\begin{knote}
\kcnt{} \textbf{Macaroni and cheese} \\Once, long ago, my cousin Tyler and my nephew Dillan were at my parents' house. My mom offered to make macaroni and cheese for them as a mid-afternoon snack. My nephew, familiar with my mom's cooking, said yes. But my cousin, more familiar with his mom's cooking (she of the lasagna-for-Thanksgiving type) declined, because he thought she was just going to make the Kraft macaroni and cheese out of the blue box. When he found out it was going to be homemade, he changed his mind and say yes, with great enthusiasm. 

Sometimes, homemade is everything.

When I was teaching, I had quite a few students who told me they knew how to cook. When I asked them what they knew how to cook, they often said macaroni and cheese, right out of the box. I had never eaten macaroni and cheese from the box; it didn't count as cooking to me. After all, it doesn't take a lot of effort to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. You boil some pasta, you drain it, you add butter and milk and cheese. The only way the boxed stuff differs is that you add cheese powder instead of actual cheese. (Although some will debate that American cheese is ``real'' cheese. It's real enough for me; you can go your own way.) 

I learned early in my career to not criticize this. They were often cooking after school meals (or sometimes dinners) for younger siblings and this is what they knew. They were doing the best that they could.

Sometimes, doing the best that you can for people that you love is everything, even if it is out of a box.
\end{knote}