[honeychile]

That bleu cheese sauce sounds wonderful!

Small anecdote: one of my first jobs was for a very blustery politician who had an older, nice but rather blowsy mistress. This was a time when women rarely ran for office, but did all of the scut work, and a few women from my office were invited to get together for a casual dinner at a very proper lady's home. I was chosen as one of the few.

It was a small group, and the first few of us showed up in casual skirts & sweaters, and made small talk. Last ones to arrive were the drunk mistress & sidekick - both in jeans. She offered a bottle of fine wine to the hostess, saying, "I always like a snort before dinner." From the smell of her, she had snorted quite a few!

We retired to the dining room, oohing and aahing over the china and Duncan Phyfe decor. After we were seated, our hostess brought out the most delicious macaroni and cheese casserole (remember, this was casual) and said, "Oops, forgot the spoon!" While she was in the kitchen, the mistress declared, "I would have thought a clasy broad like that would have served something better than macaroni & cheese!" of course, near the top of her lungs. It was all downhill from there.

The next day at work, I was called into the front office, and the mistress said to the politician boss, "Yeah, that broad thought she was all prim & proper, but we had our secret weapon - Honey!"

Why did I tell this story (and trust me, this is just part of that story!)? Because really good macaroni and cheese doesn't come out of a box, but is a delicious, occasionally dressed up casserole. It can be a meal in itself or a side dish, but it's one of the world's best comfort foods, even when you're discussing some incredibly stressful tactics!