i like to consider annie withey a good friend of mine. have i ever met her? no. will i ever meet her? probably not. nonetheless, our bond is incredibly strong. who is this woman, might you ask? annie withey is the absolute mastermind behind my beloved annie’s mac and cheese; a staple in my diet since my early years. basically, a second mother. i have very few memories as fond as those which involved me sitting at a plastic desk in my basement watching mr. rogers and practicing my abc’s with a bowl of ms. withey’s mac and cheese with frozen peas, carrots and corn mixed in. the early 2000s were a beautiful time.

fast forward a decade or so and the same persnickety toddler is still scarfing down the cheesy shells she treasured as a child. literally, the only difference is that i’m taller now and we got rid of the plastic desk once i learned the alphabet, so like a year ago.

all jokes aside, annie’s company is wholly dedicated to serving organic, sustainable and, of course, delicious food to families nationwide and thrives on their values of honesty, fairness and respect toward their employees and customers. as a matter of fact, annie puts her home address and phone number on each box before they hit stores. that sounds a little risky in this day and age, but i tend to doubt that anyone buying mac and cheese in a purple box emblazoned with a bunny logo has truly malicious intentions.

today, i cracked open a purple box of my own(maybe it was the second time this week, but who’s counting?) and couldn’t help but experience theeee most intense nostalgia. to cushion the fact that i was eating mac and cheese at 3 o’clock on a friday afternoon and i have to be in a bathing suit in three weeks, i mixed in some broccoli and hoped my metabolism could step up just this once. if i do end up laying on the beach looking like a whale recently washed ashore, rest assured that i enjoyed every damn bite of annie withey’s cheesy deliciousness.

hit up your local grocery store, you won’t regret it.

xx gabby