As a kid growing up in Dallas, we were not the most elite folks. We didn’t join a country club or go on extreme vacations abroad. We couldn’t keep up with the Jones’ because we didn’t know who they were. We had, or should I say my father (The Dutchman) had to watch where his money was going.

We did not eat out a lot, so Mom and the four kids would go grocery shopping. One favorite spot in the store was the frozen food section, where the TV dinners and those chick pot pies were 4 for a dollar. The other wonderful spot was the canned good sections where you would find those pork and beans 4 for $1. My favorite spot was dry goods, right smack in front of all those amazing boxes of mac and cheese. Sometimes you could get 6 boxes (off brand) for one buck.

When we would get home Mom would ask the kids what we would enjoy eating. Two of us would say pot pies, 1 would suggest pork and beans, and I would say mac and cheese. Boy that bowl of heaven was ever so good, especially when Mom, rationing the ketchup, let me put some on top of my favorite dish. At one point in time, I invented the mac and cheese, pork and bean, and ketchup goulash. My siblings thought I was crazy until they sampled some. It was kind of funny when they tried to make my culinary art, part of their own creation. They suggested it could use a little more ketchup or pork n beans. The Dutchman did top it off by his own rendition of mac and cheese, by adding fried spam and topping it off with a glob of ketchup.

I must say his was better than mine. But as you can see, I am still trying to outdo him, with this unique spin on macaroni and cheese.

-"Master of Flavor"-Kent Wenzel-