Matching Macaroni

Haley, Haley, Haley!

I feel as if it's been so long since we've talked. With you back at work and me shuttling between every high school in town, our communication has fallen to a bare minimum. (Note to readers: while we Reems girls are billed as 'hard workers' we find day jobs exhausting. By the end of the work week, no, make that mid work-week, we are reduced to lifeless, cranky slobs by the early evening hours. We CANNOT delay bedtime past ten o'clock. Really, we prefer nine, but our spouses protest. Plus, there's something shameful about tucking in at nine each night.) Yesterday I had the day off. Lovely. I rose at seven, as per usual, and awaited the ringing of the phone, and the mechanical voice of the dispatcher to send me out into the world of unknown schools, classrooms, and children--who look at me with such open distrust, 'who are you and what have you done with our teacher?'

The phone never rang. I made white-chocolate brownies. Balance was restored. I'm not going to give you the recipe. I'm saving it for a Christmas post.

Last week you made macaroni with winter squash, which was weird. Not the macaroni, that, I'm sure, was wonderful. But the fact that you made macaroni with winter squash and I had made the same thing the night before. Creepy. As strange as you and I arriving at events in matching outfits, planning cooking classes, and eating too many blondies, all simultaneously, without prior discussion. Clearly we are shorn from the same cloth.

Mine's from Martha.

3 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash

1 cup stock (I used water)

1 1/2 cups milk

pinch of nutmeg (I omitted)

A few splashes of hot sauce (my addition)

2 tsp grainy mustard (my addition)

pinch of cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp coarse salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 pound macaroni noodles

1 cup grated cheddar

4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (I omitted)

4 Tbsp fine bread crumbs

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup ricotta (I substituted yogurt)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the liquids and squash in a pot, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the squash is tender. This will take about 20 min. Remove the pot from the heat and blend the squash into the liquid using an immersion blender. Add the seasonings of your choice (cayenne, mustard, etc).

Meanwhile, cook the noodles. Add the noodles to the squash mixture.

Add the cheeses and yogurt to the pot. Mix well. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish that has been lightly oiled.

Mix the oil with the breadcrumbs and spread evenly over the macaroni.

Bake, covered, at 350, for 20 min. Uncover and bake 30 to 40 min more until browned and crisp on top.