I have no rational explanation for it and it may be impossible to accurately gauge with any sort of scientific method but i grew up on plain old Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and i have yet to eat it anywhere else that has tasted as good as my mom made it in the 70's. I don't know if she added something, the food was simply made differently or the ingredients she added weren't as processed as now but it was good,good stuff. I will probably never figure it out but i really miss that particular taste. She made a lot of great home cooked meals and recipes but that damn boxed junk has a nostalgic stranglehold on me that can't be lessened.

  On an opposite note, my wife isn't from the US and she had never really celebrated Thanksgiving before. Last year,she tried to make her first turkey ever and put alot of preparation and nervous enthusiasm into it. When it was finished, I cut into it and took a bite and it was like biting into a piece of warm fruit. She had completely obliterated any Thanksgiving turkey my mom had ever or will ever make on her first try. It is the turkey i will hold all future turkey meals against as my measuring stick. Sorry,mom.