I'm glad you liked it, Alexa. A few years ago, I put about 200 of our family favorite recipes onto a CD for our girls. Every one had the story of the recipe that often prompted memories of more than just that one dish. Here's the rambling one for the tomato pudding: THE STORY: Sometimes we forget that in previous generations, not many fresh vegetables were available in the winter. Since she was a little girl, one of NanaÂs favorite foods was tomatoes. Her birthday was in winter so your great-grandmother would always keep a jar or two of home canned tomatoes set aside for her birthday. SheÂd make what they called tomato pudding for dinner that night. She used her own stale bread crumbs instead of the Pepperidge Farm but that most closely resembles the flavor my mom remembered. That's why we still have this dish at Thanksgiving Dinner - to remember to be thankful for canned tomatoes. LOL Every summer, Aunt Bertie would host two or three canning weeks. We'd stay there, along with Nana, Aunts Betty, Evelyn, Margie and their kids. We'd have assembly lines to can and freeze all sorts of fruits and vegetables but tomatoes, peaches, raspberries, corn and green beans were the ones I remember most vividly. With the tomatoes, we'd can them plain, stewed, as ketchup, spaghetti sauce, straight tomato juice, and a variation of V-8 that my dad really liked. No salsa in those days. For years, Jodi and I were the tomato (and peach) peelers. Greg and Linda were the boilers and would dip the tomatoes in boiling water for just a few seconds and then put them into a cake pan to cool a bit before we slipped the skins off and passed them along. Along the same lines, people would add small chunks of bread to thicken and "stretch" stewed tomatoes, even in restaurants. I hadnÂt thought of that until now because you rarely see the bread added anymore and I haven't make them that way since the 1960's.

I got the original recipe here: http://vegan-magic.blogspot.com/2012/06/bean-and-lentil-loaf-low-fat-gluten.html where credit is given to Anne Sheasby's book "High fibre cooking". Here is the version I did tonight, written as for a non-cook as much as possible: Food Processor, scale, large mixing bowl, strainer or slotted spoon, two pots, mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, wooden spoon or other cooking spoon, 9" loaf pan (mine is shiny aluminum), prep bowls, cutting board and knife, pastry brush (preferably silicone) Dry Garbanzo beans, about 200 g cooked weight Dry beans (black eyed peas tonight, white or black beans another time), about 200 g cooked weight 400 g cooked weight dried green lentils 1 onion, about the size of a fist, chopped 2 stalks of celery, chopped 1 large or 4 small cloves of garlic, squished and chopped or pressed Oil for sauteing (I use Extra Light Olive Oil) Carrots, about 8 peeled baby or one large 1/2 c. walnut pieces 1/2 c. almond meal 2 TBSP tapioca starch 2 TBSP ground flax seeds 1/2 cup crumbs (better idea than rice) 3-4-ish TBSP Simply Heinz tomato ketchup (if you're picky--any would do), plus more for brushing on later Be generous on the measures with the spices. Not heaping, but a little rondure. :) 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp chipotle powder 1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika 1/2 tsp black pepper, not too fine 1/2 tsp Morton's table salt (I say go for the iodine when cooking because who wants goiter?) 1 very very generous tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried thyme Day before: Rinse and sort beans, well. Put beans in a heavy pot, cover with water, bring briefly to a boil and let cool, then put in fridge overnight. Day of:Pour off some of the bean water until it's only about a third of the way up. Bring to a moving simmer and cook the beans through to tender. Should take about the time it takes for the water to boil off/be absorbed. About 20 minutes. Add back more bean water if needed. Rinse and sort lentils, well. Cook about a cup of lentils to 3-4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until they puff up. Saute onions and celery. When the onions start going transparent, add the garlic. Continue to cook until soft but not carmelized (brown). Put the walnut pieces in the food processor and pulse until small. Add the almond meal and pulse a few more times to mix. Put nut mixture in mixing bowl. Put carrots in food processor and pulse until small but not minced and loosing their water. Add to mixing bowl. Add the crumbs to the mixing bowl. Measure and combine in a prep bowl: seasonings, spices, herbs, flaxseed and tapioca (i.e., the small amounts of dry stuff). Mix well with a fork. Set oven to 350 degrees F. Drain both the beans and lentils. Measure out 400 grams of the lentils and 400 grams of the beans. Put equal portions in the food processor with a portion of the sauteed mixture equal to the proportion of the beans/lentils. That is, if you're putting in a third of the beans and a third of the lentils, use a third of the sauteed vegetables. Turn on the FP and let it run until a paste develops. Scrape down the sides once or twice. It's done when looking from the top (lid off) it seems well blended and doesn't have big pieces of anything showing. About the texture of stiff hummus. Empty into mixing bowl and repeat until done. Mix the contents of the bowl with your wooden spoon until everything is well distributed. Add the ketchup, and mix. Pour the spice mixture all around the bowl so that it's well spread out, and mix bringing the outside edges in, until all the spice mix is well mixed in and distributed. If you think it needs more color, add another squirt of ketchup. Prepare the loaf pan by generously oiling it (or spray oil). Not enough oil for puddles, but so there's lots on the sides and bottom. Don't do this ahead or the oil will all run down. The oil is for making the crust as much as keeping the loaf from sticking. Put the bean mixture in the pan and smooth the top. Try to get the sides not to stick up so they won't burn. Place in the middle of a 350 degree oven on convection/bake if you have it, or else convection or bake. Set the timer for 45 minutes. If the top is at all dry looking, use your pastry brush to cover it with a thin layer of ketchup. Bake a further 10-15 minutes. When it's ready the edges will just be getting dark and will be pulling away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and put on a rack. Let it cool and rest for at least 20 minutes. When the pan's edges are cool enough to touch, place your plate over the pan, grab the edges of both and invert. Garnish as you please. A scalloped or serrated knife will probably cut the cleanest, or choose a thin blade. Just don't press down so hard it squishes. Since I wasn't having company, I went for the practical and unmolded my loaf onto the top of a long Ziploc container. That made it easy to just put the container over the loaf for storage in the fridge. Edit: Left off the lentils from the ingredients. This post was edited by plllog on Tue, May 6, 14 at 1:10

