Add Butter to pan, cook until golden brown. Add flour, stirring well to incorporate, and cook until mixture forms consistency of wet sand.
Milk should be added in increments – no more than half a cup at a time. Dumping it all in at once will make it difficult to fully incorporate to reach desired thickness (and will also likely result in a lumpy sauce). Whole process can take anywhere from 30-60minutes depending on a) how well it comes together, and b) how much time you have on your hands!
Once Béchamel is made, you can breathe a sigh of relief, the hard part is done. The rest of it is a piece of cake from here on in.
Add cheese and stir in macaroni. This is often the best part -- the part that my kids help with too, as they love seeing the creamy, gooey goodness coming together!
For collard greens just chop them up into relatively thin strips, saute in some olive oil with some ham and garlic, add some salt and pepper, and then braise for about half an hour (longer if possible) with some chicken stock. Delicious!