Friends & Family Series: Cynthia's Homemade Mac 'n' Cheese (with Bacon & Chorizo)

Hi guys!  I'm on vacation right now so I've asked my friend's and family to step in while I'm away!  Each day that I am gone, I will be sharing a recipe from one of my friends or family members.  I started this project with no clear goals, I was just hoping to fill a few of the recipe gaps while I was away.  I received an overwhelming response from everyone, and I am truly honoured and excited to be able to share with you so many great recipes made by so many of my favourite people!  Please enjoy their recipes and be sure to leave them comments at the end of their posts!  
Cynthia is a friend of mine that I met at the Farmer's Market a couple of years ago! Not only is she an amazing cook, she is also pretty handy with crafts! Cynthia's husband Jayden and I went to high school together and we were both bit by the drama bug - we acted in a couple of high school plays together and he was always a lot of fun to have on the set! They have two incredibly adorable little boys (seriously, the cutest kids ever and oh so smart too - their toddler can already play the drums!).  Cynthia blogs over at "Following my Dreams" - be sure to check out her wonderful blog, as well as her post about this recipe (it includes even more delicious pictures!).  

Hello,

So it is my Husbands Birthday tomorrow (March 4th) so since last Tuesday we have been Celebrating "Birthday Week" this happens to be our very first Year doing Birthday Week. So it has been really fun, because he calls what he wants for dinner for the Week. Of course he would pick something pretty amazing like homemade Mac n Cheese! I wasn't gonna say no to that. He requested to have bacon added to it as well. So I searched on Pinterest a bit...and found this awesome recipe....

Best Ever Homemade Mac & Cheese

So here is my version of the recipe. Enjoy (we sure did!)

Ingredients:
16 oz  macaroni pasta
1 lb  medium cheddar cheese
8 oz  gouda cheese
5 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 cans evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Cook Bacon
1. Bring large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta until just about al dente, do not over cook. It will take about 6-7 minutes.
2. Grate Cheddar & Gouda Cheese into a big bowl (we used our food processor with our grater attachment, so much quicker)
3. Drain pasta and set aside.
4. Now to make the roux. In a saucepan melt the 5 tbsp of butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Keep stirring for about 30 seconds (until it get's nice and heated through)
5. Slowly add 1 can of evaporated milk and whisk constantly, when it begins to get thick you can add the second can and whisk constantly until it get's thick and bubbly.
6. Add the heavy cream and the seasonings whisk and mix it all together. Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 30 seconds more.
7. Remove from heat and add the cheese and stir until it is all melted.
8. Put pasta back into it's pot and mix the cheese mixture with the pasta.
9. Pour mac 'n' cheese into a casserole dish. Place in 400 degree oven uncovered for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

So Yeah we pretty much loved this recipe. I will definitely make it again for my family, it is more than Husband approved...especially with my addition of bacon and chorizo sausage! I will definitely try adding the bread crumb topping (that is in the original recipe that I found on pinterest (the link is at the top of this post). Highly recommend this yummy, cheese, ooey, gooey, bacon/sausage loving dish! Go try it...you know you want to.

Thanks for stopping by!

...following my dreams...

-Cynthia