Party Cheese Tray Macaroni

The best macaroni and cheese comes from catering leftovers.

After the big birthday party, when the tables were being cleared and everyone with a large purse was gravitating towards the half-empty trays, I tipped what remained of the cheese tray into a plastic bag graciously provided by the people in the kitchen. I don't know what all of these cheeses are, but they definitely cost me nothing.

I could have simply put these in the refrigerator and left them, but macaroni seemed a lot better. Really, I think the best macaroni and cheese comes from party-tray leftovers. capt I could have rubbed each of these cubes one at a time against the cheese shredder, but we have power tools.

As I wrote a long time ago, my baked macaroni and cheese is simple. Make layers of noodles and cheese, insert in oven, bake until melted. Some people like making a cheese sauce for macaroni, but I like it better when it is just noodles and cheese. Some ingredients don't need any help.

For baked macaroni, I suggest cooking the noodles until they're a lot softer than you usually would-- almost mushy, even. This counteracts the oven drying them out. You should also put a lot of cheese on top. This tastes better and helps keep the noodles underneath from getting crunchy. (It's also a great excuse to use up any near-empty bags of shredded cheese that are getting perilously close to expiring.)

I really like using pasta shells for macaroni. When they happen to land in the pan open-side-up, the cheese melts and turns them into little bowls of cheesy goodness.

It's been a while since I made a large batch of mac and cheese. But I'm seriously considering buying a cheese tray for the express purpose next time I do it. At any rate, this was a wonderful little bonus treat when I got home. 

 In closing, always be sure you have decent snacks in the car, and don't forget to slip a few hotel teabags in your purse!