My husband was born and raised in the deep south, and the flavors of Southern cuisine run deep in his blood. Not only did his family own a traditional barbecue restaurant when he was little, forever ingraining in him a love of slow-smoked meats slathered in barbecue sauce, but his grandmother’s influence provided him with taste memories of her food that continue to this day.

Back when he was in high school, his weekly ritual – and almost daily ritual in the summer months – included lunch at Grandma’s house. Grandma was a famously good home cook, and she lived for feeding her family. She was the type of cook who did not use recipes. She had been doing it for so long that the act of preparing a dish just happened automatically, without any specific measurements or written recipes to guide her. Because of some careful detective work by my sister-in-law, we now have some of Grandma’s recipes documented – like her sweet potato casserole and her famous cornbread dressing.

Sam and I don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to food. I’m more open to experimenting with different flavor profiles and ethnic cuisines. He’s perfectly content to stick with meat and potatoes. He is wonderfully patient with me, though, and he now tries most anything I put before him.

Except for tomatoes. Never tomatoes.

When I told him we were having macaroni and cheese as part of Easter dinner, Sam’s face lit up with excitement. Macaroni and cheese is his kind of dish, the type of food that he can relate to and understand immediately. It’s a dish that feels like home to him.

And who doesn’t like mac-and-cheese? Sure, I like to think of it as Southern, but its appeal as a comfort food crosses all state borders. Macaroni and cheese shows up at potlucks and church dinners, funerals and baby showers – occasions where we gather to socialize and share our lives, and our meals, with those we care about most.

At its most simple, macaroni and cheese is simply that – noodles and cheese, with a white sauce binding it all together. My husband’s favorite recipe is this one by Giada De Laurentiis. This is the one he requested for Easter dinner. I made it, of course, but I couldn’t help but mess with the recipe some. I added an extra cheese to her version, and I played with the spices a tad. Because I can’t leave a recipe well enough alone, you see.

Sam approved.

Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted from a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. I like to let this sit for about 30 minutes prior to serving, just to let it firm up some.

Ingredients:

Butter, for greasing dish
12 ounces rigatoni or wide egg noodles
2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 1/2 cups (packed) grated Fontina
3/4 cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan
3/4 cup (packed) grated mozzarella
1/2 cup (packed) grated Gruyére
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish and set aside. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite (al dente), according to pasta box directions. Drain well, but do not rinse.

Whisk the cream, milk, flour, grated nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and white pepper in a large bowl to blend. Stir in 3/4 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Gruyére, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, and parsley. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Transfer the noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish. Toss the remaining 3/4 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Gruyére, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup mozzarella in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese blend over the noodle mixture.

Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese is melted and begins to brown on top, about 20 minutes. Let stand for at least 10 minutes prior to serving.

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My husband and I are having dinner out with some good friends tonight. I’m so excited about it – not only because it’s a night out, with no kids, but because I don’t get to see these friends outside of work very often. We all have kids, and we all work a lot, so it’s hard to coordinate our schedules after 5pm. Our dinner will be at an Italian restaurant here in town that I’ve heard very good things about. We’re eating later than usual, mostly because that major university in town is having spring graduation weekend.

Which means we didn’t plan our choice of evenings very well.

This town isn’t very big – just under 131,000 people – so there aren’t many celebration-worthy, non-chain restaurants. For tonight’s outing with friends, I called each of those restaurants I could think of – there are six, maybe? – and there were no reservations to be had. None.  Those darn college students and their parents took up all the good seats.

That’s okay. I remember being one of those college students on graduation day.

Well, with that flashback, I think it’s time for a cocktail. Who’s with me?

This is a drink called The Jasmine. If you love grapefruit, this is the drink for you. If it weren’t for that alcoholic kick, you’d think you were drinking a  full glass of grapefruit juice. A great summertime sipping drink.

