food photos
recent posts
Are You Ready for Some Hockey?!
Date: Oct. 3rd 2009
Category: Gnocchi, Pasta, Pizza and Rice
Email This
| 
Add to del.icio.us
The NHL season has already begun but tonight, for the hockey fans out there, is the unofficial beginning of the real hockey viewing season as it’s the first Saturday night transmission of Hockey Night in Canada.
Regular readers will know that I’m a huge hockey fan and that my heart belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I’ll give you a moment to make the usual assortment of Leafs’ jokes.
[pause]
Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I’m happy to announce that in honour of this season’s first HNIC broadcast, Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and Mary of The Sour Dough have joined me in preparing a hockey fan’s meal to be enjoyed throughout the game.
Mary is in charge of Appetizers, I’m in charge of the Main and Peabody, of course, is in charge of Dessert.
This idea came about as a result of several different conversations between both Mary and Peabody and myself. Peabody, of course, is my soulmate in both baking and hockey. I never have to worry that she won’t understand when I gripe about why people don’t like to bake and she totally hears my pain when it comes to the Leafs.
Mary and I share an undying love for Steve Yzerman. Enough said.
So what am I bringing to the HNIC potluck? Good ol’ baked macaroni and cheese! On Saturday nights, when the hockey game is on, I do not want to be in the kitchen all night. I do not want to be cleaning up for hours. I do not want to be anywhere but in front of the television and baked macaroni and cheese is the perfect dish. You can make it earlier in the day and just heat it up when you’re ready to eat (first intermission, after Coach’s Corner).
Baked macaroni and cheese is a very easy dish. It essentially consists of a cheese sauce, macaroni and a breadcrumb topping. You can add anything you like to those basics from ham to mushrooms to tomatoes. I’m a bit of a mac and cheese purist so I don’t add anything to my dish but you are certainly welcome to experiment.
The recipe that I use originally comes from Fine Cooking. The only difference in my version is that I don’t use Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce, and I don’t use a sharp white cheddar, but rather a sharp yellow cheddar. I also bake the macaroni and cheese in smaller containers that I can freeze so that whenever I have the craving for mac and cheese I can just defrost and warm it in the oven.
So this is what we’re having as a Main tonight. I can’t wait to see what Mary and Peabody have in store for us!
Have a good game, everyone. Go Leafs Go!
Ciao!
22 Comments
Post a Comment
extras
March 2010
Valvona & Crolla: A Year at an Italian Table
I loved it so much in February I had to keep it around for March!
Magazine Mondays
Click here for more info!
Categories
- 2006 FIFA World Cup
- 2006 Winter Olympics
- Antipasti
- Baking Class
- Beans and Legumes
- Beverages
- Bread
- Brunch
- Cakes, Cheesecakes, Cupcakes and Muffins
- Canada
- Canadian Blogging By Post
- Chocolate
- Choux Pastry
- Christmas
- Coconut
- Comfort Food
- Cookbooks
- Cookies and Bars
- Cooking Italy
- Dairy
- Daring Bakers
- Dessert and Pastry
- Drinks
- Events
- Fish and Seafood
- Flavour of the Month
- Food Blog Awards
- Food of Piemonte
- Fruit
- Gnocchi, Pasta, Pizza and Rice
- Ice Cream
- Italian Sweets
- La Festa al Fresco
- Lemon
- Magazine Mondays
- Meat and Poultry
- MEMEs
- News
- Panini, Sandwiches and Tramezzini
- Pies and Tarts
- Potlucks
- Preserves
- Salads and Dressings
- Soup
- Sugar High Fridays
- Sweet Snacks
- The Daring Bakers
- The Daring Cooks
- The Travelling Cream Puff
- Treasured Family Recipes
- Uncategorized
- Vegetables
- Weblogs
More Links
- Alpineberry
- Caramels, Bonbons et Chocolats
- The Canadian Baker
- Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
- Cherry's English Kitchen
- Cupcake Bakeshop
- It's My Life
- Tip of the Iceberg
- DavidLebovitz.com
- Dessert First
- Eating Suburbia
- Egg Hunt
- Exploring The Silver Spoon
- A Finger in Every Pie
- Fiordizucca
- Food Porn Watch
- Humble Pie
- Gluten-Free Goddess
- Hungry In Hogtown
- Jellypress
- Jumbo Empanadas
- A Veggie Venture
- Kochtopf
- Le Moulin
- Make Life Sweeter!
