HAPPY NATIONAL MAC AND CHEESE DAY: This Is Why Kraft Mac and Cheese is the GOLD STANDARD of ALL Mac and Cheese

It's national macaroni and cheese day, and I am here to tell you why Kraft Mac and Cheese is the mac and cheese gold standard upon which all other macaroni and cheeses should be based.

I am something of a macaroni and cheese savant. I eat macaroni and cheese more than any responsible adult should. If there is mac and cheese on a menu, I am getting it. If I am hungry, I am making mac and cheese. If I have no mac and cheese, I will go mac and cheese – I believe I have proven my qualifications.

There is a lot of debate about what the best mac and cheese is. Some cite homemade recipes. Others their favorite store-bought variety.

I am here to confirm for you that Kraft Mac and Cheese is, bar none, the gold standard for macaroni and cheese.

Now, before you get up in arms defending your favorite recipe from your college dining hall, I would like to clarify that I am not saying Kraft is the ONLY good mac and cheese. Some can be better. Some can be worse. I am just saying that when it comes to determining the standard of what mac and cheese should be, everything should be compared to Kraft's standard.

Why?

There are three main reasons that this blue-boxed classic wins among the rest.

1. Speed and Accessiblity

When you want Mac and Cheese, you tend to want it *now*. That's not to say it's a now or later type situation. It is really a now and later type situation.

If you have time, you can boil the water, and the mac and cheese is done in 8 minutes after the water starts boiling.

If you need it in less time, throw it in the microwave for seven and a half minutes. Boom. You have excellent mac and cheese. Even Annie's mac and cheese (which, do not get me wrong, is EXCELLENT) MUST be boiled on the stove, and the sauce needs to be made separately. It's great, but definitely takes a little bit more time.

Need it in an even SHORTER amount of time? Try those to go cups that only take three minutes. Wham-oh. Mac and Cheese. A major part of a mac and cheese's perfection is accessibility. In that regard, Kraft cannot be beaten.

On top of that! The best time to eat mac and cheese is (quite frankly) the dead of night. That means most establishments where you would get mac and cheese (be it a restaurant or a family dinner) are not happening at that time. You know what you can have warm and freshly prepared within ten minutes regardless of the time of day? Kraft mac and cheese.

2. Customizability

Yes, Kraft mac and cheese is speedy and accessible, but it is also flexible. You can make it however you want it. If you like it with extra butter, go ahead. If you like it with no butter, you don't need it. If you want to add a vegetable because you are trying to trick yourself that somehow one leaf from some tree somewhere makes this mac and cheese healthy (hey, no tea, no shade.) The how-to-make instructions are so simple that you can really do what you want with them. It is a MISSION to mess up Kraft mac and cheese.

Of course, you could claim that any mac and cheese can be customized, but there is none as easy to experiment with as Kraft! Once again, Kraft mac and cheese wins.

3. It Is EXACTLY What You Want

Now, I know people have some specific extras they like in their mac and cheese. They like the breadcrumbs on top. They like exciting garnishes, or elegant cheese pulls (don't get me wrong, I get it), but they are exactly that: extras.

When it comes to mac and cheese, what you are looking for is the pasta with the warm, cheesy, comforting flavor. That is the flavor Kraft has mastered perfectly. It can be ready any time you want it (see item one), and you can add any of the extras that you want (see item two.)

HAPPY MAC AND CHEESE DAY! I know how I'm celebrating.