'Her "perfecting the recipe" ended up with this result': Woman tells MIL she despises her signature mac and cheese dish

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 4, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

Think of the most off-the-wall way you could make pasta… and it's still not as odd as this MIL's custom recipe. 

This woman and her husband have a great relationship with his parents. But now that the OP, u/NecessaryAct35, is pregnant, she's finding herself unable to eat the food that her mother in law has been making…and she may have a good reason why. 

The issue with this mother in law's mac and cheese dish is that she seems to have added far too many ingredients into the mix. Of course, depending on your culture and upbringing, the way you cook might be vastly different than someone from another country. The same foods you adore might be totally disgusting to someone on the other side of the world, and vice versa. But mac and cheese is a pretty simple dish, and when people make it, they will usually use some combination of cheese, noodles, and possibly a breadcrumb topping. Also, some people add peas for some reason. Anything other than those basic ingredients is messing with a perfectly fine recipe. 

Not every person likes to follow a recipe, as this MIL will tell you. Her "famous" mac and cheese is totally custom made, with some genuinely concerning combinations. Check out the story below, as well as the comments, where people discussed if the OP was rude for the way she brought up her dislike for the mac and cheese. 

Up next, these photos with confusing perspectives will break your brain. 

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  • 01
    Food - 'That. Is NOT. Mac & cheese.'
    via No Revisions on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - AITA for finally telling my mother in law that her mac and cheese tastes terrible? Not the A-hole My husband 30m and I 28f have been married for 2 years, together for 5 years, and currently 6 months pregnant. We are very excited and blessed because I've had some complications in getting pregnant. I have a very good relationship with my in laws and if any of us ever had problem, we are able to talk it through. Except for one thing. My mother in law has her famous mac and cheese that everyo
    via u/NecessaryAct35
  • 03
    Font - I, however, found it disgusting on day 1 but I didn't want to come off as rude and ungrateful so I pulled through it without saying anything. I told my husband about it and he said that his mother has been making it for decades perfecting the recipe and she would be deeply offended if anyone told her anything bad about her mac and cheese so I should just find the right moment to tell her. He for some reason loves it, so he didn't want to be the one to tell her. Which I totally understand
    via u/NecessaryAct35
  • 04
    Font - So 2 days ago I've decided to just tell her. It was a family dinner where my husband's parents had invited us over and of course, his mother was making her so-called "famous mac and cheese". I almost threw up at the smell and I couldn't bear the thought of eating it, probably because I was pregnant.
    via u/NecessaryAct35
  • 05
    Font - So at dinner, when I was offered the mac and cheese, I politely declined and said "no thank you". My mother in law looked at me and asked "why? You should eat. Good for the baby". And I just went right out with it "I'm sorry, but I don't like your mac and cheese. Everything else tastes delicious, but this is the one thing I simply cannot eat anymore". She looked so deeply offended and she literally snapped "well, thanks for being honest" and didn't even look or speak to me for the rest of
    via u/NecessaryAct35
  • 06
    Font - What was wrong with the mac and cheese? Her "perfecting the recipe" ended up with this result: mac and cheese combined with salmon, kimchi, pineapple, seaweed salad, collard greens, onions, and garlic. I don't have a problem with the greens or onion, but the rest tastes so disgustingly wrong with mac and cheese. However, the reason why I think I might have been an as is because like my husband said, she has been perfecting this recipe for years, her entire family clearly loves it, and I t
    via u/NecessaryAct35
  • 07
    Font - Am I the A Edit. I did tell her that because I am pregnant it wasn't possible for me to stomach the ingredients, but she still didn't want to talk to me. Another edit. I'm French and my husband's family is Korean, so that will explain the ingredients. I do enjoy salmon, kimchi, and seaweed salads, but it greatly depends on which dishes it's served with. And since I've been pregnant, I've even developed an aversion to several foods that I used to love.
    via u/NecessaryAct35
  • 08
    Font - Her "perfecting the recipe" ended up with this result: mac and cheese combined with salmon, kimchi, pineapple, seaweed salad, collard greens, onions, and garlic. NTA a million times over. That...thing...she makes is not mac and cheese. It barely qualifies as food. What it is is a crime against humanity and she should be jailed for it.
    via r/AmItheA**hole
  • 09
    Font - Ehgender In the words of tanaradoublechocola te on TikTok: Everyone is so creative!!
    via u/Ehgender
  • 10
    Font - Foll NotCreativeAtAll16. You lost me with the salmon and kimchi in the Mac N Cheese. You get NTA for standing up against crimes against cuisine.
    via u/NotCreativeAtAll16
  • 11
    Font - [deleted] Her "perfecting the recipe" ended up with this result: mac and cheese combined with salmon, kimchi, pineapple, seaweed salad, collard greens, onions, and garlic My brain doesn't think you're a liar but my heart badly wants you to be lying.
    via u/deleted
  • 12
    Font - Colt_kun Parta: ipant [1] People who won't take a polite "no thank you" deserve to hear the harsh truth. NTA. (Also that sounds disgusting all together.)
    via u/Colt_kun
  • 13
    Font - 3397char Partas pant [1] Especially when they try and shame you with the "your baby needs this."
    via u/3397char
  • 14
    Font - Plus-Improvement-880. ΝΤΑ When she first asked, you said "no thank you". You didn't insult her you just said you weren't interested hat was short, crisp and to the point. She wanted to know why so you told her after she asked. Good for you
    via u/Plus-Improvement-880
  • 15
    Font - MHIH9C The little known 10th circle of h - for people who create culinary abominations.
    via u/MHIH9C
  • 16
    Font - nekpeasant Enthusiast [5] Forget context, just: mac and cheese combined with salmon, kimchi, pineapple, seaweed A salad, collard greens, onions, and garlic... eww, yuck that yum, NTA.
    via u/nekpeasant
  • 17
    Gesture - Early Entertainer11 NTA that is the most heinous mac and cheese recipe i've ever seen
    via u/Early_Entertainer11
  • 18
    Font - justtiptoeingthru2. Agreed. I gagged reading that description. That. Is NOT. Mac & cheese.
    via u/justtiptoeingthru2
  • 19
    Font - Ehgender salmon, kimchi, pineapple, seaweed salad, collard greens, onions, and garlic I'M SORRY WHAT nta good lord wtf is this monstrosity
    via u/Ehgender
  • 20
    Font - wmnwnmw I pivoted from "YTA, it really did not need to be said, especially so bluntly" to "NTA, it probably should have been said a lot sooner" so fast at that line that I got emotional whiplash lol, she really buried the lede here
    via u/wmnwnmw
  • 21
    Font - jellyolive Look, that meal sounds absolutely disgusting. I couldn't eat a bite of it on a normal day, let alone when I was pregnant. But if you've been faking it for years, then you should've used your pregnancy as the excuse. "Sorry MIL but that triggers a pregnancy aversion, I can't eat that". Or "Sorry MIL but I've been told by my midwife/OB that I can't have
    via u/jellyolive
  • 22
    Font - salmon/kimchi/X- ingredient during the pregnancy because of health concerns." And then after the pregnancy, you can say your tastes have changed and you can't stomach it anymore. And how sad you were. You faked it for years and then brought it up. I'm not surprised she's hurt. Even if that concoction shouldn't be called food to start with.
    via u/jellyolive
  • 23
    Font - I have to say a gentle YTA. Not because you should've eaten it, but how you said it. Hopefully you can blame the pregnancy (and it's perfectly valid a reason even if that were the most delicious food ever- I could eat smoked salmon in my first pregnancy and now I can't in my second because health advise changed!) and she'll let it go. Because if the only way to fix this is to eat that, then I'm sorry and my judgement would change to E S H simply for that.
    via u/jellyolive
  • 24
    Font - Edit: ok wow I woke up to awards! Thank you so much! And yeah I think too many people have gotten caught up in the details of what the mea was. If this was a Michelin star meal and OP said what she did then it would be rude but because the meal doesn't sound good, then it's ok? That doesn't make sense to me! It's all about how and when you say things to people to avoid unnecessarily hurt feelings! 534 Reply Share
    via u/jellyolive
  • 25
    Font - datcatischonky. Everyone saying OP's not the a solely based on the interesting choice of ingredients for the mac and cheese, when this is the real answer here lol. OP could've saved themselves the hassle if they were just honest from the start. I'd say ESH because OP could've handled this better
    via u/datcatischonky
  • 26
    Font - awesomeness0232. I can't believe I had to scroll this far to find this comment. Does the Mac and cheese sound gross? Yes. Was OP an AH in the way they delivered the criticism? Also yes. Just because you're technically right about something doesn't make you not an AH when you pick a c by way of telling somebody something you know will upset them. 164 Reply Share
    via u/awesomeness0232

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mac and cheese aita meal gross pasta noodles famous dinner in laws mother in law gross food family pregnant weird family drama
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