Nellie Melba

When she performed at London's Covent Garden as the reigning operatic soprano of her day, the royal laryngologist declared her vocal cords "the most perfect I have ever seen".  But as Nellie Melba said of herself, "it's no use having a perfect voice unless you have brains, personality, magnetism, great willpower, health, strength and determination."  She had them all in spades and was so famous that her name became attached to toast, wafers, and a dessert made of peaches and ice cream created by the great 19th-century French chef Escoffier. 

She was born near Melbourne, Australia,  on May 19 in 1861.  for her operatic debut in Rigoletto, she changed her name from Helen Mitchell to Nellie Melba, in honor of her birthplace.  "See to everything yourself" was her motto and at Covent Garden she negotiated a singing fee one pound higher than Caruso's at the height of his career.  She dazzled audiences and critics at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and others across Europe and, using the media to her own ends, welcomed publicity no matter how unfavorable.  Adored in Australia as a local girl who made good, she returned for seven triumphal tours and finally, for her death at age sixty-nine from blood poisoning after a botched face-lift.  Today her face looks out from the Australian hundred-dollar bill.  She probably would have preferred the thousand-dollar.

Peach Melba made its own debut at a dinner given in honor of Nellie Melba by the Duke of Orleans at the Savoy Hotel in London when she stayed there in 1893 while performing in Lohengrin.  Escoffier's first version featured a swan made of ice that held peaches on vanilla ice cream, garnished with spun sugar.  Seven years later, when he served it at the world famous Carlton Hotel, he abandoned the swan and the spun sugar was replaced by a raspberry puree'.

Today it rarely appears on a menu but can be made with pitted peaches, peeled and poached in sugar and water with a vanilla pod.  They're served over vanilla ice cream and topped with a puree' of raspberries and sometimes a scattering of slivered almonds.

An excerpt from "Life is Meals" by James and Kay Salter.

Today, we're taking a recipe from Quick & Easy Recipes Pasta and Noodles, a Food Writers' Favorites, which sells on Amazon at www.amazon.com/shops/oneofakindcookbooks for $3.99.

Mother's Macaroni and Cheese

5 ounces shell macaroni (2 cups)

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

3 tbsp cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups grated medium Cheddar cheese (8 ounces), divided

3 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp. salt

Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Drain, then rinse with cool water, Drain well.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add flour' stir with a whisk 3 to 4 minutes.  Gradually add cream and milk; stir until the sauce thickens.  Add cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese; stir just until blended.  Remove from heat.  Add green onions, bell pepper, tomatoes, salt and macaroni; mix gently.

Spoon mixture into a greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese on top.  Bake, uncovered , in a preheated 350F oven 30 minutes, or until hot bubbly.  Serve immediately.

You can never have too many macaroni and cheese recipes.  I have to try them all!

Happy Cooking!