Comfort Food
So I had a stressful day at work today, no yelling or screaming or anything drastic, just the stress of a couple of important projects going on and it was one of those days where NOTHING goes as planned, no one answers their phone and time sensitive stuff isn’t finished yet. When I get home, I almost always do one of two things. I go running or I eat dinner. Running has proven stress release properties but today I got to thinking about the concept of comfort food. By no means do I advise using food as a crutch in your life, BUT I do think when used safely, comfort food might be just the thing to try once in a while.
I've never really thought much about what my comfort foods would be. If you watch as much food network as I do, there seems to comfort standards out there. Fried Chicken, Mac and Cheese or anything with bacon come to mind. I like all of that stuff, but it doesn’t have the same connection to me as it might to others. So, what are my comfort foods?
For me, the food has to have a connection to something that good, pure or happy in your life. I don’t recall my mother making fried chicken very much, although we did enjoy some chicken from the colonel on occasion, but not enough for me to draw comfort from it as an adult. When it comes to childhood food, believe it or not I find great comfort in a soup and sandwich on a cold or gray day. As an adult, I use tomato soup and a grilled cheese, but as a kid it might have been a PB&J and a bowl of chicken noodle. I recall really loving New England clam chowder and vegetarian vegetable soup as well. I think a kid liking clam chowder is odd, but if you’ve met me, then or now, you’d understand. Since moving to Arizona, I don’t eat soup often, but luckily soup in a can lasts a very long time, so I always have some available.
Another food I draw comfort in is from my time in Okinawa. I have no idea of its origin, but while in Japan, I ate pseudo Mexican food prepared by Pilipino women. My global adventure of food was simply called “Taco, Rice and Cheese”, and it was in fact those three ingredients. A bed of rice with a particularly greasy scoop of taco meat on it, then absolutely buried in some yellow cheese I’ve never quite duplicated. As a civilian, tonight included, I’ve made a version of Taco, Rice and Cheese that is slightly less un-nutritious, but has done the job for me. I’d include a recipe, but it is beyond simple. I use a Taco seasoning mix and follow the directions the only change is that I use a leaner ground beef than I’m sure they used in Okinawa. I’m also positive I’m buying cow here, but that’s a story for another day. I think the 93/7 is the leanest stuff you can get here and it works just fine. I use a single boil in the bag worth of rice and I use a mild cheddar cheese and I grate it myself, the pre-grated stuff doesn’t melt the same and I’m not sure why, maybe it’s fake?
If I know I’m going to have a stressful day in advance I try to have a donut for breakfast, but it is really hard to predict having a stressful day. For the record, the best donut for this purpose is the Boston cream donut. Depending on where you buy them, Bavarian cream and Boston cream CAN be the same thing, but sometimes they are not. I want the one with custard in the middle, not whipped cream. If I’m going for comfort, no shortcuts please. Of course, said donut must be consumed with coffee or hot chocolate, depending on when in my life it was. I guess this one is linked to my childhood and my time working at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium. At some point the manager and I declared Boston Cream the official donut of the Auditorium and would make the road crews bring donuts if they wanted us to play nice. I think my last comfort food is something that I do indulge in on a regular basis.
Almost every Sunday Jen and I have a nice sit down brunch. Whether it is pancakes, French toast or waffles, they’re just dripping with comfort. It doesn’t hurt to include a side of bacon or hash browns, but the vessel for my maple syrup is the key to the comfort. I’m not sure where I developed my love for anything dripping with butter and maple syrup, but as an adult it has developed into one of those things that married couples call “their” things. Brunch is our thing…and oh so comfortable. So what’s your comfort food?
I've never really thought much about what my comfort foods would be. If you watch as much food network as I do, there seems to comfort standards out there. Fried Chicken, Mac and Cheese or anything with bacon come to mind. I like all of that stuff, but it doesn’t have the same connection to me as it might to others. So, what are my comfort foods?
For me, the food has to have a connection to something that good, pure or happy in your life. I don’t recall my mother making fried chicken very much, although we did enjoy some chicken from the colonel on occasion, but not enough for me to draw comfort from it as an adult. When it comes to childhood food, believe it or not I find great comfort in a soup and sandwich on a cold or gray day. As an adult, I use tomato soup and a grilled cheese, but as a kid it might have been a PB&J and a bowl of chicken noodle. I recall really loving New England clam chowder and vegetarian vegetable soup as well. I think a kid liking clam chowder is odd, but if you’ve met me, then or now, you’d understand. Since moving to Arizona, I don’t eat soup often, but luckily soup in a can lasts a very long time, so I always have some available.
Another food I draw comfort in is from my time in Okinawa. I have no idea of its origin, but while in Japan, I ate pseudo Mexican food prepared by Pilipino women. My global adventure of food was simply called “Taco, Rice and Cheese”, and it was in fact those three ingredients. A bed of rice with a particularly greasy scoop of taco meat on it, then absolutely buried in some yellow cheese I’ve never quite duplicated. As a civilian, tonight included, I’ve made a version of Taco, Rice and Cheese that is slightly less un-nutritious, but has done the job for me. I’d include a recipe, but it is beyond simple. I use a Taco seasoning mix and follow the directions the only change is that I use a leaner ground beef than I’m sure they used in Okinawa. I’m also positive I’m buying cow here, but that’s a story for another day. I think the 93/7 is the leanest stuff you can get here and it works just fine. I use a single boil in the bag worth of rice and I use a mild cheddar cheese and I grate it myself, the pre-grated stuff doesn’t melt the same and I’m not sure why, maybe it’s fake?
If I know I’m going to have a stressful day in advance I try to have a donut for breakfast, but it is really hard to predict having a stressful day. For the record, the best donut for this purpose is the Boston cream donut. Depending on where you buy them, Bavarian cream and Boston cream CAN be the same thing, but sometimes they are not. I want the one with custard in the middle, not whipped cream. If I’m going for comfort, no shortcuts please. Of course, said donut must be consumed with coffee or hot chocolate, depending on when in my life it was. I guess this one is linked to my childhood and my time working at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium. At some point the manager and I declared Boston Cream the official donut of the Auditorium and would make the road crews bring donuts if they wanted us to play nice. I think my last comfort food is something that I do indulge in on a regular basis.
Almost every Sunday Jen and I have a nice sit down brunch. Whether it is pancakes, French toast or waffles, they’re just dripping with comfort. It doesn’t hurt to include a side of bacon or hash browns, but the vessel for my maple syrup is the key to the comfort. I’m not sure where I developed my love for anything dripping with butter and maple syrup, but as an adult it has developed into one of those things that married couples call “their” things. Brunch is our thing…and oh so comfortable. So what’s your comfort food?
My comfort food is lentil soup. :-)
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