- Living Venice … and Beyond
- Italian Cooking Recipes
- Foodisgood
- Joonbug.com (New York)
- Once Upon A Feast
- P.A. Moed
- Pinch My Salt
- Posie Gets Cozy
- Rubber Slippers in Italy
- Scrumptious Street
- Seven Spoons
- Still Life With
- Sweet Pleasure: Plaisir Sucré
- Tales From Pixie Wood
- The Flying Apple
- The Second Helping House
- My Kitchen in Half Cups
- Winosandfoodies
- Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow
- 101 Cookbooks
- A Blithe Palate
- ACE Bakery
- A La Cuisine!
- All Recipes
- All Things Edible
- Scones, Muffins, and Tea Cakes
- Trattoria Cooking
- Dip It!
- Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini
- Chez Panisse Vegetables
- Perfect Cakes
- Chez Panisse Fruit
- Italy in Small Bites
- Marcella Says
- Once Upon a Tart
- The Cook and the Gardener
- The Weekend Baker
- Chez Panisse Desserts
- Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
- The Good Cookie
- Lorenza's Pasta
- The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
- Barefoot Contessa Parties!
- The Babbo Cookbook
- Rustico
- Barefoot Contessa Family Style
- The Complete Book of Baking
- How to Be a Domestic Goddess
- An Alphabet of Sweets
- Death By Chocolate Cookies
- Canadian Living Cooks Step By Step
- Breads from the La Brea Bakery
- The Art of Eating Well
- On Food and Cooking
- The Pie and Pastry Bible
- The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking
- The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
- The Cake Bible
- Baking with Julia
- Italy Al Dente
- The Food of Italy
- The Silver Spoon
- Celebration Breads
- Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert
- More From Magnolia
- Paris Sweets
- Pure Chocolate
- Cheesecakes
- Biscotti
- Sweet Miniatures
- Afternoon Delights
- Luscious Chocolate Desserts
- A Beautiful Bowl of Soup
- The Simple Art of Perfect Baking
- Essentials of Baking
- The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion
- The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
- Easiest and Best Coffee Cakes and Quick Breads
- Out to Brunch
- Barefoot in Paris
- Everyday Italian
- Wanda's Pie in the Sky
- For the Love of Soup
- Truly Madly Pasta
- The ACE Bakery Cookbook
- Salad Dressing 101
- Biscuit Bliss
- Party Nuts!
- French Farmhouse Cookbook
- Fagioli
- Avventura
- Bittersweet
- Home Baking
- Bread Made Easy
- Soffritto
- Pasta!
- Caprial's Desserts
- The Great Chocolate Book
- Truffles, Candies, and Confections
- The Donut Book
- Risotto
- Bread
- Brunch
- Buonissimo!
- Recipes from an Italian Terrace
- A Passion for Chocolate
- Basic Italian
- Simple Italian Sandwiches
- Mediterranean Street Food
- The French Market
- Patricia Wells' Trattoria
- The Italian Baker
- A Thousand Days in Venice
- Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
- The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
- All About Braising
- Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating
- The Cake Book
- Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague
- Larousse Gastronomique
- Baking: From My Home to Yours
- The Chef's Table
- Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza, Calzone
- Rose's Christmas Cookies
- A Passion for Piedmont
- The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook
- Williams-Sonoma Collection: Cake
- Italian Farmhouse Cookbook
- The New Food Lover's Companion
- Pizza (Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library)
- Luscious Lemon Desserts
- A Passion for Desserts
- Caramel
- Delicious Dips
- Luscious Berry Desserts
- The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Cookbook
- Cupcakes!
- A Passion for Ice Cream
- Coffee Cakes
- A Sweet Quartet
- Sunday Suppers at Lucques
- Kitchen Sense
- Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best
- Wing It!
- Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings
- The Best Quick Breads
- Iced Tea
- Artisan Baking
- Bread for Breakfast
- The Cheese Board: Collective Works
- Les Halles Cookbook
- Simple Soirees
- Twelve: A Tuscan Cook Book
- The Handmade Loaf
- Al Forno
- Italian Vegetables
- Meze
- The Lost Art of Baking With Yeast: Delicious Hungarian Cakes & Pastries
- BakerBites
- Baking and Books
- La Tartine Gourmande
- Becks & Posh
- BetterBaking.com
- The Candied Quince
- Cottage Chic Living by Cherry Menlove
- Chez Pim
- Chocolate & Zucchini
- Chocolatier
- The Cookbook Store
- Cooking.com
- Cook's Illustrated
- La Cucina Italiana On Line
- Cucina Testa Rossa
- De Arte Coquinaria
- Delicious Cafe
- Delicious Days
- Epicurious
- Flickr
- Food & Wine
- Foodbeam
- Foodieblogs.net
- FoodieView
- Food for Thought - A Foodtv.ca blog
- From the Branches of an Olive Tree
- Geneve's Kitchen
- Golda's Kitchen
- Il Forno
- International Recipes
- Is My Blog Burning?
