Nathan's Birthday

Good morning, readers! I'm sorry I've been so terrible at posting lately, I've really been slacking so prepare yourself for two posts right now!

This post is about Nate's birthday celebration on Tuesday, January 10. This year my dear husband is 23 and we will be the same age for the next 12 days.

This year he requested macaroni and cheese, you may be thinking to yourself, "macaroni and cheese? Really? Is he turning 12? Out of all the food he could possibly want to eat on his birthday he wants that?" Don't fool yourself, dear readers, this is no ordinary macaroni and cheese -- this is Martha Stewart's macaroni and cheese and is extremely decadent and luxurious.

Perfect Macaroni and Cheese Recipe, courtesy of Martha Stewart

6 slices good-quality white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces (I used hamburger buns because I had them on hand and I didn't bother removing the crusts)
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing casserole dish
5 1/2 C milk, heated
1/2 C all purpose flour (or Masa Harina if, like me, you ran out of flour and forgot to buy more)
2 Tsp kosher salt
1/4 Tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 Tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper
4 1/2 C grated sharp white cheddar cheese
2 C grated Gruyere or 1 1/4 C grated pecorino Romano (I used Gruyere)
1 lb elbow macaroni

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter a 3-quart casserole dish (or your trusty 6-quart Dutch oven) and set aside.

Place bread pieces in a medium bowl and toss with 2 Tbsp melted butter and set aside.

Heat milk (I cheated and used a microwave because I didn't want to dirty every pot and pan in my kitchen).

Melt remaining 6 Tbsp of butter in the bottom of your casserole dish (or yet another saucepan to only use for a single ingredient), when the butter bubbles, add flour (or Masa Harina) and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Slowly add the hot milk to the butter-flour mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

Remove the pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups of cheddar, 1 cup of Gruyere or pecarino Romano. Set cheese sauce aside.

Boil macaroni and cook 2 to 3 minutes less than the box's directions.

Add cooked macaroni to cheese sauce and top with remaining cheeses and prepared breadcrumbs.

Bake for 30 minutes until browned on top. Allow the macaroni and cheese to cool for 5 minutes before digging in.

This macaroni and cheese is phenomenal but definitely rich and a little pricey to prepare but is worth the money and the extra effort to prepare. Thank you, Martha!

I also made Nate a cake (as he requested). His maternal grandmother made him fantastic birthday cakes when he was a child and these still hold a special place in his heart so I attempted to re-create the taste (because there's no way, by any stretch of the imagination, I was going to re-create her decorating prowess).

I used the Duncan Hines yellow box cake he said was his favorite and prepared it according to box directions, and unfortunately I over-filled the pan so it was oozing onto the bottom of my oven but other than that it turned out alright.

I topped this cake with my signature white buttercream frosting, find the recipe here. If, like me, you are not much of a decorator, I have a protip for you! Using cookie cutters, create a stencil in your frosting and outline with a gel frosting pen.