u/SolidNemesis

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for local recommendations for a reliable, honest landscaping company or independent contractor in Eugene to help my future mother-in-law.

She is 76, widowed, and on a fixed income. Her backyard has become heavily overgrown, and she has no family willing to assist with the upkeep or a clean up.

We aren't looking for anything for free, but because she is a senior on a budget, we want to find someone reputable who will treat her fairly and give her an honest price. The immediate need is a one-time major cleanup to get the overgrowth under control, starting with a free, no-obligation estimate.

If you know of any family-run operations or independent landscapers who are great to work with, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Hi everyone,

I am hoping this wonderful community can help me track down or reverse-engineer a vintage recipe that means the world to me. I want to cook this for a very special dinner next week, but I need to get the precise ratios right.

I am trying to recreate the exact macaroni and cheese my mother made back in the 1970s and 80s. May she rest in peace.

To be clear, I have never eaten boxed mac and cheese, and I haven't been able to have any since mom passed. My personal absolute baseline for what macaroni and cheese is comes entirely from her specific tradition, which is a classic baked casserole style.

Here are the specific details I can remember about how she made the dish:

She never melted a smooth cheese sauce on the stove to pour over the noodles. Instead, she bought blocks of high-quality extra-sharp cheddar from a market vendor, cut them into rough chunks/cubes, and tossed them directly with the noodles inside the pan. Because it was aged extra-sharp cheddar, it melted into deep, rich pockets of flavor rather than being gooey, stretchy, or stringy.

When eating it, there was a beautiful, soft, creamy white texture binding everything together. Because we never had sour cream, cottage or ricotta cheese in the house, I've figured out that she must have used the classic milk and egg custard method poured over the noodles, which baked into a delicate, savory white binder in the oven.

She always baked it in a rectangular glass Pyrex dish (about 2 to 2.5 inches deep, though it didn’t fill all the way to the brim). It baked uncovered, creating a perfect, slightly firm, golden-browned crispy crust on top where the exposed noodles and cheddar chunks fused together.

Seasoning was mainly salt and pepper.

I'm hoping someone can provide me with reliable ingredient ratios for this exact style of custard-baked macaroni casserole.

Thanks for any help, aid or assistance.