image via the pioneer woman

Our macaroni and cheese came from a box, when we were growing up, and we liked it that way. There was nothing better in the world than a mound of creamy orange noodles next to our boring pork chops, and we got in trouble, a lot, for eating the macaroni and leaving the meat. It was a very great day, though, when my brother and I realized that there were directions! On the side! That we could follow! And then, we could have macaroni and cheese any time we wanted to!

Macaroni and cheese from a box is still a happy comfort food to me--it reminds me of my mom and my brother, and it really is so disgustingly tasty, and skills-wise, it is just about my speed. Real macaroni and cheese, the kind you make with actual cheese instead of radioactive powder, the kind that blows the box right out of the water, has always seemed an impossible dream. The Pioneer Woman makes me think that that might not be true at all--that I can make myself a big pot of spicy, creamy, cheesy, absolutely glorious-looking mac and cheese that I can climb into and live off of for days. She's got step-by-step instructions with a ton of delicious-looking photographs, and if I can manage not to splash my laptop or coat it in cheese, I know what I'm eating for the rest of the week.