The Canadian Rockies in winter are just stunning. Cold, but stunning. Ma loves mountains in the wintertime, so we headed up to the Banff area for a few days to see some snow and relax. Ironically, we did not see any actual snowfall in Alberta, but Houston saw about an inch the day after we left.
We had a blast on this trip. I got to meet Santa for the first time. He was quite lovely. He was strolling through the hotel lobby. I guess he was getting some rest before the big day.
Some of the hikes were incredible. It was frigid, so I couldn’t last too long, but we did get to see a frozen waterfall, a transcontinental divide, and a cool river that had not frozen over yet. You can view all of the adventures here: The Canadian Rockies.
The absolute highlight of our trip was this cool little town that we stumbled upon called Field. Field was located across the provincial border in British Columbia. We passed the village on the way out to Emerald Lake. It was lunchtime on the way back, so we decided to stop in Field and find something to eat. We just so happened to find a tiny bistro and lodge called Truffle Pigs.
I love a good mac n cheese. Ma makes an incredible version at home that we have with nice thick ham steak. At Truffle Pigs, bacon mac n cheese with pork sausage was on the menu. We just had to get it. And boy, it did not disappoint. It was so yummy. Below is our attempt at a re-creation. Sorry Truffle Pigs, we did our best!
Recipe – Adapted from my great grandmother’s recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Enjoyment Time: Saturday Night
Parent accompaniments: Brown Ale Beer
Pasta
- 1# of elbow Macaroni – Cook as directed on the box.
Sauce
- 1/2# of Bacon – cooked & chopped (reserve a few small pieces for garnish)
- 4 tbsp Butter
- ½ tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 3 ½ heaping tsp of Flour
- 2 cups Milk
- 1# good quality Sharp Cheddar Cheese (cubed)
- Panko Breadcrumbs – enough to cover the whole dish
Garnish
- Bacon – Finely diced
- Waffle-Cut Potato Chips
- 4 – Pork or Chicken Sausage, Grilled
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Melt the butter in a skillet and sprinkle with cracked black pepper.
- Add the flour while constantly stirring.
- Add the milk and continue stirring until thickened.
- Add the cheddar cheese slowly, while constantly stirring.
- Once mixed, toss in a bowl with cooked macaroni and chopped bacon
- Add to a greased casserole dish.
- Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
- Cook uncovered for around 40 minutes.
- Once done, garnish with bacon bits and waffle-cut potato chips and serve with your choice of grilled sausage.
