Welcome to Tempting Tuesdays

The emergence of a new form of literature has set out taste buds ablaze. For those of us who don't want to pack on the pounds, we can now take a bite out of a new sub-genre, Food Lit. These are fictionalized stories where food is practically a character itself. Often, writers even include recipes from their books. In "Kissing Kendall" by Jennifer Shirk, Kendall is working on opening a bakery and perfecting all her sweet treats. Shirk actually includes her recipes for Donut Muffins which are raved about through the entire novel.

We here at Author to Author want to embrace our love of food in literature and pass on some of our favorite recipes. From desserts and snacks to main dishes and comfort food, we will be featuring the tastiest morsels we can come up with.

For our first Tempting Tuesday post, we thought we'd feature one of the best American comfort foods, Homemade Macaroni and Cheese!

 This recipe was originally posted on Jo-Lynne Shane's Musings of a Housewife and has been adapted to post here.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick (4 TBSP) butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 8 oz  elbow pasta
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 2 cups (8 oz) grated cheddar cheese
• Extra items to include if you desire:
• Broccoli
• Diced Chicken
• Diced Hot Dogs, Bratwurst, or Keilbasa
• Browned Hamburger
• Diced Pre-cooked Bacon

You can prepare this using one saucepan or two. For the purpose of this post, we will be using two.






First, in one saucepan, bring your water to a boil. Add your pasta and cook according to the package directions. You can use elbow pasta if you want to keep with the original Macaroni theme, but Rotini can be a fun and kid-friendly pasta to spice up your recipe a bit.









While your pasta is boiling, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees and begin on your roux, the thickening agent for this recipe.




In a separate saucepan, melt your butter. When melted, add your flour and stir together. It may look lumpy, but that is okay.

When you have sufficently mixed the butter and flour together, add your milk. Whisk in your saucepan over medium heat and slowly heat until boiling.






By this time, your pasta should be done. Drain it and set aside.







With your roux at a boil for about a minute, remove from heat. Add salt, pepper, mustard, and shredded cheese. At this point if you want to add any meat and/or veggies, you can do it here. Now you are ready to add your pasta and combine together.







Pour all that cheesy goodness into a buttered 9x13 casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

TADA! You now have a delicious dinner even Martha Stewart would be proud to have on her table. It is best hot and gooey right out of the oven. When using two pots, prep time is usually about 20 minutes.

Please leave your comments and suggestions. We would love to hear about your favorite foods and Food Lit adventures!