The 7th annual Macaroni and Cheese Bakeoff was this weekend, November 29th. The event, put on by the Mission point wineries, offers visitors to taste local wines - and macaroni and cheeses prepaired by local restaraunts. The event began 7 years ago after the animated responses to a description on Peninsula Cellars’ tasting sheet. In describing their Old School White, the winemaker
stated that it “goes great with comfort foods such as Macaroni and Cheese.” Visitors laughed and jovially scoffed at the idea: “Macaroni and Cheese --- with Wine!!?!?!?!?!?!?!” They decided to prove it. The classic Old Mission white wines, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Blanc, with their vibrant acids just sing with food, especially those rich, creamy cheeses. So while the wineries prove that Old Mission wines are simply gorgeous with food, the chefs rove that Mac and Cheese does not, and should not, come out of a box, and most definitely is NOT nuclear orange. These chefs have gone way beyond the blue-box notion using ingredients such as lobster, game meats, wild mushrooms, and exotic cheeses.Every year participants are encouraged to vote in four categories about the macaroni and cheese they tasted at all five wineries—categories being, Most Unique, Cheesiest, Best with Wine, and People’s Choice.
Unique Mac n' Cheeses this year included whitefish, pumpkin, lobster, and BBQ chicken. Our crew this year, named seven ugly dogs, consisted of Me, Dan, Annie, Kevin, Jeff, Pam, Dick and Maryann. A great time was had by all.
If you would like to joing us next year, send an email to Dan (Dan.hoban@gmail.com) or Annie (aknuff@charter.net).
