Today is an anniversary — it is the anniversary of the first time my husband asked me to marry him.
We’d been having the getting married conversation off-handedly for a while, and so when he asked me on a Saturday morning, I was just like, “Yeah, OK, whatever. I’ll answer you eventually.”
(That’s not exactly what I said, but it’s close enough.)
By the time I figured out it was an actual asking, it was all awkward and weird and I couldn’t answer.
Then we went to the State Fair, and I was going to be all cute and give him the answer when we got to the top of the ferris wheel. Except. . .they put this teenaged couple in the cart with us, so that was awkward, too.
Then, the Monday after the Saturday he asked the first time, we had lunch at Jimmy John’s, and over a BLT, he asked again. That time, I knew what was going on, and said yes.
Serves 6 to 8 (or 2 a few times)
5 Tbl. unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Havarti cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tomatoes (or 1 if parts of yours aren’t bad OR if you really like tomatoes)
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 Tbl. grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare the macaroni as indicated on package. Drain well.
In a large pan, melt 4 Tbl. of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook about 1 minute, stirring with a whisk. Whisk in the milk and cook until thickened.
Remove pan from heat and stir in Cheddar, Havarti, and Mozzerella cheeses, along with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into a 2- or 3-quart baking dish. (Katie Lee Joel says to use a 3-quart, but a 2-quart worked fine for me.)
Slice tomatoes and arrange on top of mixture. In another bowl, melt the remaining butter and mix with bread crumbs and Parmeasan. Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the dish and bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
