It's been a long time coming, this mac 'n cheese. I'm fairly loyal to the boxed stuff, and will admit I had never really tried a homemade version before this year. Why? I have no idea. I first attempted to recreate a version from a local restaurant in town. Word of warning: do not use buttermilk when making mac 'n cheese. Silo, it turns out, uses a buttermilk cheddar cheese from a local farm, not actual buttermilk. Want to know what happens when you heat up buttermilk? Curds. Glorious, chunky, unappetizing curds. It's not pretty and it sure as heck isn't creamy like cheese sauce should be. Once we'd given up on that idea (it only took 3 tries to realize it was NOT going to work), we moved on to a basic mac and cheese, figuring if we could get a foundation in place, then we could start experimenting with add-ins. Batch after batch we made, and batch after batch we ate without being entirely pleased with the results. White pepper ruined it one night, too much mustard powder another. Not

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