Steven Imbrenda
Prof. Jesse Miller
English 110 G
Everything is better with cheese
When it comes to choosing your favorite meal, I feel as though there must be something more than just the taste that influences this decision if you truly put your mind to it. So, as I began to brain storm, I thought about family events, fancy restaurants, good times with my friends, etc. And the meal the kept coming up in my memories was macaroni and cheese! I know right? Hard to believe but this snack/meal has always had good memories attached to it. From my Grandma’s homemade mac & cheese and the fancy mac & cheeses I’ve ordered at restaurants, to the easy cook craft mac & cheese you put in the microwave late at night with your friends. It isn’t just the taste of this delicious cheesy meal, but the experiences I have had while eating mac & cheese are irreplaceable.
The first time I was introduced to mac & cheese was at my grandma’s house. I must have been around the age of 5-7 years old. And the way my Grandma makes her homemade mac & cheese would most likely make people drool in amazement just by looking at it or gag. She would buy a gigantic block of Velveeta cheese and drop it in the pot. Next, she would add whole milk or cream into the pot with the Velveeta and then in another pot with boiling water would go the macaroni. After that was the waiting game for the cheese to melt to the perfect consistency and fuse with the cream/milk. And the Macaroni to get to its perfect texture after boiling. Then she finally would strain the macaroni and mix it all together in one pot with the extra gooey cheese. Finally, I could now be served this extreme comfort food. My grandma’s relationship to this dish was simply put by saying “I remember our old, beautiful house and all the happy days of seeing all my wonderful grandchildren enjoy my cooking.” In relation, whenever I get the chance to have this dish either I or someone else always seems to bring up my grandparent’s old house on the water and all the good times we had had there as a family. There is more to the mac & cheese that my grandma makes then just its taste.
Looking back to my high school days now and even earlier college days of the first semester, mac & cheese has played a big part in making friends and good times with friends. And lets be honest, if you have microwaveable food in college it’s as good as gold and you’ll be praised for sharing it! Getting home late after being out with my friends and having an easy to cook, delicious meal always makes everybody happy. I will never forget the multiple times me and my friend Brian would come back to my house late at night trying our best to not wake anybody up while we made Kraft mac & cheese. It would take twenty minutes at most and we could fill our bellies while we reminisced about our night out or whatever else we had in mind all while I waited for Brian to blabber on saying “Dude, this mac & cheese is the best frickin’ thing in the world.” And although he was just trying to be funny or truly was that enthused with the meal, this is one of the reason why I loved to always make it with him because it was almost like an icebreaker for conversations even if we were exhausted, it kept us awake and/or gave us something to do while we watched a show on Netflix while we prepared for bed.
Not only has Mac & cheese provided good times for me and my friends but also with my family. On special occasions my mom and dad would decide to take us out for a fancy dinner at the Nassau County Country Club back at home in Long Island. And I knew what that meant, I could order the huge bowl of lobster mac & cheese! There is more to it than just that though because my sister and I still feud about it to this very day whenever we have an argument. The bowl that I would order at this restaurant was so big I usually always had extra and for fun I would place as much cheesy macaroni in her hair as I could until she or someone else noticed. Now of course I was punished for this when I was younger but when we talk about it today, I’m happy it happened because it always makes everyone laugh when we reflect on it. And when I asked my sister today why she thinks I love mac & cheese so much she says, “I think you like it so much because your evil and you love to remember how many times you made me run to the bathroom of the restaurant on the verge of tears because you ruined my hair.” Now in all honesty I can’t say I don’t think about that sometimes when I casually eat some mac & cheese on my own but in my sister’s defense it is not the only reason, I love this meal so much!
Not only has mac and cheese made my taste buds go crazy ever since I was a little boy but as I have grown, I now realize how important it was for my life. I have memories and experiences I will now never forget and who would have known that mac & cheese was a key component! No matter what my or your favorite food is, I believe that many people overlook the importance of how a special meal no matter how expensive or inexpensive can have a huge impact on how your experiences can be more memorable, or less memorable. I now believe that I also have learned a great amount just by attacking this problem and want others to realize too.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish.
- Set cheese packet from mix aside. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until cooked firm to the bite, 5 minutes. Drain and reserve pasta cooking water.
- Whisk contents of reserved cheese packet with evaporated milk, eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Layer half the cooked macaroni in the prepared casserole dish, followed by half the Cheddar cheese slices in a layer. Dot with half the butter. Repeat layers, using remaining half of cooked macaroni, remaining Cheddar cheese slices, and remaining butter. Pour evaporated milk mixture over casserole. If evaporated milk mixture does not reach to the top of the casserole, pour in enough pasta cooking water to cover.
- Bake in the preheated oven until bubbling, about 45 minutes.
