By Dana McMahan
FoodConnect Louisville
dana@foodconnect.com

True Takeout Confessions
I feel like a bit of an oddball on our society today. I don’t eat fast food, only eat fried food if it’s worth the calories, and savor a Coke once a week. Pizza in our house is almost always homemade. I know that’s not normal. But sometimes we join the rest of the human race and go for takeout.

The days leading up to our Thanksgiving vacation were chaotic – long hectic days at work followed by evenings spent preparing to leave the country; getting the house ready for the housesitter and making various arrangements for our dogs. Who has time to cook when there are suitcases to pack and train tickets to print, restaurant reservations to be made and sightseeing to plan. ?

Tuesday night, with 36 hours to go, I succumbed to the pasta commercials I’d seen from Pizza Hut. (Granted these were commercials I’d made fun of, but never mind that.)

I clicked onto Pizza Hut’s web site and selected the $12.99 “Premium Bacon Mac ‘N Cheese” minus the bacon, thank you. I was pleasantly surprised to receive 20% off my first online order.

My husband picked up our dinner, which was ready at the time I specified online, and brought home a large box of macaroni and cheese and side of breadsticks.

What it offered in convenience and ease, it made up for in lack of flavor and interest. Completely one-dimensional in taste, color and texture, the bland, pale dish may as well have gone from my freezer to microwave to plate. And I’m sure that’s roughly the path it followed at Pizza Hut’s kitchen. Next time I’m in a time crunch I’d just as soon save the $12 and toss a box of Kraft mac and cheese onto the stovetop. Or plan ahead and have a dish of homemade baked macaroni and cheese waiting in the freezer for just such an occasion. I knew there was a reason I don’t eat fast food.