday matinee, there was no Sunday Dinner chez Robinson. I did, however, leave the husband, BIL and kids a huge casserole dish of macaroni and cheese for lunch.

I was so disappointed when my kids discovered Kraft Dinner. I wasn't responsible for this discovery but really, it made no difference how it was introduced. Once tasted, the neon-orange anemic noodles immediately usurped my version. I still puzzle as to what it is exactly that makes KD an attractive food option to kids. I mean, KD is to macaroni and cheese what the Big Mac is to a real hamburger, which is to say a pale imitation.

And yet every once in a while I serve up the good stuff hoping to lure my boys back to my way of thinking when it comes to mac and cheese. It didn't work. Which, while disappointing still has an upside since I just scarfed the remaining portion for lunch.

Macaroni and Cheese

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk, heated
1 1/2 cups cheese, grated (I used mild or medium)
1 1/2 cups cooked macaroni

Cook macaroni according to package instructions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter over low heat in small saucepan. Add flour, stirring to combine. Slowly add heated milk, stirring until thick. Add cheddar about 1/2 cup at a time, melting into milk mixture.

Drain macaroni and place in casserole dish. Pour milk/cheese mixture over pasta and stir to combine. Top with grated cheese (another 1/2 cup) if desired. If you like crusty cheese (and who doesn't) I highly recommend this step!

Now Sunday Dinners (or lunches) are often all about the dessert at our house. There was a lovely pan of Sweet Maries at our house for the kids to finish off after mac and cheese (funny - they never turn up their noses at dessert) but SIL and I left well before these were brought out. Luckily we stumbled across Balzac's Coffee during our Ontario Street travels. Luckily Balzac's had Magic Cookie Squares. Luckily we were both happy to consider a Magic Cookie Square lunch. I've tried several MCS recipes over the years, from that espoused by Cook's Illustrated to the one typed out and preserved in the Optimist Cookbook I got from my mom years ago circa the 70's. The Eagle Brand website has a version that is totally reliable (and available!) so here it is - click!