Memories of Comfort Food

Pinto beans, mac and cheese, and cornbread… you can’t beat it for comfort food. Gourmet is good, salads are great, steak and lobster is a fantastic treat, but sometimes I need to return to my roots and have the comfort food I grew up eating. I must say I am never disappointed, and even dive into the leftovers the next day.

When I was a child, there were very few meals that didn’t include a bowl of pinto beans. My mother always provided a meat, fruit salad, and at least three vegetables, along with condiments and pinto beans… and, of course, cornbread. Speaking of cornbread, my parents (not me) were known to have a big glass of butter milk with cornbread crumbled in the milk as a meal. They thought it was great… I opted for something else that was a little more tasty.

Ah… and yet another food for me is chicken and dumplings. What southern table has not featured this delicious dish? The creamy gravy and thin, soft dumplings with tender chicken is mouthwateringly good. When I was pregnant with my first child, I craved this dish. I was away from my home and knew nothing about cooking, thus was not able to indulge in my desires. Upon arriving at my Mom and Dad’s house, I was sure the meal would include the dish I had longed for. Was I ever surprised when my Mom served steak, my husband’s favorite food instead. It seemed she was welcoming him with his comfort food. The next night the table was adorned with the best chicken and dumplings I could have ever imagined.

And, if you are a woman, comfort food always comes in the form of chocolate. This is the universal food to cure break-ups with boyfriends, or any unpleasant event in our lives. Or, on the flip side, it is used to celebrate anything. What a comfort!

Source: K. P. Guessen