I am an avid Mac and Cheese taste tester. My friends send me information on mac and cheese festivals and new places that are serving mac and cheese for me to try. My favorite mac so far though, has been the one that I make using a recipe I found on allrecipes.com as the base. This recipe makes about enough for 12 servings.

I like to add thick sliced ham (cubed) and/or smoked sausage (cut in half and then cut in 1/2 inch pieces) to my mac and cheese. When I do this, I prep the ham and/or sausage, cook it lightly in a skillet and mix it into the mac just before I add the cheese and paprika topping.

Ingredients:

• 1 package elbow macaroni (16oz) - as you can see from the photos I use whatever pasta I want.

• 1/2 Cup of butter

• Salt & Pepper to taste

• 1 package shredded cheddar cheese (16 oz)

• 1 can evaporated milk (5 oz)

• 2 eggs

• 2 cups whole milk

• 1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup (10.75 oz)

• Paprika as desired

Instructions:

If you want ham or smoked sausage, begin by preparing the meat as described above and cooking lightly in a skillet. Sit meat to the side for use later.

Bring a lightly salted pot of water to boil in a large pan. Cook the elbow macaroni in the boiling water & stir occasionally. Drain the pasta and put back into large pan (or you can go ahead and put it in the slow cooker).

Add butter to the pasta & stir until it's melted. Then season with salt & pepper as desired. Next, add about half of the shredded cheddar cheese to the pasta & stir together.

Whisk evaporated milk & eggs together in a bowl until smooth. Pour into the pasta mixture & stir together.

Whisk milk & cheddar cheese soup together in a bowl until smooth. Then pour this into the pasta mixture & stir together.

Add the ham and/or smoked sausage to the pasta mixture & stir together.

Pour pasta mixture into slow cooker (if you haven't yet).

Add the remaining shredded cheese to the top of the mixture & top with paprika as desired.

Cook on low for 3 hours.

Happy Eating! - Sam