By the time this week is over, I will have lived in Seattle for ten years. To celebrate, yesterday I hosted the First Annual Mac-n-Cheese cook-off. Unfortunately, some sort of weather event in the Puget Sound made yesterday the hottest day of the year.  It got up to 87 degrees Fahrenheit, and there was pretty much no breeze.

Nevertheless, a few of us slaved in our kitchens and brought our unique concoctions to the table. Alisa’s was the most like what you expect mac-n-cheese to look like – orange and creamy. She used pasta shells and a whole mess of cheese types – I remember hearing asiago and gorgonzola named, among several. Annabelle used no less than 22 ingredients for her “Pepita Crusted Cheddar Jack Southwest “Chicken” Mac”. Tizzy’s was probably the most elegant, an overall white and creamy blend with spiral pasta. Mine was inspired by a beer and cheese cooking show I saw recently – my sauce was made with mushroom broth and two bottles of Hoegaarden white ale.

I’m still gathering the votes, but to me it is difficult to pick a winner. Everyone’s was so different, and all were good in their own ways.