bourbon & bacon mac & cheese

so much has been going on in the past few months that i've hardly had time to experiment with new and delicious recipes!!  i put my foot down a few weekends ago, and committed to whipping up a drool-worthy recipe i found on pinterest.  

disclaimer 1: i made several modifications, and when i make this again, i'll make some more modifications.  i never follow any recipe to a T.

disclaimer 2: the bacon almost didn't make it into the mac.  my husband wouldn't get out of the kitchen after he smelled the bacon cooking.  and i nearly had to beat him with my spoon-ula to keep him out and away from the deliciousness.  i would suggest either locking others out of the kitchen while making this, make it when no one is home, or upping the amount of bacon if there is anyone in your home who you suspect might try to sabotage the end result by consuming the bacon before it's delicious union with the mac.

original recipe: jack daniel's and bacon mac and cheese (i've re-pinned it here)

i made the following changes:

• i used jim instead of jack (jim beam vs. jack daniel's)
• increased the amount of cheese to 4 cups (i would recommend this)
• instead of medium or sharp cheddar cheese, i used 2 cups extra sharp white cheddar, 1 1/2 cups provolone, and 1/2 a cup of parm
• increased the amount of milk by about 3/4 - 1 cup (i would do this again).  i did this because my bechamel sauce, although lovely, was pretty thick before i even put the noodles in (that's what i get for using extra cheese).  i didn't want it to end up as a giant globule of noodles and cheese, and this helped to thin it out while still keeping it smooth and creamy.

what i'll change next time:

• more cayenne on the bacon
• less brown sugar on the bacon
• more parm
• no EXTRA sharp cheddar - just sharp cheddar will probably do, and i love the sharp cheddar + parm matchup
• i could live without the provolone - it wasn't very smokey, so it was pretty good with this recipe.  since it isn't one of my favorite cheeses, i'll probably try it with gouda or gruyere next time.  however, sharp cheddar and parm might be a magical enough combo for this recipe.

overall, the result was a drooling husband, one of my favorite mac experiments to date, , and one of the most amazing smells to ever fill my home.  there will DEFINITELY be a next time for this mac.