Food and Angels @ The Tiki Hut

Two things before I get started. First, on Monday I'm announcing a fabulous giveaway that I think everyone will love, especially all you foodies and second, if you're here for Art Work Friday or Friday ~ Finding Beauty, scroll past this recipe and you'll find my entry for this week.(But you may want to check out this recipe while your here!)

Comment Update: I received a couple of emails and it seems that on my permalinks at the end of my post it says, " #Thoughtful comments. Click here to had yours" the link isn't working. However, at the end of the comments there is a Post Comment link that is working.  Sorry, I'll try and get that figured out.

Okay, I have a confession — I lied. There I said it. I freely admit that I lied to Libby over at Twirl and Taste. She posted a recipe in December for Kiss Your Mama Chicken and Rice Soup and I commented that I hadn't eaten Velveeta cheese for over 20 years, but that her recipe looked so good I was going to break my No Velveeta Rule to make her soup. Well, I did and it was delicious, but when I was at the store picking up that cheese I had a flashback and remembered that I did have Velveeta more recently than 20 years.

I haven't made this recipe in years, but it is by far, the BEST Macaroni and Cheese I've ever had. It is decadent comfort food at its finest and while my hips say no, my lips say — seconds please. So today for all my Foodie Friday Friends I offer you Patti LaBelle's

Over The Rainbow Macaroni and Cheese

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Muenster cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mild Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup (8 ounces) Velveeta , cut into small cubes
• 2 large eggs , lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole.

Bring the large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the oil, then the elbow macaroni, and cook until the macaroni is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well. Return to the cooking pot.

In a small saucepan, melt eight tablespoons of the butter. Stir into the macaroni. In a large bowl, mix the Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheeses. To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, the cubed Velveeta, and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the buttered casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and dot with the remaining one tablespoon of butter.

Bake until it's bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes. Serve hot and get out your handkerchiefs, because Patti says that the sure sign of a good cook is if their macaroni and cheese will make you cry and honey, this recipe will make you cry!

I first saw Patti prepare this dish on Good Morning America in 1999. I can easily remember the year because I still have the recipe I printed out that very day. I also have the recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About. This is one of those lip-smackin', mouth-waterin' cookbooks that every Southern cook and those who want to cook down-home Southern-style should own. Recipes include: Black-Eyed Peas with Smoked Turkey Wings, Don't-Block-The-Blessing Dressing, Aunt Hattie's Scrumptious Sweet Tater Bread, Geechee Geechee Ya Ya Gumbo and Child, That's Good Cheap Pot Roast! (Don't you just love the names Southern cooks give to their recipes?)

If your interested, I have this cookbook and two others by Miss LaBelle in my Tiki Hut Store. A link to my store is in my sidebar, but you can quickly find this cookbook here.

Be sure to stop by Michael's at Designs By Gollum for more Foodie Friday posts. I don't know about you, but I really can't wait to see what Bandwidth contributed this week!

Art Work Friday

This week I was taking pictures around The Hut for an upcoming post on my collection of seashells and when I uploaded them I found this one:

I almost hit the trash button, but then I thought I would play around with it in Photoshop and after several hours and lots of layers this was the result:

What do you think? AND be honest please, I can't grow as an artist without constructive feedback.

My entry for Friday ~ Finding Beauty is related to this altered photo. My son, THE ARTIST, sent me this feedback in an email after I sent these photos to him, "I love it!!! great job... Really think you should do a series of photos with this technique!"

Now you may think he said this because he's my son, but while he has always been supportive, he always gives me his honest advice. I think this is the first time he didn't tell me to change anything or tell me to try this technique instead. Now I think that is just beautiful and it just did my artist heart good!

Visit Dee Dee @ d dzine for more Art Work Friday

Visit Claudia @ Dipity Road for more Friday ~ Finding Beauty

Don't forget to come back on Monday to sign up for my Giveaway!