One of my biggest defining food moments was the mac and cheese I had about two years ago at the 2015 Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, aka the best mac and cheese ever. Everyone has their stories of meals they’ll never forget, and for me, it was this. Every time my friends and I bring it up my sister rolls her eyes at how ridiculous she thinks we are. But she doesn’t KNOW. She made the mistake of not having it so she probably missed out on a life changing moment and is just trying to cope. How good could it really have been? She’ll ask. Good enough that my mac n cheese standards are now way higher. I don’t think I’ll ever be that pleased with mac and cheese again.

vegetable, sauce, cheese, pasta, macaroni
Mallory Shaner

Firefly is a four day music festival that takes place in the summer, and was one of my favorite things I have ever done. I went with a group of ten people and we camped out and it was an all-around amazing and memorable experience. While there are many things that made it so great, with music, of course, being an important one, the food was surprisingly one as well. I expected a bunch of over-priced typical food such as hot dogs and limited options. While the food did tend to be expensive, it certainly was not mediocre. They had tons of options all throughout and everything was so freakin' yummy.

spaghetti, basil, vegetable, meat, cheese, macaroni, pasta, sauce
Tiare Brown

The mac n cheese came from a certain vendor and was called Creole mac n' cheese. I tried to look up the vendors after the fact but was never able to find out with certainty which one it was. I feel like I'm the prince with the glass slipper, but I have not reconnected with my Cinderella. This mac n' cheese was incredibly rich and cheesy, and it had a few flavorful spices to it as well. The plate came with a big heaping amount. That itself was delicious, but if you wanted to be extravagant you could add meat for a higher price. I added pulled pork and I want to cry thinking about it. It was so SO good. My friend and I even went back a second time within the same day! This time I chose to go without the meat added to save a few bucks, but it wasn’t any less amazing. I stopped being able to eat it after a bit due to how heavy and rich it was because I got a #cheeserush and started shaking. People like to make fun of me for that because they think I’m making that up but, it was basically like a sugar rush. I guess you can't have too much of a good thing. Its greatness was overwhelming and powerful. I maybe went overboard but I was in love. We all were.

cheese
Rachel Williamson

My friend and I later discovered our other friend who went with us to the festival had also tried the mac n' cheese, and anytime we are all together it still comes up and we could talk about it forever. A couple of us tried to recreate it once, searching a Creole mac n' cheese recipe online, and while I won’t deny it was pretty damn good, it still can’t touch the best mac n' cheese I’ve ever had and will ever have in my life. I only have one surviving image of this memorable meal, and my friends and I drool and go into a daze every time I pull it up. I also got a perfectly refreshing blackberry lemonade from the same vendor.

pasta, poutine, beef, macaroni, cheese, chili
Helaina Cozza

So with that, I say, thank you Firefly mac n' cheese. You were the best, deepest and most touching summer fling a girl could ever ask for. I’m still thinking about you two years later, and I know you’ll always have a special place in my heart.