- ItalianMade.com
- Joy Of Cooking
- Our Adventures in Japan
- Kitchen Connaisseur
- La Toile Maison
- Leite's Culinaria
- Lidia's Italy
- Lori Longbotham
- Lucullian Delights
- Do You Know The Muffin Man?
- Market Hall Foods
- Living in Florence
- Michaelaram.com
- Monika Korngut's Delicious Living
- An Obsession with Food
- Orangette
- Pastry Arts and Design
- Pastry Chef Central
- Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum
- The Republic of Tea
- ReTorte
- Rustico Cooking
- Saveur
- Simply Recipes
- Slashfood
- Taste T.O.
- The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz
- The Perfect Pantry
- Tomato_Kumato
- The Traveler's Lunchbox
- The Vanilla.COMpany
- Vinography
- The Wednesday Chef
10/3/09 at 1:24 pm
OMG, that Macaroni Cheese looks so scrumptious!
Cheers,
Rosa
10/3/09 at 1:53 pm
YEAHHHH HOCKEY!!!
i’m actually watching the detroit/st.louis game right now! your maple leafs are playing in my town tonight!! oh and i share your undying love for yzerman too!!
10/3/09 at 2:26 pm
[…] free to head on over to both Ivonne and Mary’s to see what I will be virtually eating tonight as I watch the games. Though I must […]
10/3/09 at 3:17 pm
Yay! Such a good choice! I love me some Mac and Cheese. We are having bacon sandwiches, because that is what my family and I used to eat a lot on HNIC nights.
10/3/09 at 4:28 pm
Wow that looks super delicious! I think I will make some mac and cheese tomorrow. So glad to have you back from Italy and blogging again!
10/3/09 at 5:30 pm
My Montreal Canadiens-loving husband is so disappointed that there’s no Habs game on tonight. If there were, I’d have had to make something luscious…. like mac and cheese!
10/3/09 at 9:15 pm
OMG!! Mac and Cheese is what we would eat on Saturday nights during the game too. Mom would always head out to spend the evening with friends leaving Dad to cook for us.
Good thing I brought my “Big Girl” plate over here for the main dish.
10/4/09 at 5:40 am
Hooray for game time and for a comforting dish!
10/4/09 at 8:21 am
I’ll pass on the hockey, (sorry!), but I would love a big bowl of Mac and Cheese!
10/4/09 at 10:10 am
A fun meal to have for the game. Have fun both with the meal and watching the game.
Paz
10/4/09 at 3:16 pm
Mmm, that looks delicious. It dawned on me though, while reading your post, that other than Kraft Dinner (ugh), I don’t think I’ve ever had REAL macaroni and cheese. Dear god, what a sad life I’ve lead…
10/4/09 at 4:39 pm
Woah. Football AND mac & cheese? I think half of my male friends just fell in love with you.
10/4/09 at 4:40 pm
He he - Love HNIC, when hockey is on. Mac and Cheese looks like the perfect game-time meal =D.
10/4/09 at 7:37 pm
I’ve never liked mac ‘n’ cheese but your dish looks so delightfully tempting I may have to try it again
10/4/09 at 9:06 pm
I watch high school hockey (MN). So0 kknow the feeling if I don’tfollow the WILD (MN hockey team). Your mac and cheese is scrumptious… perfect … deliious and love that you iintertwined it with hockey!
Claudia
10/5/09 at 9:13 am
Nam nam nam nam nam…love your mac & cheese…tempting and how!! What a great idea you guys had!
10/5/09 at 1:34 pm
LOVE me some hockey! Blues fan here——- no apologies made. I will be there in person in a couple of weeks, can’t wait.
10/6/09 at 10:10 am
Yeah hockey! I’m a die-hard Wings fan myself. Though I don’t get many hockey games on TV here in Wisconsin. Sigh…
Anyway, that Mac and Cheese looks so yummy. Mmm. Melty and cheesy pasta… I don’t think I’ve ever made my own baked macaroni and cheese before. I’ll have to give it a try soon.
10/7/09 at 7:38 pm
I know nothing of hockey, but I do know something about macaroni and cheese. That close up on the fork is driving me insane.
10/10/09 at 9:11 am
[…] Puffs in Venice - Leafs fans often need comforting, so comfort food like Mac ‘n’ Cheese is a great way to make it through that final (losing) shoot […]
10/22/09 at 3:09 pm
YES, I am so ready for the beginning of hockey season.
Go, Redwings!
And as far as Steve Yzerman goes, he is so cute I could eat him with a spoon!!
11/5/09 at 2:46 pm
Ivonne. . .you’re totally awesome! Thanks for loving Fine Cooking’s mac-n-cheese and sharing the recipe with your followers. We appreciate it. Go Leafs!