Cathy's Macaroni and Cheese

I may be biased, but my family's recipe for Macaroni and Cheese is the BEST Mac and Cheese I have ever eaten. Period.

Macaroni and Cheese

16-oz box elbow macaroni
Cheese, shredded - lots of it
Butter, 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Milk or Half and Half, or a combination
Garlic Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Cook the macaroni in boiling, salted water as directed on the package to al dente (or the minimum amount of time listed in the cooking instructions).

Butter a casserole dish or a 9x13" pan and leave the rest of the butter in the pan, cut in chunks. Drain the macaroni and pour into the buttered pan. Season to taste with the garlic salt and pepper. 

Stir in the cheese. You must use at least 2 cups of shredded cheddar. We always throw in a couple of handfuls of whatever other kind of cheese we have on hand. Do NOT skimp on the cheese!  Here's what it should look like.  This is about 2 cups of shredded Velveeta and 2 cups of shredded Sharp Cheddar. 

Stir the cheese into the macaroni and level it out.

Pour in enough milk to come to the top of the macaroni. 

 Now, stir it around and level it out again. The milk should be just under the top layer of elbows.  Like this:

Bake about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let set 5 to 10 minutes before serving.  

This is excellent as is, or you can add cubes of just about any kind of cooked meat - smoked sausage and ham cubes are my favorites.  Or bacon.  Bacon is always good!  

Delicious!

Note:  I used Shredded Velveeta in this batch and I didn't like it as much.  It was good...but it tasted like Velveeta.  John liked it.  I prefer real cheese and preferably a combination of mild and sharp Cheddar plus a little shredded Swiss or Jack.