Kraft Dinner

There now: how many of the eyes and ears of my Canadian friends perked up at the mention of Kraft Dinner? Here in the States it's thought of simply as mac and cheese. Either way, it's sort of a staple, isn't it? My family ate a lot of it over the years.

I was on the road a long time yesterday, covering just over 700 miles between 2 AM and 5:30 PM. One of the nice things about being out and about often is that you can get whatever you want for your meals. Yet that has a down side. When you can routinely have whatever you want, the choices actually begin to lack. Arby's, Wendy's, or KFC (which we all still call Kentucky Fried Chicken despite it's attempted healthier sounding rebranding to KFC, as though we wouldn't still think of it as fried chicken) have all been had, and frequently. McDonald's, although I still eat too much of it, stopped being a real treat ages ago. To wax a tad philosophic, when you actually can get whatever you want the choices kind of dull, don't they? When you can get whatever anytime, freedom to choose loses luster.

So I was yesterday faced with that loss of luster. After having a couple frankfurters off the roller grill at a Love's truck stop at about four in the morning - hot dogs aren't just for breakfast anymore -  I went the rest of the day, starting around mid morning, wanting more to eat. But nothing appealed to me despite the plethora of options.

When I walked back in my front door in the late afternoon I was still hungry. I had not eaten anything after those red hots and had nearly abandoned hope of pleasing my picky stomach. Yet looking through the pantry I spied a couple boxes of Kraft Dinner. I honestly think it's been years since I enjoyed good old, plain old mac and cheese. I grabbed a box and fixed it up.

Tried and true Kraft Dinner hit the spot for me. You can't beat the classics.

On food

For the Catholics of the world this is a fast day, being Good Friday. So I figure, why not tempt everyone of you out there (you know who you are) and talk about food?

Left to its own druthers, my personal menu is simple. My diet consists of quick and easy eats. I could eat pepperoni pizza and hot dogs all day long. In fact, I have.

Burgers and tube steaks beyond hot dogs, brats and Italian sausages and the like, are high on my list. Straight up friend chicken is tough to beat; while on the road lately I have renewed my friendship with Colonel Sanders. And what, I ask you, can beat a good plate of steak and potatoes?

As I think about it, the only area where I like variety is with pop. Being a lifelong and proud Detroiter, I find the many Faygo flavorings delightful (except fruit punch, which they apparently don't make anymore, and good riddance too). Vanilla ginger ale is great, when you can find it, although with regular ginger ale I prefer Canada Dry. Yes, my Detroit roots make me feel as though I'm two-timing Vernor's. But it ain't like I don't like it. I just like Canada Dry ginger ale better. And Schweppe's. But after that, it's all you, Vernor's.

Oh, and finally, I love fried fish perhaps best of all, and that makes today bearable for me. I will break my fast this afternoon with a fish dinner from St. Francis Cabrini here in the D. So all that other stuff simply isn't particularly tempting to me this day. If it is to you, my work here is done.