Steve's Famous Macaroni and Cheese

Last week, I had a mad craving for some really good mac and cheese, so I emailed my sister for her friend Steve's recipe. Gina made it for Christmas last year and since then, other recipes (even the Test Kitchen's) have just fallen flat. Steve's recipe has 4 cheeses in it: parmesan, romano, sharp cheddar, and mozzarella. I can't reveal much more, so here's a camera phone photo journal.

 

Whisking the bechamel

In goes the par-cooked pasta

All cheesy and ready to be baked in my I'm-not-sure-how-it-hasn't-fallen-apart-yet-there's-a-huge-ass-crack-in-it Le Creuset baking dish

 

Cheesy goodness

And with a side of roasted broccolini

Best. mac. ever.

Double Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

I had a moment of domesticity last night and decided to make a quick batch of cookies. I inherited some baking supplies from a coworker a week ago and had an idea immediately to use them in an oatmeal cookie.

Using a basic oatmeal cookie recipe from the Test Kitchen's Best Light Recipe* cookbook, I added chopped dried cherries, a large handful of white chocolate chips, and another large handful of dark chocolate chips.

Sorry so dark

They were delicious right out of the oven--just wish I would've had some milk around to go with them. Shawn gave his hearty approval, as did my coworkers the next day, even though they were cold. 

*Side note: I highly recommend the Light Recipe cookbook. They focus heavily on flavor and try to cut down the fat and calories of a lot of great dishes. I'm not a huge believer in low-fat diets, but if you can trim down a recipe without using crazy altered ingredients, I'm all for it. I've cut down my use of oils in a lot of recipes just using techniques like sweating the onions.