Comfort Food
by Janet Peterson

“Say the words ‘comfort foods’ and what comes to mind?

“Maybe it’s piping-hot macaroni and cheese with a crunchy, golden-brown crust, or chewy, gooey chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven. What about a big mound of fluffy white mashed potatoes and a pool of melted butter dripping down the side?

“Comfort foods are ‘feel good’ foods. They sooth and nurture us, and encourage that secure ‘filled-up’ feeling in our stomachs. Just biting into a favorite food takes you back to a time when you felt happy and nourished, loved and cared for.“ ^[i]   So said Elaine MaGee in her recent magazine article on comfort foods.

One afternoon my editor (through three books) and I were having lunch at an upscale restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City.  Although surprised to see tapioca pudding on the menu, she ordered it. After a few spoonfuls, she said, with obvious satisfaction, “This is just like the tapioca pudding my mother used to make.” Another woman recalled foods of her childhood: “I have warm, happy memories of growing up in Lorrain, Ohio. Many of them include the hearty, comforting meals Mom prepared for Dad, Grandfather and me.” ^[ii] Although some people might not admit to it, most people do have certain comfort foods that are emotionally important to them.

Food often has strong emotional attachments, and comfort food evokes warm, comforting feelings. Comfort food takes us back to our childhoods or to special occasions. It’s not so much the actual food that we hark back to, but the people and the feelings that accompanied the eating. Mary Pipher, a psychologist noted that “Grandmother’s noodles come to stand for Grandmother. The fresh‑caught trout eaten in a mountain campground stands for a time when the family was young and happy. People speak with such longing of their mother’s biscuits or their father’s farm-raised chickens. It isn't just the food they are missing but the emotions that are connected to those meals and the people who served the food.” ^[iii]

Your comfort foods are different than your neighbor’s comfort foods because you each have your own unique experiences that have shaped your lives and the foods you love. “A smell can suddenly evoke a long-forgotten moment, said Eric Slosser, in Fast Food Nation. “The flavors of childhood foods seem to leave an indelible mark, and adults often return to them, without always knowing why. These ‘comfort foods’ become a source of pleasure and reassurance.” ^[iv]

Just reading the following descriptions of one woman’s food remembrances makes you hungry as well as think about your own family get-togethers. “My earliest memories revolve around holidays when grandparents, cousins, uncles, and aunts gathered for wonderful dinners of roast chicken, served with mountains of mashed potatoes and three or four different vegetables,” said Sara Pitzer.  “For dessert, chocolate cake, coconut cake, and apple pie, and, in winter, homemade ice cream. Everybody brought something good to eat. When you opened the door you were immediately welcomed by the steamy, warm aroma of roasting meats and simmering sauces. . . .

“When I was grown, I learned recipes for more exotic dishes, but I never lost my love for the meals we ate when I was a child. . . . Some people's roots may be traced through family trees; mine can be found in the food we ate.” ^[v]          

Comfort food can be a reassurance that all is going well. One’s comfort food of choice can change over time and even may be developed as adults. When I was a child I really didn’t like raspberries because we ate them during the winter bottled—too gooshy and tasteless for me. But now fresh raspberries–-just a plain bowl of raspberries with a little milk and sugar—is my ultimate comfort food. We like chocolate at our house too, but raspberries top the list for me. A bowl of raspberries reminds me of warm summer evenings relaxing out on the patio, enjoying our spectacular view, and carrying on casual conversation.  It wouldn’t be the same if I ate them alone. Raspberries make me feel that our lives are going pretty well. Some years raspberries are plentiful; other years they are not. But I know that if I bring even a small cup of fresh raspberries home, I have given a gift of comfort to my husband and myself. (Our children can take them or leave them and have their own specific comfort foods.) Second on my list of comfort foods is mashed potatoes and gravy.

Why do we need comfort foods? Shouldn’t grown-ups get past needing food pacifiers? Everyone has times of stress, of feeling down, of needing a boost. Why not eat foods that provide a little emotional comfort? As Sarah Ban Branach, the author of Simple Abundance stated, “Pasta and potatoes are Mother Nature’s Prozac.” ^[vi]

Consuming comfort food doesn’t necessarily mean gluttony, overeating, being totally self-indulgent. Since your body requires three meals a day, it means choosing to eat foods that are extra tasty to you this time, that make you feel a little better. Comfort food will make you fat only if you overdo it. Comfort food is not a panacea and will not fix your problems nor is it a replacement for human interaction, but it can give you and your loved ones a little boost when it’s needed.

