#NotInMYNameWelcome back to another installment of the Watercooler, RedState’s daily Open Thread! Today, we’ve got the fourth helping in our “Cooking Up Conservatism” series, one of the Gipper’s favorites.

President Reagan’s Favorite Macaroni and Cheese

Our feature recipe today comes from former White House Executive Chef Henry Haller and his 1987 White House Family Cookbook, a tome of as much interest for the looks behind-the-scenes at the five Presidents he served and their families as people as it is for the recipes. For example, while President Reagan was recovering at Bethesda after Hinckley’s shooting, Chef Haller arranged to have this and several other favorite meals catered to his hospital room.

Ingredients – serves 4 as entree or 6-8 as side dish

• 1/2 lb. macaroni
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• pinch of paprika

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Butter a 2-qt. casserole dish.
2. Add macaroni to 2 cups of boiling salted water and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Drain well in a colander. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
4. Stir in butter and beaten egg.Add 2-1/2 cups of the grated cheese.
5. In a small bowl, combine  milk with salt, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
6. Spoon macaroni and cheese into the prepared casserole. Pour milk mixture over and sprinkle top with the remaining cheese.
7. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake on middle shelf of preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until macaroni is firm to the touch and the top is crusty and browned.
8. Serve at once, either as a light entree accompanied by a hot green vegetable and a crisp salad, or as a side dish with hamburgers or meatloaf.

The book’s old, out-of-print and hard to find–my copy came to me via a friend who keeps an eye out for things like this when her library sells off old surplus books–but it’s well worth the addition to your kitchen bookshelf if you can find it. Someday I’d like to find a copy of one of the Founding-era WH cookbooks to compare this with, maybe make a half batch each of the same item from both books for a “then vs. now” taste-off.

Gratuitous Gun Giveaways

• *American Handgunner magazine, for a Coonan Arms .357 Magnum 1911 pistol, S&W Performance Center M&P45 Shield .45 pistol or Taurus Air-Lite .38 revolver (M&P45 ends Monday!): http://americanhandgunner.com/giveaway/
• *Guns Magazine, for a BlackSword Scythe AR15, Honor Guard HG9SC 9mm pistol or Mossberg 930 shotgun package (Mossberg ends Tuesday!): http://gunsmagazine.com/giveaway/
• Davidson’s Gallery of Guns, for a Taurus PT111 Millenium G2 9mm pistol or Heritage Rough Rider .22 revolver (both end Monday!): https://ggg.galleryofguns.com/
• *Aero Precision, for a Betsy Ross Flag-inspired custom AR15 (ends Monday): http://gvwy.io/i8ncgjs
• GrabAGun, for a Walther PPQ M2 9mm pistol (ends Monday!): http://grabagun.com/giveaway
• *Personal Defense Network, and Springfield Armory for $7000 worth of guns, ammo, gear and training (ends in 15 hours!): https://wn.nr/9jTppn

*Note: FMG Publishing giveaways require you to provide an FFL dealer’s info at entry. Aero Precision giveaways give me one entry each per person who uses my referral link; PDN gives me four.

Quote of the Day

This one comes from a gun-board buddy, a No Trespassing sign he found somewhere and found amusing enough to photograph for posterity.

This property is protected by a United States Marine who has a serious lack of negotiating skills, but is absolute hell in a gunfight.

If you do not belong here, please leave.

You have now been properly negotiated with.

If I’d served in the Corps, I’d be tempted to have the entire perimeter wallpapered with such signs…

As always, the Watercooler is an Open Thread. Hope you found something tasty, and if anybody ever wins one of these giveaways I keep passing along, please let the community here know in Comments!