Mac n Cheese Half Batch

 We have been using this particular recipe for years to make our homemade mac n cheese. It's easy to put together, it holds up in the fridge for re-heating better than most recipes, and it's so easy to adapt. Sometimes I even like to put it in individual dishes and throw in the broiler with a little cheese on top to give it a crisp. 

 

I discovered though, as my cooking has evolved, that I don't like to make a meal out of this recipe. It has held better as a side dish instead. While that works fine when we have big gatherings, when it's just our family of four, we really needed something that was a smaller amount, thus minimizing the leftovers (which can be difficult to finish). 

 

So, I started playing with the recipe, and getting it to a point that the family loved it and there was no wasted ingredients. Other ways to make this recipe unique and stand out would when you're finishing it: (1) add bacon crumble to the top, or pancetta, or ham, you get the idea, (2) add cheese or bread crumbs or panko crumbs to the top, (3) put carrots and peas in the mac or on top along with the other toppings. You can treat it a lot like a baked potato and make it as loaded as you want. It would make for a great buffet style item for groups of people to individualize their meal. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is a smaller batch can sometimes be fun. You can have fun with it without going overboard or overindulging. Just make it exactly how you want it. 

Mac n Cheese Half Batch

1 3/4 c water, divided

1 5oz can evaporated milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c dry pasta of choice

1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp dry ground mustard

1/8 tsp Tabasco (6-8 drops)

6 oz cheese (such as colby, cheddar or monteray jack) about 1 1/2 c shredded*

2 T butter

 

 

 

 

In a medium to large stock pot,  add 1 1/2 c water, the can of milk, and salt and bring to a boiling simmer. Add the pasta and allow to boil simmer for about 11-13 minutes, or however long the pasta package directs. 

Meanwhile, to the final 1/4 c water add the cornstarch, dry ground mustard, and tabasco sauce and mix together. Once the pasta has cooked, add the cornstarch mix and stir for a minute or two to allow it to thicken a bit

Remove the pot from the heat and add the cheese in half cup batches. Stir and melt completely before adding the next batch. Once all the cheese has melted and is completely incorporated, add the butter and allow the to melt completely while stirring. 

Serve immediately with your chosen meal, and enjoy!

*This recipe works best if you shred the cheese yourself. Using pre-shredded cheese allows the anti-caking powder to prevent proper incorporation. You can have fun with flavors here though. Pepperjack is a lot of fun for a zippy sauce. Quesadilla cheese works well, and of course a mozzarella and parm would work. Experiment and have fun with it.

Sea Turtle Quilt

 

There’s a shop in San Diego area called Rosies Calico Cupboard that I have to stop at every time we go to San Diego. They have a great selection of all sorts of fabric genres and other quilting/sewing needs.  It’s a fun treasure hunt.

 

 

Three years ago, my daughter went into the shop with me and found a minky sea turtle fabric that she wanted me to make a quilt with. It was an interesting idea, and when I found it was on sale I couldn’t resist. 

 

 

Unfortunately for my daughter, the project got tabled and while I worked on a bunch of other projects. I hadn’t thought of it until I realized we were about to head to San Diego again! I quickly put together a pattern and figured out how many fabrics we’d need for the top. When we arrived the following year, I had my daughter come with me and pick out some batiks for the top. She narrowed it down to greens and purples and we’d use blues for the background. Perfect!

 

 

This time I started working on it right away and got the blocks finished up, but we needed one more fabric for sashing, so it was back to the shop again. This time I went alone and found the perfect sashing.

 

 

Now that all the blocks were finished, I was able to start piecing everything together. I was trying to mix things up in an unpredictable way to give it an organic feeling like you’d have in the ocean. I also had the turtles swimming in different angles for the same reason.

 

 

Once all of the sashing was complete, I added one more blue border and called the top good. Now I just needed to match it up with the backing we’d gotten all those years ago. It turned out the backing wasn’t quite big enough. I did the best job I could lining up with front with the back and then after quilting, I trimmed the whole thing down to the right size.

 

 

The binding was made with the same blue that’s bordering the top. I wanted to keep it subtle and really focus on the turtles. My daughter is thrilled with it. She especially loves the minky backing. I was worried about working with it but it wasn’t a problem at all.

 

 

My son liked what he saw and asked when I’d start his! I totally forgot I was going to make one or him too. Looks like it’s back to Rosies this year to get everything I need for his. The good thing is that I now know what’s needed and it should go together more smoothly. Here’s hoping!

 

Christmas Lights Quilt

 This top actually dates back to my covid lockdown series, not because it’s when I started it but because it is made of the scraps from a quilt made during that time.

 

 

Back in 2022 I made the Rainbow Cubic Quilt with this beautiful rainbow pack I’d gotten in a raffle.  I was also able to complete a table runner with some of the scraps… and yet I still had more. So what to do with those…

 

 

After sitting on the shelf for a while I finally decided something had to be done with them. Everything was sewn together, I just didn’t know what to do with them. It happened to be Christmas time and I thought they kind of remind me of Christmas lights. Inspiration hits.

 

 

I got to work creating the hexagons and then laid them out randomly so they’d be all spread out among the grey hexagons. I added the white to spread them out, but in hindsight I think I added a little too much white. 

 

 

I got all of the rows together and felt like it really didn’t need a border; it was already a pretty modern-style quilt. I needed a backing though, and found one on my annual trip to Rosies in San Diego. It was the oversized backing fabric, which meant less piecework to get it to the right size.

 

 

My goal with the quilting was to make sure everything had good texture on it, but I felt like there was no 

need for a particular pattern. So I went with a meander and kept it simple.

 

 

Once it was all done, I added my label and completed the binding with some of the backing fabric I still had left. All finished!

 

 

I took a step back and looked at my finished product and realized I accidentally switched the last row, so it’s not in step all of the other rows. Yikes! Oh well, I’ve heard the Amish believe nothing should be perfect so they purposely add flaws to the quilts. I’m sure that’s what this was. I purposeful mistake. It’s curious to see if others notice it.