Baked Mac-N-Cheese and Dirty Shirleys

TGIF! 

Today I'm going to share the recipe for the Baked Macaroni and Cheese I posted about Monday.  Remember way back in March when I posted about my trip to Alexandria here?  In it, I mentioned how my aunt sent me home with lots of cookbooks.

One of them was this gem:

When I decided to make a Mac-N-Cheese side for our cook out last weekend, I knew Southern Living was the place to look.  

Their description of the macaroni and cheese was:  "Sometimes the simplest recipe brings the greatest pleasure.  Macaroni and cheese proves the point again and again."

Here is their VERY EASY recipe for Old-Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese. (Yields 8 Servings)

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce package) dried, elbow macaroni (cooked) I like to mix it up so I used a mix of large elbow and penne
• 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon salt I did not measure out the amount of salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper I used black ground pepper and definitely used more than 1/8 teaspoon
• Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Ingredients

Preparation

• Layer one third of macaroni in a lightly greased 2-quart casserole; sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.  Repeat layers with remaining two-thirds macaroni and 1 cup cheese, ending with macaroni layer.  Reserve remaining 1 cup cheese.
• Combine eggs and next 3 ingredients, stirring with a wire whisk or fork until blended.  Cover and bake at 350F for 45 min or until thoroughly heated.  Uncover and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.  Cover and let stand 10 minutes before serving. We were running short on time, so it didn't stand 10 min.  I think the most important part is that it stands long enough for the cheese you added to melt!

DELICIOUS!

Secondly, after yesterday's post, many asked me about Dirty Shirley Temples.  Well, if you enjoyed Shirley Temples as kids, you are in luck--it's the same drink with alcohol added.  Here's an official recipe I found at DrinksMixer.com.

WARNING:  Because they are so sweet and delicious, you can barely taste the alcohol, so these babies can be dangerous!!

Dirty Shirley Temple

• 1 oz Vodka
• 5-6 oz Sprite
• 1 dash grenadine syrup
• Pour the vodka over ice.  Fill the glass the rest of the way with Sprite.  Add grenadine, garnish with a cherry, and serve!

When I make them, I rarely measure out the ingredients, I just pour all three in a glass and drink!  

What are everyone's weekend plans?  (Hope they involve the opportunity to try a Dirty Shirley!)