Once, while engaged in a petty squabble with an ex-boyfriend, I headed down a path of contradiction and strawman argumentation.
“You are being ridiculous”, he said. “You are making no sense. Seriously…do you even know what you are arguing anymore? You keep on contradicting yourself.”
I looked over at him and shot back, “Well, I am a hypocrite!”
And, with that, the argument was over. He dissolved in to a fit of laughter, for really, how can one argue with that? It was such an unexpected response, there was nothing really for him to say.
It became a running joke throughout the course of our relationship, a response I would pull out from time to time when things became heated. It would always cut the tension..and it spoke a certain truth. I admit; I can often times behave hypocritically. I say one thing, and do the exact opposite. I am the queen of self-defeating, contradictory behavior. They say acceptance is the first step, yes?
My name is Lemmonex and I have no idea what I want.
Take, for instance, the obscene amount of macaroni and cheese I ate with Irish Lebowski on Friday night. This took place the same exact day I posted about eating right and treating myself well. But, I look at it this way: it isn’t hypocricy, it is self preservation. My soul needed the warm embrace of mom’s mac and cheese.
I grew up eating this and, to me, this is my childhood. Notice how there is no mustard or tabasco in here? MamaBear likes to keep it super simple, and I would never mess with that (though I have been tempted). I hope to find an alternate recipe for mac and cheese this winter–maybe something with truffles? crab?–but every time I try something different, it fails. This is creamy, gooey, fat laden perfection. Mother knows best on this one…and after the week I had last week, this was the closest thing to a hug from mom I could get.
Mom’s Mac and Cheese
1 box lined ziti or penne
1 brick extra sharp cheddar, cut in to cubes
1 brick sharp cheddar, cut in to cubes
1 brick medium cheddar, cut in to cubes
2 tablespoons flour
1 3/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 375. Cook pasta until it is al dente. While pasta cooks, add cheese cubes, milk, flour, salt and pepper to a sauce pan and place over medium heat. Melt cheese/milk mixture, stirring frequently. (Note: don’t try to rush the cheese by turning the heat too high; the cheese will scorch.) When pasta is cooking, drain and add back to pan. Pour melted cheese mixture pasta and stir. Add macaroni and cheese to a buttered casserole dish. Dot top of macaroni and cheese with pats of butter. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
But who eats mac and cheese after their ninth birthday? I am at a loss. (I hated the stuff when I was 9, so I’m willing to stipulate that maybe I’m the wrong person to discuss the whole issue.)
And I will let you win all our arguments; I want nothing but happy lemmons in our little orchard.
Are you kidding? People request this ALL the time…you are definitely the wrong person to chime in on this, friend.
[Reply]
There is no better food than Mac & Cheese! None! The only thing I might add to this recipe would be buttery croutons on top.
Maybe I should have tried the “I am a hypocrite” line in my recent squabble that ended a friendship. I’ll have to remember that one.
Yeah, I have thought of the croutons, but it isn’t how mom makes it… Sorry to hear about your friendship. That is always so brutal.
[Reply]
I love mac and cheese. The only problem I have is, while it’s good the day I make it – creamy, cheesy and whatnot – it dries out the next day. I can’t figure out why.
It separates. Two thing–put a few drops of milk on it before you wrap it up and reheat it in the oven, not the micro. Stir it while it heats.
[Reply]
I make mac and cheese whenever I’ve had a really bad day.
I usually shred the cheddar, make a white sauce (flour, milk, a whole stick of butter), and layer the noodles, white sauce and cheese. Oh, and a few sprinkles of cracked red pepper gives it a little kick, and it doesn’t hurt to put a few tomato slices across the top. (Hey, then it’s sort of healthy!)
That sounds awesome…yum. This was mom’s classic, but I am hoping to do somethign a little more grown up/experimental this winter.
[Reply]
Macaroni and cheese, the ultimate comfort food. Just LOOKING at that picture makes me feel like someone’s mama just wrapped me in a bigass bear hug. Mine makes lasagna- same principle (HEART AND LURVE).
Want!
My mom would totally hug you…she is a big hugger.
[Reply]
Great. Now I want a hug. And some macaroni, too!
You are going to get a huge hug from me the next time I see you.
[Reply]
I ate an obscenely large amount of mac and cheese yesterday. I thought I was gonna be sick. With love.
Mac and cheese sick is worth it, though.
