Macaroni and Cheese

I was asked to make something for a get together at Eric's uncles' house.  Not knowing what to make I asked Eric, and go figure he said to make what ever I wanted, no help to my situation.  Eventually I decided to make macaroni and cheese and it turned out great!

To make the sauce:

4 cups Whole Milk (1 quart)

8 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon Kosher Salt

1. Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, just until it comes to a simmer, then turn off the heat and set aside.

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  When completely melted add flour and whisk constantly until mixture turns light brown, about 2 minutes

3. Whisking constantly, slowly add the hot milk to the flour mixture until smooth, (It will get very thick when you first add the milk, then thin out.)

4. Return saucepan to medium-high heat, while whisking constantly, cook until the sauce thickens about 2 minutes.  Stir in 1 TEASPOON of salt, taste (3 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon), and add more if desired (I used 2 teaspoons). Remove from heat and set aside.

Pasta and Assembling:

Kosher Salt

1 pound Elbow Macaroni

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Romano cheese (I used 6 Cheese Italian because it's what I had on hand)

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1. Place rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350°F

2. In a large pot bring salted water to a boil over high heat, (I add about a tablespoon of olive oil to keep noodles from sticking.) Add pasta and cook until almost al dente (on the edge of being underdone about 6 minutes), drain and set aside. 

3. Place the pan of sauce, from earlier, over medium heat and stir in both cheeses until melted and smooth. Stir in pasta, then transfer to a 9x13 baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbling and brown on top.

Tie Dye Cake

My niece, Mia, LOVES helping me cook and bake!  Out of the many things we've made together this is one of my favorite things to bake with her.  It's a hit among the kids, I recently made it with one of the kids I work with and she loved it just as much as Mia.  

Don't worry it's much easier to make then you might think!

You'll need: 

1 box of white cake mix or from scratch

Food coloring
Frosting
Sprinkles (optional)
13x9 pan or 2 round cake pans

Don't forget to Preheat the Oven.  For some reason I always forget to do this, until I'm ready to put it in the oven. 

Make cake batter (if kids are helping I recommend the box, it's much easier and I've found they don't lose interest before you get to the really fun part.)  After the batter is made split it between 4 or 5 bowls (depending on the number of colors you want), add 5 drops of food coloring to each bowl and mix. 

Pour one color at a time into the center of the pan, layering one on top of the other until all the colors are in the pan.

  If the batter isn't evenly distributed in the pan carefully tilt it until the batter is distributed evenly.

Once batter is evenly distributed put it in the oven and bake according to the box or recipe you are following.

After it's cooled, frost and add sprinkles (if desired)

Then ENJOY!  

If you're looking for a fun dessert to take to a party this is great and is guaranteed to be a big hit.  People of all ages love this cake, it's crazy to see how amazed they are when you cut into it. 

Sushi

I love sushi and I was spending a ton on it going to restaurants, which wasn't helping me save any money.  So after watching how it's prepared at a restaurant I decided why not try it on my own, oh my goodness was it easy!  Now I didn't have a fancy bamboo roller for this batch but my lovely mother got me one for my birthday last week, so I'll let you know how much it helps.

What you'll need:
Avocados
Cream Cheese
Cucumbers 
Spicy Tuna (see recipe below)
Imitation Crab 

 Rice (what I used below)
Roasted Seaweed (what I used below)

You can put anything on your roll I picked these items because they are good on rolls and it's what I had available at the time.
 

Cook the rice, I used a rice cooker, so I could get everything else ready while it cooked, if you don't have a rice cooker that's fine the bag has step by step direction on the back that are easy to follow.

While rice is cooking cut avocado, cumcumber, and cream cheese into strips, not too think you don't want to struggle when rolling. 

Once rice is done cooking spread a thin layer on a sheet of roasted seaweed.

About an inch from the edge layer avocado, cucumber, cream cheese, and spicy tuna or crab.  

Carefully roll sushi as tightly as possible, cut roll in half then slice into smaller pieces.  I am usually able to get eight pieces from each roll.  I recommend wiping the knife off after each cut, I've found it makes it easier to slice the roll. 

For the spicy tuna:
I drained two 5oz cans of tuna in water and added 2 tablespoons of Sriracha sauce, for medium heat.  Mixed and add to your roll.

Jell-O Shots

My sisters graduated from High School this past weekend and to celebrate we had a family BBQ with friends and out of town family before they had to leave.  But what is a BBQ with out the Jell-O Shots?!?  I've had my fair share of them and I have to tell you these are by far the best one's I've had.  Now I may be bias but every other Jell-O shot I've had have been WEAK.  So here is how my family makes Jell-O Shots, and in my opinion they are stronger then the majority of the other one's I've tried.  
Don't Forget To Drink Responsibly!

I usually make them the day before so they have enough time to set up. 

  You can use the small or large box of Jell-O, if you use the larger one double the recipe.

  I like used 2 oz. cups with lids, they are the prefect size!  The only place I've been able to find them is GFS, they run about $4 for 200 cups and just over $2 for 100 lids.

Lay out the cups as shown above so you don't have to rush to do it after mixing everything together.  Each box makes about 15-18 depending on pouring skills, I usually lay out 20 to be on the safe side. 

To Make: 

Boil water; I used a tea kettle, this allows me to boil enough for a couple boxes of Jell-O, while keeping the water hot as I was making different batches.

Measure out 1 cup of boiling water in a measuring cup and stir in your choice of Jell-O (I used Berry Blue) until it's dissolved. 

Add a small hand full of crushed ice, and let melt. 

After adding the Jell-O mix and the ice the liquid level is usually about here.  If you have more that's fine.  The ice is just used to ensure the liquid isn't too warm when you add the alcohol.  

  

Fill to 1 1/2 cup mark on measuring cup with COLD water and stir.

Add 1/2 cup of alcohol (I used Rum) and stir.  After adding everything you should have 2 cups. 

Carefully pour into the 2 oz. cups you set out earlier.

Let cool for a minute or two before you put the lid on so condensation doesn't accumulate on the lid.  I usually label the lids during this time.  What I do is write the Jell-O and the alcohol used so

Berry Blue Jell-O with Rum is BR

Put in the fridge, let solidify and ENJOY! 
If you are making multiple flavors I recommend making a key so you don't get the flavors mixed up.  We had 15 different flavors and man did the key come in handy!