What used to be a chore of prepping and cooking over a hot oven to have Baked Mac and Cheese, now can be whipped up in the crockpot. Not only did the Crock-Pot make cooking supper and side dishes easy, but it also was convenient. The slow cooker is still one of the most loved small appliances of all time. This invention changed the way we cooked forever. Many of the foods we enjoy today, came from this horrific time of slavery. As with most Southern or Soul food, it has its roots in African culture. Chef Hemings’s recipe for Baked Mac and Cheese was spread throughout the southern parts of the US. It should be noted that this was during the time of slavery. They brought the recipe back to America where as president, Jefferson had it served at an 1802 state dinner. The dish became a huge hit with everyone, including Jefferson. This gave him the idea of making an oven-baked macaroni pie. It is here where Chef Hemings learned about how the Europeans were cooking dishes with macaroni and cheese. Sweet Tea and Thyme mentions that Thomas Jefferson was said to have taken his chef, who was a black man named James Hemings, to join him in France. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the exact origins are not known but the earliest know recipe was found in 1769 in Northern Europe. Some say that it was originally from Northern Europe. But it didn’t necessarily originate there. Mac and Cheese has a long history in the South. Either way, this recipe will soon become a family favorite, and to top it off, it is such an easy recipe to make. Us Southerners will find a way to make you think a dish is healthy when it really isn’t (haha). It is so popular here that If you go to a restaurant in the South, you will learn that Mac and Cheese is considered a vegetable on most menus (although we both know it really isn’t).

Homemade mac and cheese crockpot