With love, from my little kitchen to you...: Party Food

We had a party. A Harvest Party.
And we had a lot of food.
Some of which I made, the rest of which was brought by others.
And it was all amazing!

Anyways, here's what I made... macaroni & cheese and chicken pot pie. Oh, and a couple loaves of bread, but they came from a box, so I can't take any credit for those really.
But, they are all here, so let's get started. This all took me about 4 hours to make- let's hope that this post doesn't take nearly that long.

First- I preheated the oven to 375, started to boil a pot of water for the macaroni, and made the batter for the quick breads.
Per the box, add some water, egg and oil, then mix, put the batter in a greased pan, then bake. I'm sure we've all done this before, so I'm not going to get into much more detail than that.
By the time I made the batter, the oven was preheated, so I popped them in.

By this time I put the breads in the oven the water was boiling, so I tossed in the elbows. I bought a 3 lb. box (which ended up being a but too much), but I cooked it anyways.

Oh, and please note- 3 lbs. of cooked pasta takes up a lot more room that it does uncooked, so make sure you have a nice, big pot if you are going to take on this much macaroni!

Set the timer, stir often, then drain. For this dish, having the pasta a little al dente is the best.

Also, normally I would say to not rinse your pasta when you drain it, but for this you want to. Otherwise, it will keep cooking and get too mushy. So rinse the pasta well in cold water, and let it dry. Check it every now and then so that it doesn't all stick together.

Ok, while the pasta was boiling, and then again while it was hanging out in the strainers, I got everything ready for the chicken pie. Step one- cut up the chicken.

Now, you can prepare your chicken however you want for this- grill it, boil it, roast it, bake it- whatever. But the easiest and fastest way I have found is to buy it. As in rotisserie chicken. And, if you can get a good deal at the grocery store, then this may also be a more affordable option. I also think it's a great option for this dish because its so moist and flavorful. But like I said, this is your choice. Just make sure that after its cooked, you chop it up- and be sure to use both light and dark meat.

At this point, the bread was done, so I grabbed that and let it hang out by the stove with all the macaroni.

Alright, next step- make the cheese sauce for the macaroni.
First-melt some butter in a pot, then add an some flour to it, then stir until its a thin paste. At that point, before it turns brown, add a bunch of milk to it, and whisk until it's smooth and the milk is warm. Keep the burner on medium heat though so that the milk doesn't burn.

Once the milk is warm, it's time to add the cheese!!!

For this I use Velveeta, a couple different Cheddars, some American, a dollop of sour cream, then some white pepper. I like white pepper better than black pepper because you don't see it. And it adds a nice flavor.

So, basically I just add all the cheeses to the milk until the taste and the consistency is just right.

Once the cheese sauce is just right, its time to add it to the macaroni. For this, I had to break out my big, big pot.

Ok, now when I make big batches of mac & cheese for a party, I like to make it in my crock pot. This way, it can stay warm during the party. Because I hate nothing more than cold, hard macaroni that you have to microwave. So a couple years ago I started doing it this way, and I really think it's the best way.
But, it only works if you have the kind with a removable crock.
So, add the macaroni and cheese that you just mixed up to the crock. then add a little extra milk and a little extra cheese, stir it up, then pop it in the oven until its hot.

Once its hot, pull it from the oven, stir it, add a little more milk, then top it with crumbs.
For the crumb topping I like to use 50/50 mix of Italian flavored bread crumbs and plain panko crumbs, along with a bunch of melted butter. Mix until moist, but still crumbly.

Add the crumbs to the top of the macaroni, then drizzle a little more butter on top, and put back in the oven under the broiler until golden toasty brown.

OK, now lets finish the chicken pot pie.
This will be quick....

In a large pot, heat up a little oil and butter over medium-high heat. Once its warm, add some chopped celery.

Once the celery starts to get soft, add the potatoes (yes, these came from a can. But they are good. And fast. And easy. And cheap).

Then add some corn (also from a can, but that really is the best kind).

And peas & carrots (these were frozen, but I let them defrost before I added them).

Then add all the chicken that you chopped.

Mix these all up with a nice big spoon.

Next, add a couple cans of cream of chicken soup, and mix it all up until it's nice and thick.

If this is too thick, add some chicken broth to the mix.

Next, line a pan with pie crusts, then add the mixture to the pan and cover it. And yes, I used store-bought dough for this. Because it's good, and cheap, and I don't have the time or patience to make my own.