(43-149) Comfort Food

It's been a while since I've pulled a post topic from Mari's "Memories and Thoughts" jar; so I decided to let my kids pick my subject for today.  The only criteria that I gave the kids was, that I wanted the post to be something lighthearted.  I didn't want to write about something complex, or something sad, and I think they did a great job finding something that fit the bill, when they chose "What are some of your comfort foods?"

As soon as I heard the topic, "comfort food," I immediately conjured up the image of a bagel with lox, cream cheese, purple onion and tomato.  Oh my gosh; my mouth is watering.  Ironically enough, I discussed this very same meal with both (SMF) David and my cousin Jackie, JUST THIS WEEK; so something tells me, this sandwich is in my near future.

Sometimes comfort foods are those that bring us back to a certain place and time; and for me, many of my comfort foods are those that I remember my mom making.  Others are dishes that just make your mouth happy and put a smile on your face.  Kind of an A-HA moment, but with food.

I find it interesting that even though my mom was an amazing cook; it's not EVERY dish that she made that I would put on my comfort food list.  For example, I learned how to make baked ziti, Chicken Parmigiana, and Eggplant Parmigiana, from watching my mom; and even though I love all of those dishes; I wouldn't refer to them as my comfort foods. 

For someone who loves food, I don't think my comfort food list is very long.  At the very top of it, of course is that bagel that I wrote about earlier.  And then in no particular order, I'd have to include: Stuffed cabbage, brisket, potato latkes, kasha Varnishkes (roasted  buckwheat groats  w/ farfalle pasta and sauteed onions,) whitefish salad, rugallah, cappuccino (or any coffee really;) and cannoli.  And now that the list is in print, I can clearly see that ALL of these foods are dishes that are Jewish style foods (with the exception of cappuccino / coffee and cannoli; but most Jews that I know, LOVE Italian food;) so I suppose that my original theory is correct.  The foods that comfort us, bring us back to a certain place and time.
There is one food and one food only that I can think of to add to my comfort food list.  It's a food that had nothing at all to do with my mom.  It's not a food that I ever ate with her; nor anybody else that would give me a happy memory.  It's just a food that is such yummy goodness, that whenever I am feeling out of sorts, thinking about eating it always picks me up; and that's celery.  NO, of course not.  I'm totally kidding.  It's a food that I've mentioned before in "Swee treats,"  (drum roll please...)  Cracker Barrel's, Macaroni and Cheese.  YUM! 

Truth be told, I rarely eat any of the foods that I've mentioned; for a number of reasons.  First of all, most of them aren't readily available to me and secondly, I really try NOT to turn to food for comfort.  Since I love to talk about, write about, watch shows about; and of course EAT, food; it hasn't been difficult to imagine what I would like to eat if I was looking for something soothing; and yet I've found that even just the IDEA of these foods or thinking about these foods, has been very comforting to me.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-17) Sweet Treats

Last night Luis and Nicky wanted to have a guy's night out for dinner and they of course went to their mutual favorite, "ass burrito;" which left the girls and I to fend for ourselves.  In the interest of having something yummy AND cost effective; we went to Cracker Barrel. Now if anyone hasn't had the pleasure of eating at a Cracker Barrel, I'll just describe it as some Southern, down home goodness. The food is NOT gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, but it's comfort food that hits the spot. There are SEVERAL reasons that I enjoy Cracker Barrel: 1. They have THE CUTEST country store and I love to meander around and peruse their wares. 2. Complimentary biscuits and apple butter. 3. Anyone can order from their kids menu (in fact it says, kids of any age) 4. They make MAGNIFICENT Macaroni n cheese, SCRUMPTIOUS Sourdough croutons, HEAVENLY Hash brown casserole, and FABULOUS Fried apples; just to name a few.
Since my week had been stress-FULL, I thought some Cracker Barrel Mac n cheese might be good for what ailed me. I ordered the kid size portion, which believe it or not was JUST PLENTY and our bill came to a whopping $12.85; which truly could not be beat.
Once we were through with our meal, we looked around the country store and as I was paying our bill, I noticed a jar of Zotz; (one of my FAVORITE childhood candies.)  I asked the cashier for some watermelon Zotz and much to my delight they cost only 39 cents for 4.  What a score!!!  Now for those of you who have never heard of or tried Zotz; they are "where the fizz izz!"  Zotz are individually wrapped, flavored, hard candy with a powder candy in the middle; and when the powder gets wet, it fizzes.  I guess you could liken it to a hard candy with Alka Seltzer in the middle, only tastier.  Now I really can't tell you exactly why I liked Zotz so much, but after having one today; I can affirm that indeed I still do!!

When I was growing up in "The Condo," our ice cream man sold Zotz and I have a very vivid memory of being in second grade and trading my "boyfriend" to "slendiferous" Judy for HER Zotz. So when I got home from dinner last night, I wrote on Judy's Facebook wall and let her now that I had bought some Zotz and thought of her.  I suppose that Judy thought that I had gotten the better end of the deal all of those years ago, because she wrote back and wanted to know why I didn't buy her any. So Judy, expect a small package when you least expect it...

Since I've always been overweight, candy wasn't something that I ate a lot of; but surely there were candies that I liked. As a kid I would have wanted a piece of chocolate, or Zotz of course; and a Wacky Wafer or Bottle Cap wouldn't have been too bad either; but as I've gotten older, I've found that my candy interests have changed.  I'd rather have a piece of dark chocolate than milk chocolate and I seem to like my flavors mixed - sweet and sour, sweet and spicy or sweet and salty.

My latest fave craves are Pretzel M & M's; which I HIGHLY recommend if you haven't already tried them; and Hot Tamales.  What can I say; sometimes we can ALL just use a little extra sweetness in our day.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING