Stephen Piorkowski of Delmar, who won the home-cooks competition at the first Mac-n-Cheese Bowl in 2010, emerged victorious again last weekend during the eighth annual event, when his Stephen's Best Italian-American Mac and Cheese with Meatballs was chosen by judges as the best among 11 entries by home cooks. Piorkowski's recipe is below. Druthers Brewing again won first place in both people's-choice voting and from the judges, repeating last year's results.

The brewpub, with locations in Albany and Saratoga Springs, continued a streak of several years of being at or among the top finishers of the competition, a benefit for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. Wolff's Biergarten in Albany also won two awards — best display and second place in people's-choice voting. Slidin' Dirty in Troy took third place. Final numbers won't be available for at least a week, but estimates suggest the event, held at Siena College in Loudonville, attracted about 1,900 people and should bring the total raised for the food bank up to about $300,000 over eight years.