macaroni and cheese

I love macaroni and cheese. Use to be that I loved the plain old box stuff....just throw it in a pan and in about 15 minutes you could fill your stomach for $.64 and not have to worry about much anything else. It was quick, simple and had enough calories that you could easily gain 10 pounds a month if you ate it too much.

It wasn't until my, then 5 year old son, and I were walking through the grocery store playing the game of "Where did this come from?" You know, "Where does milk come from?" His reply, "A cow!"
"And where do carrots come from?"
"A garden!" It wasn't until we reached the boxed food isle that I thought we could have some fun. I held up a box of macaroni and cheese and asked, "Where does this come from?" I figured he would get the cheese part, but maybe be a little stumped on the macaroni part. No. His answer was, "A box!"

It was a moment of clarity for me. My son believed that macaroni and cheese didn't have a real origin, didn't begin with flour, egg and a bit of oil, molded into dough and formed into small tubes to make pasta, that butter, flour, cream, cheese and some seasoning created a cheese sauce. He only knew that macaroni came from a box and orange powder came from the envelope inside. The moniker of macaroni and cheese just that...as there was no recognizable cheese in this box.

I stood there and had my epiphany. I put everything in my cart that was prepared back. It all went back. I began my grocery order all over again, this time with an eye that said, "if we want pizza, I will make pizza. If we want lasagna we will make lasagna. And if we want macaroni and cheese, we will make macaroni and cheese....from scratch." My cart now had fresh ingredients, nothing in boxes, cans or bags. And it was a good feeling for me.

I came home that night and made macaroni and cheese. From scratch. It was cheesy. It was filling, it was delicious. And my kids didn't know what it really was, I had to explain that this is what real macaroni and cheese is. They were perplexed.

Since that time I have become a sort of culinary purist. I believe that you use the best ingredients you can find. I believe that you respect what the earth gives you and choose local and seasonal as much as possible. I believe that you respect the life of the animal that gave up its life for you to cook it. I try to learn new techniques as often as possible. I try to learn every day. I try out new flavors on my kids and husband every chance I get.

The above meal? Macaroni and Cheese....but it is elevated to a new level. I added lump crab meat and sauteed portabello mushrooms. My family thought it to be one of the best things they have ever eaten.