Don't ruin the mac & cheese! Holiday cooking tips

There was some comfort food. This smells great. Comfort food right in the cold weather? What pairs better? Okay, so whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving or, again, as we just said, looking for something to warm you up in the cooler months, you cannot go wrong with some mac and cheese. Well, actually, you can. That's why she's here. Kelly Davis, the owner of Kelly's Gatorade, is here to help us make the perfect mac and cheese that's just right for every occasion. Good morning. Good morning. I did two different mac and cheese today. I did one where I doctored a Kraft box mix, and then I did one that is milk. Some heavy cream, some eggs, and then the cheese. And just in case you don't know, a great mac and cheese starts with freshly grated cheese. And I use a number of cheese. Some people only use one cheese, but I do, depending on how I feel, about eight or nine cheeses. So I do smoked gouda, a sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella. Oh, wow. I want to be the taste tester on here. Okay, scoop them up so we can get a little look at the cheese pull. So this is the doctored one where I used those two boxes and I added... Oh, look at that. The milk to it. That cheese has the stringiness to it. Oh, I love seeing that. And then this one, because when I... And it's not dry. You can see how creamy it is. No, it's creamy. So this other one, I didn't do it as cheesy. Okay. This one has the milk and egg and... Seasoning. Now her mac and cheese, if you don't know, it is so good. It's amazing. It's not just good. It is probably the best thing I've ever had. Now, and this is great because when you think of, you know, mac and cheese in the store, I'm like, oh man, it doesn't taste anything as good as yours. But you're saying that, you know, people can either order from you, let's say they want, if they don't want to do it their own and let the professionals do it. But there's fun ways that you can mix stuff up to make better mac and cheese. I always feel that you can make a recipe your own. What better way to start than with Kraft? Okay, so we're looking at the box here. We want to get into the do's and the don'ts because this can get, I mean, you can be banned from the kitchen, folks, if you don't get this right. It's true. Where do people go wrong with the mac and cheese? Because there's so many recipes online. I think using pre-shredded cheese that has some sort of flour or something on it to keep it from sticking together, and that changes the flavor. Of the cheese. Also, sometimes people start mac and cheese with a roux or a bechamel, which starts with flour and they either have too much flour or not enough flour. They don't let the flour actually mix all the way with the cream that they're using. And I personally struggle with that. So I start with a garlic Alfredo. So it. Which is heavy whipping cream. I don't know if I've ever heard of this before. That's how I start my cheese sauce with an Alfredo. No wonder why it's so good. Now, one of the things I also see with recipes is there's milk that you can use, or you're saying using a cream. Now, that cream is going to give it a better texture, right? It has more fat in it, and it's more flavorful. So we're going with the cream. Yeah, I use heavy whipping cream, or you can also use... Evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed. Those are two different things. I'm sorry about that. I would just mess it up right there, okay. Yeah, don't do that, don't do that. My mom was probably embarrassed at this moment, okay. And remember, calories don't count around this time of year, right? Not at all, not at all. Holiday season's all about the flavor, being with family, being with friends. Okay, have you had a confidence tip? Because it can be a little intimidating bringing the mac and cheese to the Thanksgiving spread. What's maybe one piece or maybe two pieces of advice you would give somebody who's maybe getting in the kitchen and they're cooking this mac and cheese for the first time? Believe in yourself. It's simple. People often, they're afraid and they psych themselves out of doing something. Mac and cheese is the simplest thing, especially when you're just doctoring an already mixed box. Now, is this going in the stove or is this a stovetop? Because these are typically stovetops. Oh, I only... Do in the oven. Okay. See, and that's how it's done. Okay. That's how it's done. In the oven, yeah. And then normally you'll get like a brown top to it. Yeah. These, I didn't have them in the oven that long. I just had them in the oven long enough to melt the cheese and then get over here. Okay. So you can kind of pick and choose if you want that crust brown top or not. If you want the crust, yeah. So the stovetop can go in the oven? Yes, ma'am. Love that. Just know that. That was done in the oven. All right. Well, thank you so much, Kelly, for those. Like Lisa said, maybe they just want to order from you. They're like, this is too much. That's what I'm saying. She knows it. How can they reach you? I have a website. It's Kelly, K-E-L-L-I-E, and catering with a K. K-A-T-E-R-I-N-G. All right. Thank you so much. So kellycatering.com. We appreciate it. Lisa's got a final look at your forecast right after the break. And we've got to get into some of this mac and cheese, folks. Look at this cheese pool here. Oh, my goodness. This still has plenty of cheese. I'm going to go ahead and achieve. We'll be right back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .