Create a Cooking Memory with Your Kids this Christmas
A few years ago, Keith and I opened a restaurant devoted to home cooking like our mothers used to make when we were children — everything from scratch. It was called The Flying Bowl and our slogan was “Homemade Food on the Fly.” It was both wonderful and hard!
The wonderful part of owning a restaurant was getting to know the people in our community and meeting their needs for quick access to yummy homemade food. The hard part was never having time to do anything else but prepare food. That is the reason we closed after two years (well, besides all the taxes), because we wanted to do more in our lives than just cook.
Our Favorite Macaroni & Cheese Recipe
One of the benefits of running a restaurant, though, was all the great recipes we perfected in that two year period. And one of our customers’ favorite recipes was our Four Cheese Baked Macaroni & Cheese. Everyone loved it — both children and adults!
4 Reasons to Prepare Homemade Mac & Cheese for Christmas
Whirling Wheels Mac & Cheese
I’ve decided to share this recipe with you in anticipation of Christmas for 4 reasons:
1) It’s easy to make, so children can help.
2) It doesn’t take a long time to prepare, which is great because the holidays are hectic.
3) Sitting down together for a beloved Christmas meal is the perfect time for families to pray together.
4) It’s a meal that everyone loves to eat — creating a wonderful holiday memory and possible tradition.
Named for the Cherubim
With the release of the recipe, I am giving it an official name: “Whirling Wheels Mac & Cheese” — in honor of those incredible angelic beings known as Cherubim in Ezekiel 10 that move in sync with their four wheels under the throne of God. Four cheeses — four wheels, get it? Besides, since this Mac & Cheese is so outstanding, I think it deserves an outstanding name!
Whirling Wheels Mac & Cheese
Public Domain. Based on Ezekiel 10.
16 oz macaroni — elbow or rotelle or ditalini
(rotelle = wheels with spokes; ditalini = little thimbles)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
4 oz Velveeta, cut in cubes
1/2 cup grated mozzarella (packed down)
3/4 cup grated mild cheddar (packed down)
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar (packed down)
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack (packed down)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fine black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (just adds a little bite)
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups half and half, heated
1) Fill your pasta pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add salt and macaroni. Return to a boil and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions say. Stir every 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with HOT water to remove starch.
2) While the pasta is boiling, melt butter in a large pot over low heat. Add Velveeta and stir until melted. Add hot, rinsed pasta. Stir and coat.
3) Combine the 4 cheeses together and stir 2/3 of the cheese mixture into the pasta.
4) Combine seasonings, eggs, and warm half & half. Pour into the pasta mixture and stir well.
5) Pour the prepared mac & cheese mixture into a buttered rectangular casserole dish and level out.
6) Sprinkle reserved 1/3 cheese mixture over the top.
7) Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees until lightly browned.
Double the Recipe for Leftovers
While you’re at it, you might as well double the recipe and make 2 casseroles, because everyone in the family will want leftovers. Serve it with fresh fruit or a green salad and enjoy. And don’t forget as a family to thank the Lord who made this wonderful season possible by sending his own Son to Earth to be our Savior.
Merry Christmas from Keith and me and The Flying Bowl.
Heaps of love,
Susan Case Bonner
November 21, 2014