Macaroni and Cheese
Oct 9th, 2008 by Q
Yesterday when the wife and boy came back from a trip to a nearby import store, boy told me to close my eyes. “I’ve got a surprise for you, daddy. Close your eyes! Don’t look!” I complied, and boy delved into the shopping bag and excitedly held up a little box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
“Daddy it’s macaroni and cheese. I love macaroni and cheese! Make it for me please!”
When I was young I had either an allergy or some kind of intolerance to wheat and dairy, so macaroni and cheese is completely foreign to me, and lacks the nostalgia it might hold for some. We’ve never bought it before, and it took me a minute to realize where boy had heard about it: Little Bill. The Nickelodeon Jr. kid’s show inspired by Bill Cosby’s short stories is also a fountainhead of middle American culture. The boy has been exposed to a lot of American culture that I would never think to introduce him to just by watching the show once in a while.
So I followed the simple instructions on the box and made it for him. When we put it on a plate and presented it to him at the table, he was beside himself with joy. “Thank you so much! I’m so lucky!” He seemed to like it at first and ate it enthusiastically, but his pace declined rapidly. After a few more minutes he quietly told me, “Daddy, I don’t really like macaroni and cheese. You can eat it all if you want.” I’m not a big fan of it either.
I like to dress Kraft Mac and Cheese up a bit by adding about 1/2 a teaspoon of cayanne pepper and a couple of grinds of course black pepper to the cheese sauce before mixing it all up…it really enhances the…ahem, flavor….
I was never a fan of mac and cheese. My mother never bought it when I was a kid, which is surprising because she was very much a TV dinner, fish sticks and breaded veal patties kind of Mom. It always cracks me up to see “gourmet” takes on mac and cheese at upscale restaurants. I will invariably pass, although almost all of my friends hold it in high regard and can’t imagine why I don’t as well. I don’t particularly like my food steeped in cheese.
“Thank you so much! I’m so lucky!” What a great reaction to anything!
Another way to jazz mac and cheese up might be a quart of Irish Whiskey.
Nat,
That does sound like it would work. Mac and Cheese definitely needs a spicy charge to sharpen it up.
Paul,
Hah! Cheese and Whiskey! Wow! (Or do you mean to down the Whiskey before eating the mac and cheese…)
By the way, I just had another bottle of Nanbu no Shizuku a couple days ago. Still really like it. Were you unimpressed by Sakuragao? Also, when you buy a bottle of Kubota, what variety do you go for? I was noticing the other day how expensive it is compared with the jizake that is my standard fare. Love it when I’m out at the sushiya though.