Bacon Mac and Cheese

Some people get cravings for very bad things and they ignore them. They say, "It's not worth the extra calories" or "That's so bad for me" or "I already ate too much today."

When I get a craving, I never say things like that. This is why I will never be skinny, but also why I will always be a little less crabby.

Monday, that craving was the mac and jack from Eatery NYC, a splendidly bad-for-you dish I had last month. And with a bajillion strips of bacon sitting in my fridge, there was no way I was ignoring that craving.

I started out by making homemade bread crumbs (after MONTHS of saying I would do it) and grating blocks of pepper jack and Cabot Extra Sharp cheddar cheese.

While I boiled some water for the elbow macaroni, I fried up some bacon. After two days of bacon in a row, my house has a very....interesting scent.

While my macaroni was boiling, I started the sauce in another pot. I used this Martha Stewart recipe as a base, but I cut the recipe down to size.

I started the sauce by melting 2 tablespoons of butter.

I then whisked in flour, a dash of cayenne and 2 cups of whole milk (omigod I'm going to die from the fat!), before adding most of the shredded cheese (the remainder went with some bread crumbs and salt).

Once the cheese sauce seemed good to go, I added the pasta and tossed it with the sauce.

I only had mini pans, so I had to divide the mixture among them. I ate one and a half for my dinner and saved one for later.

I put a topping of bread crumbs, cheese, bacon crumbles and the magic ingredient — crispy onions (I bought these pre-made).

Finished result! Doesn't it look luscious and splendid? It was! And it was great accompaniment for my cheesy jam, "Gossip Girl."

Needless to say, I think I need to go do 4,000 sit-ups.