In some old World War II movies, American soldiers encountering a shadowy figure in the distance would call out something like, "Who won the World Series last year?" Because all red blooded Americans follow baseball and would know the correct answer.



I would have been shot in the face. And then they would have looked at my dog tag and said, "Ergenzinger ... ****ing Kraut."

I could have survived Allied Europe if they had asked the more universally American question: "What color is Ranch dressing?"

Of course I didn't bother to look up the history of Ranch dressing until just now. Although I confirmed that it is a thoroughly American invention, I also learned that it was not created until the early 1950s. Thanks for shitting all over my intro Wikipedia.

I discovered this variation on a classic macaroni and cheese recipe over 15 years ago and have tweaked it in the years since. The dry ranch dressing mix added to the cheese sauce gives it a nice garlicky kick. The saltines help soak up some of the excess cheese sauce while adding a bit of textural contrast.

Wow. "Textural contrast." Is this like the goddamn Masterpiece Theater of recipe blogs or what?



