2 posts tagged “box”
First the recipe, then the back-story.
Begin with boxed mac and cheese.
Prepare according to the directions on the box.
Don't worry that's just the shortcut, the magic in the recipe happens next, although it is equally sneaky/lazy.
Once the mix is hot and saucy in the pan,
add one handful of pre-shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
Add a handful of pre-shredded Colby Jack cheese.
Add a handful of pre-shredded Mozzarella cheese.
Stir the additional cheese into the mix until it is melted and incorporated.
Spoon the mac and cheese out onto serving plates, and dust with a handful of seasoned breadcrumbs to give the illusion of a crust (mine come in a carton from the store.)
It's still so easy that a fifth-grader could do it, but it's oh so more gourmet than the box mix by itself.
Now, for the inspirational back-story.
My wife's parents bought a birthday present for our recently one-year-old daughter on Amazon.
They also bought themselves a book travel guide covering the sights to see in Hawaii for their upcoming trip.
Their order was enough for free shipping, IF they sent both items to one address, OURS.
This was followed by a request to then mail their book back to them after we received the present.
Nice.
They get free shipping on their book.
And we get to pay to mail it back to them.
So, I admit, I dawdled a bit in making the trip to stand in line at the post office, this being tax-return mailing line from hell season there.
However, since their trip is in a week, we began getting pressure to get their travel guide back to them post-haste.
So, I trek down and stand in an absolutely awful line and send the thing back to them.
Priority was only a few cents more than the book rate, so I went for it, to make sure it got to them before their trip.
Which leads to today, when the In-Laws received the book and noticed how much the postage cost.
We get an email telling us that really, that was unnecessary and that we should have used book-rate instead of priority and to keep that in mind for next time.
NEXT TIME?
Sneaky and cheesy.
They get free shipping, that we have to stand in line and pay for, and then they scold us for how much we spent of our own money to send them their free book in time for their vacation.
Which is where the breadcrumbs come in.
I'm feeling fairly crusty at the moment myself.
...When I knew.
But let me back up.
No, seriously, get out of my way so I can back up.
You've got me pinned here, see your foot just there, it's totally... screw it.
Shut up, it's just your toe, big baby! That's what you get for not moving it.
It'll grow back anyway.
Or is that the lizard and the tail I'm thinking of?
Which brings me to my point.
There's no way to give a frog or a hop-toad a haircut without getting pissed on.
As the distinctive liquid ran down my forearm and dripped off my elbow,
it occurred to me, like a manifesto inked in urine.
It was then, that moment right there, that's when I knew.
The map from the back of the cereal box was encrypted.
That's why I could never find the treasure.
The decoder to the encryption was hidden or implanted in a grapefruit somewhere.
Maybe a grapefruit that was still on a tree.
Naw, too obvious, it was probably on a shipping container to Japan by now.
Which explains why I'm holding the box-cutter, officer, I needed to open my storage boxes to find my inflatable water-wings.
