Ihate to admit it, but I ate a large amount of processed, half-prepared meals as a kid. My parents often worked late, which meant Kraft mac and cheese, Stove Top stuffing, and Hamburger Helper were on regular rotation as we children were left to fend for ourselves.

Watching episode four of the latest season of “The Bear” took me right back to those moments when my older siblings would teach me how to make boxed comfort foods taste better. A pat of butter here, a splodge of ketchup there, et voilà, fine dining as I knew it.

In the episode, Chef Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) prepares Hamburger Helper for TJ, her cousin’s teenage daughter, giving the familiar shelf-stable meal a few cheffy touches while dissecting sticky life scenarios, such as sleepovers — both real and proverbial — and in

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