Hello! {by Carol}

Hi there! My name is Carol. Kristin is my sister-in-law and she asked me to be a contributor on her blog. Exciting! Actually I'm a little nervous. lol Kristin has this beautiful blog and she has no problem deciding what to post about. I, on the other hand, have a hard time deciding what to blog about. But I'll do my best! :)

This year for Thanksgiving, we're going to my mother-in-law's for Thanksgiving. She has a HUGE shindig and we always have tons of fun. This year there's going to be close to 50 people there! And they all aren't even related to us. I love it!! Mom has asked us to bring a dessert and casserole so I thought I would share with you what I plan on bringing. I'm not doing anything fancy. I thought for my casserole I would do a comfort food. My husband isn't a big turkey lover so I chose his favorite casserole, homemade macaroni and cheese. Like I said, it's not fancy but it's a great comfort food. :) And the best thing about this recipe is that you can make it ahead! I love that! As for the recipe, here ya go!

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (7 ounces)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded or cubed Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Cook macaroni as directed on package.
3. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
4. Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

For my dessert I think I'm going to take Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. This recipe is so easy! I love it...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Spice cake mix

1 15oz pumpkin pie filling
2 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix all ingredients.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes then cool on cookie rack.

~Carol