Super Easy Party Mac n Cheese

Before you continue, let me start off by saying that this recipe calls for Velveeta.  I recently discovered that a bunch of people are fundamentally against Velveeta because "it is not real cheese."  While that may or may not be true, it does contain milk, and it is sinfully delicious.  Plus, it's not like you are eating it every day.  Next time I make homemade mac n cheese with "real" cheese, I will be sure to post it for the Velveeta haters.

Moving on.

This recipe makes a large amount and is great to bring to your next holiday party or family gathering.  It is also highly unlikely you will bring any of it back with you.  I actually almost did not get a picture of it once it was served.  It disappeared pretty quickly.  If you don't need this much, you can easily halve everything.

Yeah. Almost gone.

A. Paprika and crackers missed the photo shoot.
B. That is a 24oz bag of mac. Only use 16 oz.

What you'll need:

• 1lb (16oz) macaroni
• 1 block of Original Velveeta, cubed
• 1 8oz can evaporated milk
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 roll of Town House Original Light and Buttery crackers
• 1 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

The paprika and crackers make an appearance.

In a large skillet over medium low heat, combine evaporated milk, Velveeta, salt, and pepper.  Continue to heat until all of the cheese is melted, stirring frequently.  The milk can and will burn if not tended to.

At the same time, boil macaroni in a large stock pot until done.  Drain.  In a 9x13 pan, stir butter into macaroni until it is all melted and evenly distributed.  Set broiler on high.

Add cheese to pan and thoroughly combine.

In a large Ziploc bag, crush up your crackers and paprika into crumbs and shake up to blend.  A rolling pin works really well for this step.  If you don't have one, you can roll a jar or a canned good over the bag.

Distribute the crumbs over the top of the macaroni and broil in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the top is nice and toasty.

Serve it up, and enjoy.  Done.  Super easy.

Prep time: 2 minutes

Total cook time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: Everyone

Christmas DIY: Button Wreath

This one is a lot like the button trees I did.  I just got a styrofoam ring out of the craft section at Walmart, spray painted it red, and pinned a bunch of buttons to it.  Then, I added a pretty red bow.
I think I did better as far as coverage on this one.

You can also make one for fall with different colors!

Christmas Button Trees

Here's a little Christmas DIY if you're feeling a little crafty and have some time on your hands. While this is a super cute project, it is a little time consuming.

What you'll need:

• Foam craft cones
• Pearlized straight pins (lots of them)
• Lots of buttons! (Sometimes you can find jars of them at antique shops.)
• Spray paint (red or green)

First, spray all of your cones the desired color. Because of how porous the foam is, the color will not be even. Don't worry about that. It will be covered in buttons. 

(I did not spray my cones, and I regret it because you can see tiny bits of the white foam peeking through. I have another button project I'm working on that is painted.)

When the paint is dry, you can lay out your buttons and start pinning! As you can see, all 3 of mine have slightly different color themes. I think a pale blue and white theme would be pretty on one...

Tip: As you get closer to the top, angle the pins downward to avoid penetrating the other side... and your finger.