a rare bit of welsh, pops style

when I was growing up, Dad [pops] used to invade the kitchen regularly, much to mumsies dismay.
He fancied himself a cook of high degree, and he really knew how to knock out a meal.
I can remember him cooking french fries late at night, I could smell em and would creep downstairs to get my share, sometimes he would lure me downstairs from my bed to watch goofy scifi offerings on the late late show, things with overgrown insects, to which he would say, I wonder when they will burn em, that's all that'l kill big insects, and he was right of course, but the army would come out and they'd waste all kinds of ammo, uselessly on giant tarantulas or grasshoppers, then, in the last five minutes, the flame throwers would finally come out and sizzle the critters.. anyway, one thing he made that I loved was his version of welsh rarebit. I have seen it cooked many ways, but this will remain my favorite and be considered by me as the genuine article no matter what anyone says.

an old lump of cheddar, extra sharp, that has gotten hard [of course it can be fresh, but dad always used up the stuff that went hard.]

you will grate it to make perhaps a cup to a cup and a half of shredded cheese, the more the cheesier.

one medium onion, chopped fine,

milk [1 cup]

cornstarch[ 2 tablespoons.]

bring to a boil 2 cups of water, add the onions and cook till clear, that way the milk and cheese won't curdle when added.

when the onions are clear, add the milk and bring to a boil, then turn the heat off and add the grated cheese, stir with a wooden spoon till it has melted into the liquid, then mix the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in water till there are no lumps, bring the mixture on the stove to a boil and add the corn starch mix and it will thicken.
you can skip the cornstarch part if you want to serve cheese soup, or, you can skip the onions add the thickening and have fondue..ahh the 70's were great!!

you can add ham chunks and carrots to this if you like..

but Pops would make toast, thicken the plain mixture and ladle onto the toast for a hearty meal that stay n stays, you wont be hungry for quite a while and I think that was the main idea when this meal was thought up, as cheese back then was cheap and this like potato soup were considered poor mans meals. you can reserve some of the thickened mixture and use as a topping for noodles.