One of my greatest joys is serving family and friends around our dining room table.  It is the place we sit face to face or shoulder to shoulder, and connect in a way not otherwise possible.  Our dining room table is an anchor, an altar, the place we often return to to share life and love.  It is a common place, a familiar place, a refuge, and I’ve often said our table is sacred, the place that steadies our pace and reminds us who one another is, who I am.

It is around our table we talk and listen, laugh and cry, eat and drink, and celebrate the common and the extraordinary.  Yes, this is a place set apart by the Divine, where Jesus even chose to tell his greatest secrets and the things that would change…everything.

I love the traditions of food–recipes time-tested, begged for, identifiers for the people who mean so much to us.  All that country cookin’ prepared by my Aunt Estelle, the simple, glorious dishes by my mother-in-love, my grandmother’s touch of butter or sugar in everything…when I eat their recipes, it’s like I’m with them again.

And I love that people beg me to make certain things–apple pie, sweet & sour green beans, chocolate eclair dessert!  And mac and cheese…

Just when you thought you had found the perfect macaroni and cheese recipe, I’m gonna have to burst your bubble–

This recipe is better than my amazing mother-in-law’s…

or Southern Living’s…

   or even my beloved Paula Deen’s…

or {please don’t tell her I said it…!} even Pioneer Woman’s.

This oh-so-easy mac & cheese recipe is light and fluffy, and my friend Julie declares “it’s worth the calories.”  Of course, she says that so I’ll cook it for her, but I’m inclined to agree.

After my sister-in-law served it to us, I wouldn’t leave until she shared the recipe. Thankfully, she was more than willing.

Depending on the recipe you’re accustomed to cooking, the proportions/ingredient list is going to seem wrong; but all I know is it’s the rightest mac & cheese ever to cross my lips.  And if you’ve never attempted homemade mac & cheese?  Oh, my…you’re probably gonna love me!

Eat…Pray…Love–this dish is a near ’bout spiritual experience.

Southern Baked Macaroni and Cheese

  • 5 eggs
  • 2 cups milk
  • 8 oz. elbow macaroni
  • 1 stick butter, sliced into pats
  • 12 oz grated, sharp cheddar cheeese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Boil macaroni as directed on package.  Strain and pour into large bowl.  Add butter and cheese, and stir til melted and coated.  In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper; pour egg mixture into macaroni mixture.  Pour this into a greased, 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Bake at 350° for about 30-45 minutes; sides should be firm but jiggly in the center.

Note:  you can mix the cheese in all at once, or if you’d like a more traditional look, reserve enough to sprinkle on the top.

Not only is this delicious, it might just be the easiest recipe next to Kraft Macaroni & Cheese!

 

Due to the cook devouring the finished recipe as soon as it came out of the oven technical difficulties, I’ll have to add a finished picture when I remember. Forgive me for now?

Enjoy!!

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