The Jasmine

This is a wonderful cocktail for sipping. In fact, it tastes best when consumed on your front porch while sitting in that lovely white rocking chair you have.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounce gin
1 ounce Cointreau
3/4 ounce Campari
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
lemon peel for garnish

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine gin, Cointreau, Campari, and lemon juice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel and serve.

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Just a quick note: For the next two weeks, my posts here may be scarce. I’m headed into an intensive work schedule starting on Sunday until closer to the third week of May. I hope to come up for breaths of fresh air periodically, and I plan to sneak in some cooking  – and photographing and writing! – when I can.

Sometimes a day comes along that is almost perfect. Saturday was that day for me.

It was a day of happy little occurrences sprinkled throughout the morning and afternoon. Picking these wildflowers with my daughter was one of them. When I see pink and purple and white phlox growing on the side of the two-lane country roads between here and my parents’ house, I always think of my mother. I have memories of stopping to pick phlox with my mom when I was a kid, our hands sticky with sap from their stems and our bare legs itchy from wading through calf-high weeds to get to them. I felt blessed to share that with my own daughter on Saturday.

Sharing a lunch hour with my mom and my grandmother, my newly-wheelchair bound father, my husband and kids, and my sister – who came down from Chicago to visit for a few days – was another highlight of the day. We sat near the front picture window of this lovely little restaurant and shared plates of fried green tomatoes served with ranch dressing for dipping. My children, who normally refuse tomatoes of all sizes, ate these crispy treats and asked for more. My heart was full.

And then this.

For the last six months or so, Oliver has been asking us to take him to an Eeyore farm. My husband and I were puzzled by how we were going to accomplish this. Do donkey farms exist? We’ve seen plenty of farms with cows and horses around, but donkeys? We were stumped. We placated him with assurances that yes, of course we could go to an Eeyore farm – knowing full well that we intended to ignore the request from the 4-year-old.

Until Saturday came along.

Driving home on the country roads after lunch, we spotted two donkeys in a pasture off to the left. “Eeyores!” my son yelled, his voice filled with excitement and delight. After a quick u-turn at the entrance of a nearby gated neighborhood, we parked the car in the grass along the edge of the road and walked up to the fence. The donkeys – the Eeyores – came right up to us. Oliver and Maddie petted their soft noses and fed them weeds and grasses plucked from the ground on our side of the fence.

I think I smiled the entire way back home, just thinking of Oliver’s happiness at getting to pet and feed Eeyores for the first time ever. I’m never as happy as when my children are.

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I promised myself I would share this recipe with you as soon as I could. I struggled with what dessert to make for Easter on Sunday, and ultimately decided to go with a Tres Leches (“Three Milks”) Cake. I discovered this cake when I lived in Miami some years ago, but I’d never made it before.

I learned two things from making the recipe this weekend.

First? Homemade whipped cream is hedonistic bliss on a spoon. I’m not sure I’ll ever buy the canned variety or the processed stuff in a tub anymore.

Second? This cake is unbelievably decadent. The sponge cake absorbs the liquid from the three milks, soaking up that sweet creaminess and giving the cake melt-on-your-tongue moistness. Topped with the homemade whipped cream, this cake was insanely delicious.

I think I actually mourned when that last bit of cake from the pan was gone.

Tres Leches Cake

Adapted from this recipe from Alton Brown. Prep time is 45 minutes plus 8-hours of overnight refrigeration time; cook time is 25 minutes. While it may look intimidating, it really is a very simple cake to make. Don't let the recipe overwhelm you. It serves 10-12, but be forewarned - you will want seconds of this cake.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Cake

vegetable oil for pan
6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for dusting pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces sugar
5 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ingredients for Glaze

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (8 ounces) half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ingredients for Topping:

2 cups (16 ounces) heavy cream
4 ounces granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preparation of Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and dust with flour a 13-by-9-inch metal cake pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Decrease speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix thoroughly to combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches and mix until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. There will appear to be just a little batter for the size of the pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the cake is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over using the tines of a fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the three-milks glaze.

Preparation of Glaze

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, half-and-half, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preparation of Topping

Place the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low speed until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

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