Mac and cheese is also the simplest and best camping meal of all time. When I was hiking, I ate Annie's mac and cheese on at least 85 of the 95 nights, and I never got sick of it. I spiced it up with cayenne pepper, salt, and on particularly festive nights I'd put a little summer sausage in it. When I did Camp Nebagamon trips, we ate a variation on mac and cheese called "spaghetti carb" ... which was spaghetti with like 4x the amount of cheese as you usually get with mac and cheese. It was literally the hardest possible thing to clean out of the cookpots, but it was always really, really good.

I'm thinking that we are going to need to eat a lot of mac 'n cheese during March Madness. We might even have a macaroni-off as part of the festivities. I'm not embarrassed to say that I routinely add cheese to Annie's. Along with some red pepper flakes.

Are you proposing Macaroni Madness? The Final Quattro? A Tourney Taste-off? I'm game. I make a lovely jayhawk pie.

Panther con Queso: Take 1 (one) Pitt Panther. Subdue. (This is not difficult, and requires only a basic man-to-man defense, a match-up zone, or whatever you have lying around the kitchen). Fricasee with three-point bombing and slashing to the basket. Saute with low-post passing and a zone press. Add ½ cup water, and simmer. Add a dash of DePaul Blue Demons at this point if you like your Panther spicier. Add grated cheese. Serves 12 hungry Missouri Tigers.