[Reply]
I actually read this earlier this morning but had to look away quickly because my stomach GROWLED when I saw the photo of the mac n cheese. Now that I have had a snack… I just wanted to say… I am a hypocrite too. Eating all healthy all the time then Friday night I had one beer… and just that amount of alcohol impaired my judgment enough to eat a whole pizza. Yikes!
A girl after my own heart…alcohol enters the picture and I lose all perspective and self control.
[Reply]
“Brick”?
There’s a place in Downtown Disney that has ridiculously good mac & cheese. I’m pretty sure they put crack in it. It’s insane. But it’s only on the kid’s menu, and you wouldn’t believe the looks they give me when I try ordering off that one.
Oh, come on…you know what a brick of land o’ lakes or cracker barrel looks like!
Disney! With the mention of mac and cheese and DISNEY in one post, my mother’s head may explode. She loves Mickey.
[Reply]
Hypocrisy be damned. I commend you for not ripping open a box of day-glo orange Mac n cheese and making it yourself. That looks very tasty.
While eating this, Irish looked at me and said “I am so glad I met you! If I hadn’t, I never would have had this macaroni and cheese.” That compliment beats powdered cheese any day!
[Reply]
Oh, come on…you know what a brick of land o’ lakes or cracker barrel looks like!
Certain sure! And many others, too. My standard cheddar is a Tillamook Medium, which I get in the 2# block. A little overkill for a mac recipe…
Which reminds me, actually. You might want to consider entering this contest. The recipe is both interesting and straightforward, which is what they like in these things.
I do like Tillamook a great deal.
Did you see they have cornbread topped apple mac and cheese in that contest? Holy God, that sounds good.
[Reply]
You need cheat days to keep you sane, and they probably help you keep the weight off in the long run. Something about keeping leptin levels up.
I’ve been to two pig pickins in the last two weeks and after Saturday’s pig pickin I continued drinking and ended the night with a nice ice cream covered blondie. So maybe I’ve been going overboard with the cheat days, but I did go into August with the intention of gaining a little weight. September starts another cutting cycle.
Cheat days go a long way. I had a cheat weekend, but I am already back on the wagon and it seems so much more manageable since I had some fun this weekend. I think I ate my body weight in crab Saturday night, but I tell myself I get a workout in cracking those bastards.
[Reply]
This mac & cheese is definitely like crack. I think this recipe is actually better the next day when the cheese starts to congeal and separate a bit. Yum yum yum.
Last weekend I was with friends at S’Mac in NYC (http://www.smacnyc.com/), which is a mac & cheese themed restaurant. I tried 6 different kinds, from the traditional American and 4-cheese to the fancier recipes with ground beef, bacon and gruyere, and curry. It was FANTASTIC, but none of them were as good as Lemmonex’s mom’s. Damn the truffle oil and experimental add-ons – just melt me some cheddar and pour it over some noodles.
Curry!? Hm, that intrigues me, but something seems really wrong about that. I want my mac and cheese pure.
[Reply]
cornbread topped apple mac and cheese
Yeah, that one made me blink a couple times (“macaroni and… apples?”) but looking at what they did, wow. Me, I’m likely to make the one with black pepper and chanterelles. Mmm.
Cheddar and apples are an awesome pair…ever have apple pie with a slice of sharp cheddar on top? Awesome…
[Reply]
I am salivating looking at that picture. Probably gaining weight just looking at it, too!
It is no joke…but it is ok to splurge from time to time.
[Reply]
Mmmmmm. Mac and cheese and hugs. As Mac once said to Cheese “You complete me.”
Mac makes cheese want to be a better man.
[Reply]
Macaroni and cheese is tits! I’ve never had much use for the stuff that comes out of the box though. I dig on baked macaroni and cheese; the kind that comes out in a big, custardy hunk.
This version look pretty tasty; especially with some lardons of bacon or some good ham added in.
I think it would be awesome with lobster as well–but I was trying to keep it classic.
[Reply]
lobster. you know what, girl… i like the way you think.
This brain is always churning.
[Reply]
Oh lobster mac n cheese – I saw that on menus up in Maine last week! I personally wondered – why ruin perfectly good lobster by mixing it with a box of Kraft – but I guess folks up there are just bored silly with lobster and tryin’ to shake it up a bit.
But huge chunks of lobster in mac and cheese? What is wrong with that? NOTHING. Maybe shrimp if you cannot see sullying the lobster.
