Ann's Macaroni & Cheese (with bacon, of course)

Tonight I made this recipe for Ann's Macaroni & Cheese (with bacon, of course) from the Oct 2008 issue of Wondertime magazine. I did not use any Velveeta (I substituted monterey jack as the recipe says you can). I can't stand Velveeta because it reminds me of melted plastic. Also, I want to note that any time making mac n cheese you should not fully cook the noodles, since they will finish cooking in the oven. The recipe doesn't specify this, but you need to only parboil the noodles. Also I didn't follow the directions and melt all the cheeses, etc together and then mix into the macaroni. I just dumped all the ingredients in to the partially cooked, well drained noodles- mixed it up and put it in a pan. I thought this was really good, though the parmesan and bread crumb topping seemed too dry to me. I think it could have benefited from some melted butter mixed into before sprinkling over the casserole, either that or skip the topping. I thought the recipe got a little dry after it baked. Next time I honestly might skip the baking step altogether and cook the noodles all the way then mix it up with the ingredients and serve immediately. I think it would be creamier and less dried out that way. This says it serves 8 but as a side dish I think it serves more like 12-16. I would definitely make this again with a little tweaking and cut the recipe in half.