Attn: Evaporated Milk Companies...you do not charge enough money for your products.

Skillet Kielbasa Macaroni and Cheese (and Evaporated Milk)

It was just one of those days.  I had a Cook's Country 30 minute supper recipe in my bag of tricks this week, for just this sort of day. (Skillet Kielbasa Macaroni and Cheese) I honestly needed a fast, easy, one dish dinner.  I probably just should have fed my family a frozen pizza...Hindsight.  I hate you hindsight.

The first thing I do when I start a magazine recipe is pull all the ingredients out.  The idea was, sometimes the ingredients are hard to find, so if there is a picture, maybe that will save someone some time if they know what they are looking for.  You will notice in this picture, the lack of evaporated milk.  I thought I had some in my pantry....well, I thought wrong.  The very last thing I was going to do, was to get in the car at 5 o'clock to go to the store for one item.  No way.  Not happening.  So, I did what any stressed out, tired, mother of three would do....I googled it.  There's bound to be an easy replacement.  Sure there is, they said use dry milk and only put in half the water it calls for....My guess is, if you don't have a canned milk in your pantry...you probably don't have powdered milk either...  The smart asses "chefs" at OChef.com said, "If you have a little time, though, you can easily reduce a quantity of milk by half or more.  Put it in a pan on the stove, bring it to a simmer, and let it reduce." I thought to myself, "I have a little time.  I have a pan and a stove. Sounds easy enough."

What is missing from this picture?

Wrong.  This was not my best idea.  It was like watching paint dry, except it was milk and you can screw it up if you don't watch it and stir.  It can't boil, it will curdle.  You have to stir it so it won't scorch on the bottom.  I only had enough whole milk to try this once.  2 1/2 hours and 2 glasses of Chardonnay later....still watching and stirring.  I began to wonder which would be finished first...my milk reducing by half or my bottle of wine.  I then thought if I should have just used wine as a substitute.  What did OChef.com know anyway?  Why didn't I think of that earlier?  Oh well, I was too far in and committed. I guess I'll just watch and stir.

"Oh, this is super EASY ochef.com", she said with narrowed eyes.

I checked and my 3 cups of whole milk was now a little over 1 1/2 cups.  Close enough.  I made the rest of the dish in record time. (I had plenty of time to study the recipe) By the end of it, my 30 minute supper turned 3 hour hellish endeavor was just okay.  Wasn't fantastic....wasn't horrible.  Everyone ate it and no one came back for seconds.  There were no "oooooo's and ahhhhh's", no banners or parades, no talking of the star ingredient that I slaved away over....



As I poured the last of the bottle of Chardonnay into my glass and ate without fanfare, my mind wandered to the evaporated milk companies...Do they have any clue as to the gold mine they sit upon?!  My God, I would have paid $5 for a can of that stuff tonight.  Well, I'm only going to clue them in with the title of this blog.  You have all been warned and I have let the canned milk folks know if they increase their price by $.50 or more, they still have a loyal customer in me. Now I am off to Costco to buy a case of that stuff....maybe two.  I'm pretty sure I am going to suffer from PTSD over this whole incident...and have a hangover.

Cook's Country Apr/May 2012