As Constant Reader might remember, GRIT has been way out ahead on the
current mac and cheese craze. For those of you who don’t know, macaroni and
cheese is now the totally hot comfort food du jour, with even such a notable
blog site as The
Huffington Post
touting it in recipes from sushi to tortilla wraps
and a few unimaginable interpretations in between.Â
The Culinate Newsletter has a delicious-sounding
recipe for a baked macaroni and cheese with
cauliflower that sounded utterly worth trying.
But if you’re looking for a good, basic recipe for
“macaroni cheese,” as my kids used to call it, you’ll find it right here on the GRIT
website. Our staff started the macaroni wars – actually, just a very tasty
mac-and-cheese cook-off (we look for any excuse to cook our favorite things for
each other) – a couple of years ago and offered recipes from several of our
office winners.You’ll find several variations on the theme, all of them
staff-certified to be delicious.
 I have a fond spot in my heart for macaroni
and cheese because I’m convinced it saved my daughter’s life when she decided
at age 12 that she was a vegetarian, but didn’t really get around to liking
vegetables much until she was in college. Kraft Mac and Cheese (when I was
feeling flush, store brands when I wasn’t) kept her going until she caught up
with vegetables. I feel guilty about this, but there you have it. She’s a
succcessful, veggie-eating, glowing-with-health adult now, so sometimes you just
have to ride out these waves and keep nagging until the kid reaches shore.
As the Huffington Post article demonstrates, this
simple dish has endless and occasionally awful variations (though if I were
carbo-loading for a marathon or a long bike ride, the grilled mac-and-cheese
sandwich might actually not kill me instantly).
 The macaroni and cheese layered in meat loaf
seems perfectly rational and even appetizing to me. The mac-cheese pizza? Not
so much. But then, I’ve never been one to eat bread sticks with my pizza either.