I never tasted skinny orange macaroni and cheese from a blue box until I was married. Some would consider me to have been deprived of a normal childhood. I may have considered myself a victim, had a known back in the day.
Macaroni and cheese in our home consisted of a large pot full of elbow macaroni with a cube of butter melted over and lots of grated parmesan (or romano) cheese. Sometimes it was bowtie noodles or those cute little shell ones. I remember once it was little orecchiette that a great aunt brought back from a trip back to the old country. Our macaroni and cheese was never baked in a casserole, never had a crunchy topping, and was most certainly never orange. And we never knew we were missing out on something everyone else took for granted. Poor us!
Way back when, my new husband asked me to make him mac and cheese… from a box. I bought the blue box, which back then set us back about twenty cents, and carefully followed the instructions.
Switching from butter to margarine was something new. Substituting day-glo orange powder for actual cheese tested my limits. But I persevered, and successfully prepared the dish. Which my husband put in a bowl, sprinkled with salt, and ate with a fork. And he was pleased.
So then this recipe for pressure cooker mac and cheese crosses my path. Humph. All these years of not eating the stuff, and this comes along. Call the carb police, because this creamy, crispy-topped gooey cheesy heaven is pure comfort food. Sincere thanks, Mike.