LOL OK I'll post. I used this recipe - with a few modifications, in parenthesis Tillamook, Beer and Bacon Mac and CheeseDescription: 2006 Tillamook Macaroni and Cheese Contest, Karen Harris - Denver, CO Regional Finalist Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups large macaroni 2 teaspoons salt, divided 2 tablespoons Tillamookî Butter (whatever I had in the fridge) 1 tablespoon light flavor olive oil 1 large shallot, finely minced (onion) 3 tablespoons all purpose flour 2 cups whole milk (one can evap milk, topped off with lager) 8 ounces Tillamookî Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded (Trader Joe's extra sharp shredded Cheddar) 1/2 cup dark beer (in addition to the 'topped off' evap milk) 6 slices precooked bacon, sliced into 1" pieces (not in this house) 2 teaspoons full strength, prepared stone ground mustard (YES I have a Sierra Nevada beer mustard!!!) 1 teaspoon garlic powder (fresh) 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (nope, I just mixed the macaroni into the cheese sauce) In a large pot, over medium-high heat, bring two quarts water and 1 teaspoon salt to a full rolling boil. Gradually add macaroni and boil approximately 15 minutes or until pasta reaches desired tenderness. Drain. Melt butter and olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté shallots in butter and olive oil for approximately 2 minutes or until they begin to turn transparent. Add flour to the pan, stirring constantly until a smooth paste forms. Stirring constantly, gradually add milk and continue cooking until mixture is thick and bubbly (mixture should coat the back of a spoon). Add 6 ounces of the cheese and stir until completely melted (I dumped all eight ounces). Remove from heat and add beer, bacon, mustard, garlic powder, pepper and remaining salt. Stir well. (I skipped this step as mentioned) Spray a 9â x 9" square glass pan with non-stick cooking spray. In the large pot, combine macaroni and cheese sauce and stir. Pour into 9â x 9" baking dish, cover with foil and place into preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle the remaining 2 ounces of the shredded cheese and continue cooking, uncovered for another 15 minutes. Remove macaroni and cheese from the oven. Allow to cool for approximately 5 minutes before serving. Here is a link that might be useful: original recipe

I use various cheeses. My favorites are fontina, monterey jacks, cheddars (sharp especially for us), gouda, edam, gruyere, mozzarella, parmesan, romano, and provolone. I have melted asiago once and it came out okay too. The trick is to make your white sauce first and then add the cheese as the milk warms in small chunks or shred it. Stir contantly and don't whisk it, just easy stirs. Velvety sauce everytime is my experience. If you aren't making a sauce, or adding it to other ingredients, then almost anything will do I would think, but fresh cheeses like goat cheese can separate on you, I've had that happen once. Most cheese have a huge fat content and have salt. The fatter the cheese, usually the easier it melts I would think. We eat a LOT of cheese in our family, but we like it fresh cut or in a sauce best. Cheddar and mozzarella are the basic toppings for pizza or like tuna melts. Our favorite cheeses for macaroni and cheeses when I do it homemade is a mixture. I will do tomato sauces or white sauce based cheese sauces based on what tag ends of cheese, or cheese I need to use are in the fridge. Fontina is a favorite white cheese around here for melting. And, I think I forgot plain swiss in my list. But, baby swiss to nice ripe swiss cheese always tastes good mixed with beef. Try fontina cheese mixed in with ground veal, and don't forget to use feta cheese with lamb!!