Goodness through pictures. They're worth a thousand words, you know. Not that you're getting off that easy.
Today I tried my hand at béchamel (white sauce made with butter, flour, and milk) and turned it into a cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese. Ended up with way too much so now we have a big vat of the stuff in the fridge. I need to have some friends come over and eat the stuff. Still, we poured some of it over about four cups of macaroni and added some black pepper and some cayenne. Throw it in the oven for 15 minutes at 350º F and voilá, mac and cheese. I believe Christina's words were "I think I'm falling in love with you all over again." That's her, licking excess sauce from the whisk. And they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
I realize the picture of the casserole dish would have been prettier if I had taken it before we ate, but I think I would have had to throw myself bodily between Christina and the dish. (It was about 8 p.m. by the time I finished this grand experiment.)
We've still got half the mac and cheese and most of the cheese sauce left; we'll pour it over some broccoli or something or maybe make another batch of macaroni. Next time I do this (a while from now, given the butter involved) I'm going to try not to go overboard on the quantity. Maybe make a soubise or a mornay. Don'tcha like my fancy French words?
