Somehow, “my” macaroni & cheese has become a favourite among my friends. It’s certainly not my recipe – it’s a Betty Crocker classic. It was the first thing I ever cooked for Adam. In fact – I think what I first fed him was 2 or 3 day old leftovers! I had gotten into a habit when I lived in England, which was the first time I’d ever had to cook for myself on a regular basis, of making enormous batches of mac & cheese to serve as meals for the next week or so. It was a great comfort food and a welcome reminder of home while living abroad. I never considered it a fancy dish by any means, nor did I think it was all that special. Sure, it’s a tasty tasty dish – but it’s comfort food, right? Nothing to write home about. Well, Adam was immediately won over.
When I moved up to Toronto it became my easy out option when we first started to entertain. It was something I knew how to make, and it was good. It was also a great vegetarian option when we were entertaining for people with fairly simple meat-and-potato tastes. Somehow it became a huge hit. People started requesting this infamous mac & cheese, and it’s become a staple at our annual US Thanksgiving Dinner. Go figure.
It’s rare that we bother experimenting with other recipes – but this Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese caught my eye. Butternut squash? In mac & cheese? Could it possibly work? I had to give it a try.