Best of Old House Kitchen: Chicken Tetrazzini

The next few weeks our family is going to be very busy!  We have two more camping trips, 4-H week, Vacation Bible School (my hubby's in charge of this so of course I'm helping, too!), our 16th wedding anniversary, a birthday celebration, and we have overnight guests coming to visit on two separate occasions!  Crazy busy!  So ya'll will forgive me if I re-post a few things here and there, right?  Good.  I knew you were nice like that!  : )  Monday menu plans will be new each week because, after all, we have to eat and I need a menu.  Tuesday's kitchen tips will be new and we'll keep following the Queen of the Castle series, but the recipes that I post will be our family's favorite ones.  I've taken a poll during one of our latest Dinner Time Quiz Shows so here is a family's favorite.

Chicken Tetrazzini

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken cooked and chopped (this works out to be about 4 cups)
1 1/3 stick butter
1 cup flour
4 cups milk
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 tsp. garlic powder
3 cups cheddar cheese
16 oz. box thin spaghetti

Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Break noodles up into thirds or fourths (I do this so that it's a little easier to eat...and it doesn't have the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti thing going on.)
Cook noodles approx. 10 minutes in boiling, slightly salted water.  (After it's drained leave it in the large pot so you can mix in the sauce mixture.)
While they are boiling melt butter in a large sauce pan.  Stir in flour until blended and then stir in milk until it thickens.  (Keep stirring and make sure you don't have the heat up too high, you don't want to scorch the sauce.)
Stir in soup and garlic powder.
Blend in cheese and then the chicken.  Add to the pan of noodles and mix together.
Pour into large 9x13 dish -- it will be quite full (An 11 x 17 dish would be better.)

Topping:
1 dozen butter crackers, crushed
2 T. butter
Sprinkle topping mixture over the tetrazzini before baking.  Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Notes:
This meal is made for our family in mind...10 people...if you want a scaled down version and you don't have BigOven (it's designed so you can change the portion sizes) then see my conversion below.
Serving suggestions:  mixed veggies, a fruit dish, rolls or even garlic bread.

Scaled down to feed a smaller crew:
2/3 stick butter
1/2 c. flour
2 c. milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 lb chicken (2 c.)
1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese
8 oz. spaghetti
(Keep the topping recipe the same.  You may have a bit left over but you can package it up and save it in the freezer for next time.)