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How do I love macaroni and cheese? Let me count the wheys.

Most people don’t understand my love for macaroni and cheese. It’s a comfort food. The first thing my mother taught me how to cook was mac and cheese. Eating mac and cheese reminds me of Saturday nights with Katie, the babysitter and of the few snow days we had while growing up in Cleveland, Ohio.

In my family, mac and cheese is a staple of any gathering larger or more important than Sunday night dinner (a phenomenon shortly summed up as my mother, her sisters, all of the children, spouses and my grandmother crowding around my kitchen table to tease each other and catch up on our week). Sunday night dinner was usually about 12 people, so any time there were more of us (not during the Jewish holiday of Passover) you could count on the mac and cheese to make an appearance.

I asked my mother about why we always had it (not that I was complaining, I just wanted to know) and she explained it like this.

“Alright Hannah. Think about the usual suspects. There’s four Walks, four Kesters, two Goodmans, anywhere between two and five Hills, Grandma Rhoda and Bobby, Gammy and three more Friedmans. That gets you to at least 18 people before you start counting the extended family. Feeding that many people means that you need to make something capable of feeding everyone from one or two pans. You have to make sure that you account for the picky people like you and Larry, but you also have to make something that will fill up the big eaters like Eric and Chandler or if Robbie (my brother's best friend) stays for dinner. Now think about mac and cheese. Everybody likes it and I can make four pounds of it in two pans. That’s enough that there won’t be complaints about quantity.”

People tend to think I’m making it up when I explain that I’ve seen as many as 45 people (that I’m related to) crammed into my dining room, hitting each other with plastic plates as we all try to get the last bit of mac and cheese with the baked, crunchy goodness on top.

This is one of the few family recipes that we know how to make for less than 10 people. Be forewarned: I’ve heard that after trying Aunt Shelly’s mac and cheese, it’s impossible to go back to the blue box variety.

Aunt Shelly's Macaroni and Cheese:

1 pound elbow noodles

1 jar Cheez Whiz Original Cheese Dip (don’t event think about using the light variety)

1/2 stick unsalted butter cut into several pieces

1/2 - 1 cup milk or half-and-half (I tend to use some of both)

1/2 cup shredded cheese (You can pick the type. I like to use sharp cheddar.)

Salt, to taste

Optional:

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Pre-cooked chicken pieces

Assorted veggies cut to bite-sized pieces (I like broccoli and red bell pepper)

1. Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil
2. Add noodles and let boil for 7-10 minutes.
3. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, you might as well start on the sauce for your mac and cheese (it is the best part). Put the butter and milk in a microwaves safe container. Spoon in 3-5 tablespoons of Cheez Whiz. Since Cheez Whiz is rather sticky, try to break it up into a few glops to ease melting.
4. Microwave the mixture on high for one minute. If you worry about having mic and cheese instead of mac and cheese, cover the container with a piece of butcher paper. Continue to microwave in small intervals until the mixture is “mostly” melted.
5. Taste test the noodles. Are they cooked enough? Good. Dump them into a strainer to free up the pot. If you really need to, rinse them in warm water, but I don’t. Give them a good shake to dry. Don’t worry that they’re sticking together.
6. Put the pot back on the stove and turn down the heat to medium. Add the beginning of the cheese sauce. Add more milk if it looks gloppy or if you want a thinner sauce.
7. Watch the sauce to make sure it doesn’t burn, and add the shredded cheese. Let it start melting as you go grab the noodles.
8. Add the noodles back to the pot and stir them into the sauce thoroughly.
9. Give it a taste. You can add more cheese or milk to make it exactly right. Do you want to keep going or are you hungry enough to eat now? This is one of the places you can stop. When I was younger, I wouldn’t eat any of the baked part, so I made my mother stop here to leave some unbaked for me.
10. Get a casserole dish. If you like the crunchy part, flat is better. My immediate family uses a deep stoneware dish that is so well seasoned it smells like mac and cheese.  Put the noodles and cheese in to the dish.
11. Add whatever chicken or veggies you want (this step is completely optional) and mix thoroughly.
12. Spread shredded cheese over the top and don’t skimp. We like to experiment with different kinds of cheese. The ones that melt are usually better (cheddar, Colby, pepperjack, mozzarella).
13. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbly and brown.

Serves: 3-5