It really is no wonder that in college I excelled at chemistry while I struggled in physics. My ability to imagine how things lay out physically is laughably limited. Steven took an alternate route home from the grocery store tonight and I still don't know how we got home. But my ability to mix different ingrediants together and come up with something wonderful is considerably better. I am admittedly a very proud cook tonight, and following this paragraph of blatant bragging will be a recipe for something I have struggled with for several months now (ever since first trying it out), and have finally achieved perfection. The key ingrediants: cream cheese and smoked cheddar.

Ingrediants:

- 1 box chicken broth (aim for low sodium since the cheese tends to be high-salt)
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 4 ounces havarti
- 4 ounces smoked sharp cheddar (trust me, spend the extra for the smoked)
- 1/2 a regular block of regular cream cheese
- 3 cups of milk (I used 1%, I don't recommend nonfat, but anything 1% and up will do)
- 4 tbsp. butter or olive oil
- 4 tbsp. flour (approximated is fine, but you need about the same amount of butter and flour whether you measure or not--I didn't measure, btw)
- 1 tbsp. granulated onion or 1/4 cup minced (and really mince it well) onion (I used the granulated)
- 1 tbsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper (white or black, whichever you prefer--I like black)
- 1 tbsp. garlic
- 1 tbsp. dijon mustard

In a really big pot boil all but about 1 cup of the broth and some additional water in order to cook the macaroni. You should boil the macaroni so that it's al dente. It will cook a little more as it sits and waits for you to finish making the sauce. I don't recomend making the sauce while the macaroni is cooking, but do get started on the prep work. Grate all the cheddar and the havarti (use 8 oz. of cheddar if you decide not to use the havarti), dice up the cream cheese and set them all aside.

Once the macaroni is cooked, drained, and waiting for you inside the pot that you cooked it in, start melting the butter (or heating the oil) on medium-low heat in a very large deep skillet (it should be 2 inches deep at least). Once the butter is melted (or the oil is warm) add in the flour and stir until mixed and a bit cooked (about 1 minute of stirring). Add the rest of the broth and the milk and stir. This part may take awhile, but you need to stir on medium-low heat until this mixture is not lumpy and has thickened. There's no question about whether it's thick or not, you'll know it because it usually happens several minutes later (a lot waiting, I know), and rather suddenly. Once it's thickened, add all the cheeses and stir awhile while the cheese is melting and mixing in. If the cheese doesn't mix in smoothly and the mixture is a little bit lumpy, keep stirring a couple minutes just to make sure it's as melted as it's going to be. A few lumps in macaroni and cheese is fine. After the cheese is in and while you're stirring, mix in the spices and the mustard. At no point during this sauce-making should you stop stirring. This burns easily, but it's just as easy to prevent burning by keeping the heat a bit lower than medium and continuing stirring.

Now is the fun part. This might look like too much sauce, but pour it all on the macaroni anyhow. Mix it all together and let it settle for a few minutes. Yummy goodness!

If you are so inclined, you could put this in a casserole dish and sprinkle additional cheese on top with some breadcrumbs (I hear potato chips are good for this as well) and let it bake for 20 minutes or so until the top is a bit brown and crispy. I rarely do, but that's just cause I'm too impatient.

Note: If you chose to use fresh onion and fresh garlic, when you melt the butter (or heat the oil) saute these for a few minutes before doing the flour step. The rest of the directions are the same.

Serving suggestions: Andouille sausage, broccoli, and ham all make cook mix-ins if you'd like to add a little variety to this meal. Otherwise, this makes a good main dish if you're in for some comfort food but don't care about a well-rounded meal. Or it's also a good side-dish, for just a little bit of comfort food with something healthier.