Mac-n-cheese

As a child, I scrupulously watched to make sure my mother would divide the Kraft macaroni and cheese equally. As a college student, I would revel in eating the whole box myself... and I still am partial to the glow-in-the-dark-orange variety which retails for 29c. I remember being surprised when I arrived for a babysitting job as a teenager, and the rather arty and wholesome mother was actually making mac-n-cheese from scratch: what's the point of all that extra work? But now that I am a perhaps too earnestly wholesome mother, I find myself making a cheesy white sauce as well, and I do think there is a point... it is delicious. This is my comfort food, and my son's firm favourite.

For a 500g bag of pasta, make a white sauce with 3T butter and flour, a little onion and garlic, mustard for extra zing, and 3 cups whole milk (heated up in microwave before adding, to speed cooking). Then sundry and forgotten bits of cheese are stirred in to melt; here, gouda and grated Parmesan. Best served when husband is at a rugby game, to avoid being called a corn-fed Nebraskan dairy princess.