Macaroni and cheese

For you Ms. Alanna!

I don't measure so much so sorry for the funky measurements

a bunch of mushrooms (I like shitake the best, and by bunch I mean use however much you want)
a little more than half a thingey of bacon (I think they come in 12oz packs)
one onion cut in half and then sliced thin
splash of white wine (whatever you have in the fridge)
1 quart scalded milk (I use 2% because that's generally what I have but whole tastes better)
1/2c flour
6T butter
12oz. Gruyere cheese (I just buy like a pound in brick form and shred it)
4 cups any kind of cheese (I buy pre-shredded Mexican blend and have it on hand at all times so this is usually what I use)
EVOO
salt
pepper
nutmeg
1lb pasta take two minutes off the cooking time (to make it "healthy" I use whole grain and no one notices because its smothered in cheese)
buttered panko/Italian breadcrumbs (I use progresso Italian breadcrumbs and mix in panko. They sell an italian panko breadcrumb but I like the texture with regular breadcrumbs mixed in too)

the way I do it only uses two pots (one for milk and one to make pasta and cheese sauce) and one pan but you can do this all faster using more pans...

caramelize the onion in a little bit of EVOO (not fully caramelized you're going to cook it more later), this takes forever so start them first and then chop the rest of your stuff. Clean and slice mushrooms, grate cheese, chop bacon... are the onions done yet? If not pour yourself a glass of wine.. once the onions are almost a caramel color remove from pan and toss bacon in. Cook the bacon until crispy. This takes a while too so grab a magazine. Once the bacon is crisp use a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel (or not, if you want to leave the fat there go ahead) Cook mushrooms and onions in bacon fat. Once the mushrooms are softened add a splash (a big splash) of white wine. Cook until wine is mostly absorbed and set aside.

In the pot you boiled the pasta in melt butter, add flour and cook 3 min, slowly whisk in hot milk and cook until slightly thickened. Add a big dash of nutmeg, a pinch each of salt and pepper (I think my pinches are about a T.) Slowly add cheeses stirring with a wooden spoon (you should have the cheese sitting out at room temp while you cook and they'll melt faster) once all cheese is incorporated add bacon, mushrooms, onion and pasta and mix well.

Pour into baking dish and top with buttered breadcrumbs (melt 2T butter in bowl and toss in breadcrumbs, 1c of each type depending on how much surface area you have, I like lots of crunchy topping so I do a big baking dish 9x13 I think)

bake at 350 until hot and bubbly and toasty on top

When I make dinner the night ahead I make myself a snack sized one JUST to test it out  and make sure it's not poison :)