New Hampshire Mac and Cheese Bake Off

After visiting the Concord Winter Farmer's Market, I stopped at Starbucks to relax and enjoy a latte. On their bulletin board was this sign. What a great idea, free coffee grounds just for the asking. Starbucks is benefiting by reducing their waste disposal costs, and members of the community can benefit by having easy access to a great addition to the compost pile. 

While sipping my coffee, I picked up and started reading the current edition of The Concord Insider, a free publication of happenings in the Concord area. This one was titled "The Dairy Issue". Included were several articles about local dairy farms. 

Since it was around noon-time, I was intrigued to read that from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM there was to be a Macaroni and Cheese Bake Off at Concord's Courtyard Marriott Grappone Conference Center. The event was being sponsored by Granite State Dairy Promotion. Well, I had to eat anyway, so called my husband to meet me there for lunch. I wasn't quite expecting the length of the line or the wait due to the room filling to capacity so quickly, but eventually we were let in. Some people in line choose to leave and missed out on some great food. Perhaps next year they will need to operate on a reservation only system to avoid that problem. There were over thirty chef tables set up, all serving some variation of mac and cheese in one of four categories: Traditional, Creative/Exotic, Restaurant, and NH Made.

It was obvious that a lot of work was involved by each contestant to prepare enough mac and cheese for the 500 to 700 attendees. Although the tasting cups seemed small at first, there were still plenty of carbs available for consumption.

With cranberry sauce and stuffing, this "MacGiving and Cheese" recipe tasted just like the holidays

Mixing old recipes with new ingredients results in a creative and exotic dish

Early registrants received free cheese from Cabot Creamery which was also offering free samples to tasters.

And, of course, milk was offered as the refreshment

At the end of the event, a designated group of judges selected a first, second and third place winner in each category and the public tasters were able to vote for the People's Choice Award. A Grand Champion was then selected from the winners of each category. 

For 2015, that honor went to the Tilton-Northfield Fire Department. Congratulations!

I'm glad that I stumbled upon the article about this event. It was a lot of fun. And the best part, was knowing that it was supporting local dairy farms, which in New Hampshire, have been reduced from 829 in 1970 to the present 120. If you aren't purchasing your dairy from small family run operations, then consider widely available brands such as Hood, Oakhurst or Garelick that receive their milk from regional farms.