Dime Store-Style Macaroni & Cheese, Like Woolworth’s

DIME STORE-STYLE MACARONI & CHEESE, LIKE WOOLWORTH’S

By Gloria Pitzer

Pictured above, as seen in her self-published cookbook… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes_© Book (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; June 1997, p. 58).

Last published in the following version, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 140). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition).]

 

In the days when lunch counters in large dime stores, like Woolworths or Montgomery Ward, were the only ‘fast food’ eateries, the menu was simplified and usually, for the price we paid, very good! This was one of my favorites when I was a regular lunch-counter-customer in the early 50s.

INGREDIENTS:

7-ounce package elbow macaroni

8-ounce package (½ pound) Velveeta cheese

½ cup milk

¼ pound (one stick) butter or margarine

1 tablespoon dry minced onion

¼ pound grated cheddar cheese

10-ounce can cream of celery soup

1 cup mayonnaise, not salad dressing

¼ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon season salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cook macaroni per package directions until tender. Drain. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt cheese, milk and butter or margarine, adding the onion and cheddar. Stir until smooth. Do not let it boil!

Add remaining ingredients, keeping mixture on lowest heat, add drained macaroni. Pour into 2 ½-quart greased casserole dish. May be served at once or kept in a warm oven at 275°F for up to an hour before serving. Leftovers refrigerate well up to a week. Serves 4 to 6.

*VARIATIONS: You may top the casserole, before baking it, with 1 cup finely crushed potato chips or buttered bread crumbs and a light dusting of paprika. You can also stir in a 6 ½ ounce can of tuna fish to the finished sauce mixture and proceed as recipe otherwise directs. Crispy-fried and crumbled bacon (6 to 8 ounces) may be added to the top in place of, or in addition to, the crushed chips.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Good Neighboring