Cheese Fondue

This is a great recipe for cheddar cheese fondue, but it's also a great basic creamy cheese sauce that can be repurposed for lots of things - adding in veggies, pasta topping, etc.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar

Melt butter, stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat and add milk, stiring until sauce thickens. Add cheese, stir till melted. Serve with crusty white or pumpernickel bread.

Spicy Beans and Rice

My ultimate winter comfort food is spicy black beans and rice. Sometimes I soak beans overnight and spice them myself, sometimes in a pinch I use a box of spicy beans and rice, but it's always good. Tiny cubes of cheese and a dollop of sour cream round everything off.

Lemon Bread

Lemon Poppyseed bread and muffins are my favorite of the quick bread flavors. To make these easy recipes, take whatever is your favorite quick bread base and add 1/4 cup lemon juice, the zest of two grated lemons, and 1/4 cup of poppyseeds.

Morning Glory Cake

At least, they are supposed to be morning glories. I am not known for having a green thumb, so they could be some other flower and I wouldn't know the difference. In my mind, the cake tastes great and that's what matters. I used applesauce instead of oil.

Best Macaroni and Cheese

Everyone always needs an excellent homemade mac and cheese recipe, it's just that kind of comfort food. This one is my favorite. Originally passed to me by a friend, I stared in abject horror at the ingredient list when I saw that it containted Velveeta. I was sure that I would never make it and I planned to tuck the recipe away in my pocket, never use it, and never tell my friend. But she must have known what the mental objection was, because she was quick to assure me that the Velveeta is there just to enhance the texture, and to help keep things smooth when reheating. She then even gave me a sample of Velveeta so I wouldn't need to go to the grocery store and degrade myself by buying a block of my own. I turned out to really love the recipe and now if I think I might want to make a batch I send my husband to the store for some Velveeta - so I'll never be caught on camera buying it! My mother would be proud.

Cook 2 cups elbow pasta. I like the slightly nutty flavor of Barilla Plus. Drain, rinse.

Melt 3 tbsp butter with 1/4 cup flour in saucepan to form a paste. Add 2 cups of milk, whisk till smooth. Add in 4oz of Velveeta, cut into chunks. Stir till smooth and melted. Add 8 oz of grated sharp cheddar cheese, stir on low till sauce thickens. (Use a 10oz block of cheese and reserve remaining 2 oz). Salt and pepper liberally, add a pinch of onion powder and a dash of chili powder. Mix cooked and drained pasta into the cheese sauce. It should be very saucy.

Pour into a baking dish. Combine 1 tbsp melted butter with 1tbsp bread crumbs. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and reserved cheddar cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so. This reheats fairly well. Thanks J, for the recipe!