Earlier this week I received a truly shocking gift from my grandmother that came as a total surprise and, after I picked myself up, for a while I was excited, giddy, insert word here.  But that didn’t last long.  You see the gift came to me as a result of my grandmother passing away.  It also served to remind me that we are entering the holiday season.  For as long as I can remember the holidays meant cornbread dressing spiced by my grandmother or mother followed by many tastings by the rest of us to decide if it was just right.  The holidays meant the smell of baking turkey wafting through the air mingling with the scents of homemade pecan pies and rolls.  The holidays meant baked macaroni and cheese made by my Nana, never to be replicated although we’ve tried.  Mac and Cheese is inherently a comfort food anyway.  To me, my Nana’s mac and cheese was the ultimate comfort food.  It didn’t have anything to do with the little puff of steam that would rise up when first cutting into the crusty top or the way the cheese covered every inch of macaroni.  It was the warmth that it brought knowing that it was made with love by Nana.  Each bite was like a little hug.  Even in the last few years when she was slowing down and the mac and cheese wasn’t exactly ‘Gordan Ramsey’ perfect, it was perfect to us because it was made by her. 

This year, she’s not with us.  So this week after the shock and excitement that surrounded the recent gift wore off, all I’ve been able to ask myself is ‘who’s going to make the mac and cheese?’.

Who makes your mac and cheese and have you made sure they know how much you appreciate and love that they do?