[Reply]
I’ve never called myself a hypocrite, but I am one, for sure. And I looove mac and cheese, and this one looks delicious, but the thought of all the fat and calories makes me too twitchy to ever really enjoy.
I find after a couple of glasses of wine, I worry less about the calories.
[Reply]
From a parenting perspective, I find this type of Mac and Cheese to be far more appealing to children than the more gourmet varieties that involve gueryere (spelling) and other exotic cheeses and a broiled bread crumb topping. I think it’s because they become used to the Kraft variety. Much as most people prefer Heinz ketchup to gourmet varieties.
If your interested, America’s Test Kitchen spent considerable time putting together a gourmet variety that manages to be creamy and yum without the frequent oilness or clumpy heaviness that baked cheese can sometimes impart. Goes over like gangbusters for a dinner party on a cold winter’s night. It’s a pay site, but I’m sure a resourceful googler could find it on the internets, free of charge.
Actually, here you go:
http://home.att.net/~jserdmann/Recipe-MacaroniandCheese.html
bh, you are a peach. Thanks for sharing. This is kid friendly, for sure, but I am also a huge advocate of pushing kids to try new things that may scare them.
[Reply]
Thanks. My house definitely works off the “you have to try one bite before Daddy will make you a hot dog” rule. Which is usually successful. Unfortunately, the baked Mac and Cheese failed. That’s fine, the adult’s destroyed it while I was putting the kids down (and drank most the Bordeaux to boot).
Then again, my kids love hanger steak with roast potato’s, red wine reduction, and salad. I just wish they would clean the kitchen.
Yeah, that is a great rule. I am always shocked when parents will always just offer their kids chicken fingers and pizza. At elast give them a shot NOT to like the pork roast or whatever…
[Reply]
it can be hard to know what you want in life, but food is easy. this mac and cheese entry reminds me of a time when i was little and put too much salt on mine because a little tasted good, so more salt should taste better right? eww definitely not.
Nothing good can come of that, especially since cheese is salty to begin with…good to learn lessons at a young age, though.
[Reply]
I just whiped a little tear from the corner of my eye! I love my classic old fashioned mac & cheese and I do get a lot of requests for it. And yes, I’m a hugger, and this recipe is like getting a hug!
A big, warm MamaBear hug.
[Reply]
I can report that bacon is fabulous in mac-n-cheese, as is lobster. mmm….what wouldn’t be good about that??!? My mom used to make it with Velveeta, of all horrible things, but I usually use white cheddar, monterey jack, parmesan and sometimes, smoked gouda. YUM!! Now I need a Mac-n-cheese fix!! (And for the record, I would like it noted that your blog is dangerous at 8:30 at night. I’m not sure Tony Horton can save me from a manic mac-n-cheese attack!! lol.)
I feel your pain…when I am looking for recipe idea late at night, I often find my stomach grumbling.
[Reply]
drooool. this looks amazing. i’ve never made real m&c, and this looks like a lovely place to start.
I will not lead you astray!
[Reply]
“I am salivating looking at that picture. Probably gaining weight just looking at it, too!”
“It is no joke…but it is ok to splurge from time to time.”
Absolutely! Enjoy!
I did…thanks!
[Reply]
Been MIA awhile. (Probably ashamed that after dropping 9 pounds I have stalled due to way too many splurges.) Love this post – perfect reminder that the now and then splurge is nessary for the soul but make it count. And don’t just stuff the stress – along with a package of chocolate chip cookies- every day!
I was thinking about you today…rereading your great dating post! I always miss my regulars when you go away. Welcome back.
And stalls are ok, Tina. it happens. You are still down 9.
[Reply]
Holy crap, that looks amazing. And since KRAFT went and killed their Mac and Cheese, but changing it to its “more cheesey” self…….tatses like crap by the way
I think your mom’s way may just be the right way….NO HOLD THAT
The ONLY way to go
Mom knows what’s up…it is true. Thanks, Aaron.
[Reply]
Just wanted to say again how awesome your mom’s MAC AND CHEESE is. My mom just made it for me for my birthday dinner..
Lucky for me she made enough I’ll be eating for a few days…….it’s like the perfect birthday
Birthday dinner! Damn, that is a prime spot. I am so glad you like it.
[Reply]
Thank you!! Still a typical amazing article, truly the reason why My spouse and I come back for your webpage often..
[Reply]