Making mac and cheese for the holidays? Readers insist on this beloved baked recipe

When I answered the phone last week from a reader looking for a mac and cheese recipe from The Charlotte Observer’s archives, I could hear the panic in her voice.

I was focused on helping her find the story she was referencing, so I didn’t catch Deborah’s last name. But the part-time New Jersey, part-time Palm Beach, FL resident told me that her family was going to revolt if this dish did not make it to her Thanksgiving table.

I found the recipe she told me about and sent it to her, and she assured me I’d saved Thanksgiving.

A few days later, my friend Kim retweeted a very important PSA from The Root writer Michael Harriot: “I don’t know who needs to hear this but your family DOES NOT want you to “try something different” with the macaroni & cheese.”

I thought about my new friend Deborah, of course.

I’m a huge mac and cheese fan myself, so of course — I now have to make this recipe, right? How can I not? I’m planning to test it out in a few weeks on my nieces and nephews.

Mac and cheese and its double life

THE BACK STORY: In 2017, Charlotte Observer food writer Kathleen Purvis wrote about macaroni and cheese leading a double life: On the holiday tables of Black families, and out of a box and not at holiday dinners of white families. (For the record, my white family missed the memo on this one — I grew up with Mom’s homemade mac and cheese at every holiday dinner.)

In that story (which is a great read — don’t miss it!), she included the mac & cheese recipe that Deborah introduced me to. And now, I will share it with you here.

Equipment to make Mac and Cheese

• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Can opener
• Colander
• Mixing bowls
• Dutch oven or similar heavy-bottomed pot
• 3 quart casserole dish or 13-by-9 inch baking pan

This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Making mac and cheese for the holidays? Readers insist on this beloved baked recipe."