Daniel Neman | Post-Dispatch

Features writer

You want to make your macaroni and cheese with rotini instead of macaroni? Go ahead.

You want to use brie instead of a mixture of cheddar, Monterey Jack and gruyère? Nobody's stopping you.

Even if you're participating in a mac-and-cheese competition, let your imagination be your only constraint.

"This mac-and-cheese competition is going to be no rules. Any type of topping you like, any kind of noodle, any cheese combination," says Matt Timms of the Mac and Cheese Takedown 2 p.m. Oct. 19 at the American Czech Center.

"I try to get more home cooks to be involved," he says. "You've got grandmothers against hipsters against people of all walks of life."

Timms, who lives in Brooklyn, has been running food competitions he calls takedowns ("that

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