Macaroni and Cheese have been in my family ever since I was born. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas my mom’s job was to bring her famous Macaroni and Cheese and box cake.  My grandmother cooked the rest without asking for help. It was impossible to get my grandmother to stop cooking so we could help, yet she always woke up in the wee hours of the morning and cooked everything without waking us up. In preparing for my food presentation, I asked my mother about her recipe and why it is so good.

Originally, my mother got her recipe from her mother who got it from her mother and so on. The original recipe included fewer ingredients and over the years my mother constantly improved it. She told me that there never a standard way of making mac and cheese.  All of the ingredients listed were approximated when combining them. There is no perfect way to make this macaroni and cheese because there are no definite measurements. Most of the measurements are mostly just seeing how much is enough or too little. Her recipe included:

• Large Elbows noodles (about half of bag)
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese (about 1-3 cups)
• Cream Cheese (about 1 stick)
• Chicken Broth (about half a cup)
• Whole Milk (about 1/3)
• Seasoning Salt
• Pepper
• Onion power
• Garlic Powder
• Flour (about less than 1 tablespoon)
• Butter (about 1 stick)

The recipe fluctuates on how moist or dry you personally want your mac and cheese to be.

1. Boil water and add salt. After the water is boiling, add noddles and cook for about 8 minutes. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Strain noodles, add cream cheese and butter. Add chicken broth, seasoning, flour, and milk, (Don’t add too much liquid) then stir until thoroughly mixed.

3. Add cheese and stir. Add to baking pan and put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes and stir occasionally. Then add cheese on top and bake for another 10- 15 minutes.

Bringing mac and cheese for my food presentation brought back a bunch of memories of my family during the holiday season. For the last couple of years, my mom has been battling Leukemia. Although she is in remission it still took its toll on her body. This past holiday season my mother physically could not make her mac and cheese and cakes. It saddened me that my sisters and I had to step up to take over her role. It made me realize how much limited time we have on this earth and how food is a memory connecting us to love. My connection to this food goes back to my roots. In my family, we consider Mac and cheese soul food. Soul food is traditional dishes prepared and eaten by African Americans all around the United States. It was primarily eaten in the Southern United States from enslaved Africans. Soul food becomes a staple in African-American culture because of the migration of former slaves all throughout the united states and beyond. Soul food has many different influences and recipes, yet culturally it has been the main source of food for African-American families then and now.