Craig's Macaroni and Cheese

Well, I'm not sure who this Craig guy is, but his name is on the recipe, and it's a pretty good recipe. I love cheese, but I've always thought Macaroni and Cheese could be a bit bland at times. This one, though, is pretty good. It's got enough onions in it, so that it almost tastes like French Onion Soup.

8 ounces macaroni (or in this case cavatappi)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup flour
1 1/3 cup milk
6 ounces mature cheddar, shredded (I mixed Dubliner and cheddar, since I only had 3 ounces of cheddar)
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 shredder (not really an ingredient, but I didn't actually own one.)

Cook pasta in boiling water.
Heat butter in pan and gently cook onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
Stir flour and milk into pan, and blend into onion and garlic.
Whisk to make into smooth sauce and bring to a boil.
Add 4 ounces of cheese and the mustard.
Heat gently for a couple of minutes.
Drain pasta, add to pan, and mix well.
Transfer to casserole dish.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
Broil in onion for about five minutes until golden and bubbling.

Like I said, it was very tasty, and I have a whole lot left over for tomorrow night. Kudos, Craig!

Quick Pudding

This is a really excellent recipe for those days that you really need a treat and chocolate isn't going to do it (not that I'm dissing chocolate in any way, shape, or form). This has a nice, warm, cinnamon-y, raisin taste to it. The recipe makes a nice desert for 6 but on treat days it makes 4 nice-sized comfort portions. The best part is that you make both parts in the same mixing bowl, that takes all of 5 minutes (just long enough to preheat the oven in my kitchen) and then it's out of the oven in 30 minutes. The second best part is that all of the ingredients are pretty standard "pantry" ingredients so there's nothing at all stopping you from making it (Nancy, I'm going to try it with the brown sugar Splenda one of these nights. If you feel adventurous and get to it before me, post it in the comments, please.)

1 c flour
1/3 c brown sugar
2 T butter, softened
2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1/3 c raisins
1/2 c milk
1 3/4 c hot water
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2/3 c brown sugar

Measure the first 6 ingredients into a bowl and stir. Add the milk and mix. Turn into a 2L casserole dish and smooth the top. In the same bowl, combine the last 4 ingredients and stir. Pour carefully over the top of the batter. DO NOT STIR!! Bake uncovered for 30 minutes @ 350F. They say to serve it hot but if you let it cool a bit, the sauce gets thicker and you don't suffer from second degree sugar burns on the roof of your mouth (sometimes my purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others).

I think I originally got this from a Company's Coming cookbook. It's actually a lot like the Hot Fudge Monday recipe that I posted before only, you know, without the fudge (have I mentioned that I love chocolate just as much as the next girl? If said girl had a thing for lemon meringue and raspberries maybe).