Mac and Cheese Day

How on earth did I miss Macaroni and Cheese Day yesterday? And more importantly, how did I miss the free mac and cheese with an order at Noodles and Co? Leave it to my daughter to tell me too late that she got free mac and cheese at Noodles just because! If she hadn't told me, I'd have lived on in ignorant bliss. 

Ah well, you can't always get free macaroni...but you can make your own. Now, I've not made real homemade macaroni and cheese for a long time, but the next time I do, it'll be this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. It looks sooo yummy!

You can add broccoli or steamed zucchini if you're trying to be healthy, but going straight up pasta is probably my favorite.

Speaking of pasta, my mom is a wonderful cook and one of my faves of hers is her noodles with turkey broth, usually made for holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas. I could fill my plate with 90% noodles, 5% turkey and 5% mashed potatoes and then go back for more noodles. In fact, I have! When other people are getting dessert, I'm getting more noodles. And so now my husband calls it noodle dessert. He's clever that way, lol.

The secret is absolutely the handmade pasta, which I've done only twice in my life, it's such a process! I find that Amish brand noodles are very close to mom's and will do for me, but if I'm looking for perfection, it's gotta be homemade! Here's a recipe if you're feeling brave. 

After drying them, drop them into boiling turkey broth and cook until the noodle is soft. You don't want soup, so add enough noodles to soak up the broth. It's tricky to do though!

And because my mom's parents both came from Hungary, she also makes fab Cabbage and Noodles, which I actually make a lot. I'm the only one who eats it here at the house, but that's okay with me! An entire head of cabbage is usually like 50 cents, so it's quite economical.

I'd be remiss not to mention mom's Chicken and Dumplings too, as my cousins have actually come to the house to learn how to make them, they are a family tradition and delish! My German/Italian husband loves these too and they're also called Chicken Paprikash. Cuz you gotta add the paprika, if you're going to be Hungarian!

My favorite part of dumpling making when I was a kid was making the dough fall into the water from the bowl (use a spoon and make them smaller than these pictured here if you want to please my mom) and then just moments later, seeing them rise to the top, already cooked. Instant gratification. Then add them to the chicken and eat up!

Okay, so now I'm all hungry for pasta...going to go raid the cupboards and see what I've got. I know I don't have a cabbage, so that recipe's out.  

Here's a pic of my cutie mom when she was a teenager. I think it's taken at Buckeye Lake here in Ohio.

Happy Friday!
Chark