It was on a warm June day that I set out to create this recipe and soon discovered that eggnog was not readily available in any grocery store. Go figure. Well, I wouldn’t let a little thing like that stop me, so I forged ahead. The result was fantastic, if I do say so myself. Eggnog, who needs ya?

The smell of this loaf baking will attract people from miles around. So think long and hard before you make it, just in case you don’t feel like having anyone over that day.

I’m just going to say it: this is the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever eaten - better than the macaroni and cheese I ate as a child; better than the macaroni and cheese I brought my own children up on when they were little (they don’t agree); better than any fancy restaurant macaroni and cheese with white truffle or lobster; better than any macaroni and cheese I have loved in my life thus far, and there have been many.

I don’t feel it’s boastful to say as much, as the greatness lies not in any brilliance on my part, but in the simple tastes of the ingredients as they fuse in the heat. That’s home cooking for you.

I do rather love the way these little macaroni and cheeses, with their pixie-penne, look like they’ve been made with artificially colored, cheap squeezy cheese or out of a box, when in fact their exotic glow comes courtesy of the earthy goodness of a sweet potato.