At the first mention of this project, I felt a little overwhelmed. In a system that hasn’t in my experience provided very much choice, suddenly having to make such a big broad one was a little unnerving. I struggled with choosing a topic for about a week. I felt pressure from some undetermined source to pick something to do with teaching or education. In other words, something that other people might find relevant. However, none of the ideas I was coming up with really excited me. So, I asked myself to consider something I truly enjoy doing, that I could potentially learn more about, disregarding any judgement about the usefulness of the endeavour. Surprisingly, this method of decision making allowed me to narrow it down quite quickly. However, committing to the idea involved me asking 3 people in my cohort, as well as my professor, for validation. Admittedly, asking for validation was my way of adding a little bit of structure to something that was supposed to be done freely, but that is a personal issue I will have to work on. Long story short, I have decided to focus on making macaroni and cheese.

Mac and cheese has always been one of my favourite meals. It is carb-loaded and comforting, a very dangerous combination. I was never allowed boxed mac and cheese as a kid, so my mum would always make these super amazing homemade recipes. Fast forward 10 or so years, and the boxed version has become especially prominent in my household since I started university. It is cheap, it is fast, and it is easy. You can whip it up in 10 minutes at any time of day or night, and it is convenient for when you are either too busy or too tired to cook. So, while I appreciate what boxed mac and cheese has done for me over the past couple years, I want to reconnect with the art of making a truly homemade macaroni and cheese.

Additionally, I think that mac and cheese can be a very personal food. When it comes to mac and cheese, people often have family recipes or memories of making/eating it with people who are significant to them from their childhood or even adult life. I am a big believer in people connecting through food, and with this inquiry, I want to create new connections with people.

So, here’s the plan. I want to start at the ‘bottom’ of the mac and cheese chain with a boxed version. I am going to think about what it has to offer and what it lacks. Then, I am going to collect a multitude of recipes to try from cookbooks, cooking channels, and social media to try to find the style of mac and cheese that I love the most. Amongst the recipes that I find myself, I want to talk to everybody I know to see…

a) if they have a mac and cheese recipe they love

b) if they will make mac and cheese with me

c) ideally both a and b

By the end of this project, I  want to have found (or developed from multiple sources) a recipe that I love, to be considered by the people in my life to be an authority in the mac and cheese field, and to have new or stronger relationships with people built on a foundation of cheesy pasta.

Featured photo by TR Davis on Unsplash