{and so it begins}

Day: 1

Recipe: Ina Garten's Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• Vegetable oil
• 1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
• 1 quart milk
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar, grated (2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Twists: I skipped the tomatoes. Don't love those suckers.  But who knows, maybe I will by the end of this.  Also I switched the quantities of Gruyere and cheddar -- I'm not rich enough to buy what Ina does just yet (bummer).  Finally, I used gemelli because they didn't have cavatappi in stock on my block.  I'm no pasta connoisseur, but they look pretty similar to me so I went with it.

Lessons Learned: Buy grated cheese for goodness sake!  I had a small panic attack when I realized the pasta was done cooking, and I was barely into grating cheese block two of three.  Second, read the recipe beforehand and take note of how many pans you'll need and in what sizes.  I had to do some rearranging towards the end of the prep work to make sure I didn't spill cheesy goodness all over the kitchen (well, I did that anyways, but I chalk that up to being an amateur).

{eat this, kraft! pun intended.}

Verdict: Delish.  It's like grown up Velveeta.  But 500% better.  Not sure I could eat it every day for a week, but that's something I'm working on.  And luckily for me, I have two roomies and a lot of freezer space.  Move over, lean cuisines, there's a new dinner in town!