Marion Burros, a cookbook author, wrote: “This craving for simplicity and for Mother’s cooking crystallized for me on September 11, 2001. Not just for me, it seems, but for other Americans as well. First our desire for comfort food was an effort to assure ourselves that the world had not come to an end, even if the world as we knew it had. Now it is an assurance that everything is still, somehow, all right.

“In the days and weeks that followed, in my kitchen, as in others around the country, recipes for meat loaf, tapioca pudding, lemon meringue pie, toasted cheese sandwiches, and tomato soup were retrieved from the dusty recesses of kitchen cabinets. . . .

“When life gets more uncertain, more stressful than usual, we look to foods that made us feel secure as children. For those of us who were brought up on the twentieth-century America diet, that means meat loaf dressed with catsup, buttery mashed potatoes, and chocolate chip cookies.” ^[vii]

It’s not just for ourselves that we provide comfort food. Relief Society sisters are famous the world over for bringing food to comfort the ill, the bereaved, the heavy-hearted. Our loaves of bread, jello salads, and funeral potatoes are legend—so much so that there were 2002 Olympic pins depicting such

Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recalled how a simple bottle of home-canned cherries brought by his aunt and uncle provided needed comfort. He said,

“It was a summer day. My mother died in the early afternoon. My father, my brother, and I had gone from the hospital to our family home, just the three of us. We fixed ourselves a snack; then we talked with visitors. It grew later, dusk fell, and I remember we still had not turned on the lights.

“Dad answered the doorbell. It was Aunt Catherine and Uncle Bill. I could see that Uncle Bill was holding a bottle of cherries. I can still see the deep red, almost purple, cherries and the shiny gold cap on the jar. He said, ‘You might enjoy these. You probably haven’t had dessert.’

“We hadn’t. The three of us sat around the kitchen table, put some cherries in bowls, and ate them as Uncle Bill and Aunt Catherine cleared some dishes. . . .

“I knew that Uncle Bill and Aunt Catherine had felt what I was feeling and had been touched. . . . They must have felt we’d be too tired to fix much food. They must have felt that a bowl of home-canned cherries would make us feel, for a moment, like a family again.” ^[viii]

Not one food reminiscence quoted here is about fast food, take-out or five-star restaurant cuisine. Comfort food is food cooked at home (or at a campground or the backyard) and eaten in a family setting.  There really is truth to Pillsbury’s old slogan, “Nothin’ says lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven.”  Think to the future and wonder what comfort foods your children and grandchildren will talk about—what foods they will be emotionally attached to because you took the time and made the effort to cook good food and create a loving dining atmosphere.

 Top Ten Comfort Foods

allrecipes.com asked more than 6,000 people to list their favorite comfort foods. (You might write down your own Top Ten; ask family and friends to name theirs.)

1. Mashed potatoes and gravy
2. Macaroni and cheese
3. Chocolate chip cookies
4. Ice cream (tied with 3)
5. Soup
6. Pizza
7. Pot roast
8. Fried chicken
9. Pasta
10. Grilled cheese (tied with 9)

The following are recipes from Remedies for the “I Don’t Cook” Syndrome by Janet Peterson. You may contact her at janet@mmmind.com.

WHITE BREAD 
Kathleen McGuire

With a bread mixer, which eliminates kneading by hand, making bread is quick and easy. There are few things as welcomed by family members as homemade bread.

1 cup warm water
4 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 quart warm water
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon salt
6-7 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in 1 cup water in bowl or a large measuring cup. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over top and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Put yeast into bread mixer. Add 1 quart water, sugar, butter, salt, and 2 cups flour. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add 2-3 more cups flour; mix. Add more flour, a ½ cup or cup at a time, until dough pulls away from side of bowl. Mix for 10 minutes.

Form bread into 3-4 loaves and put into greased 4¼x8½- or 5x9-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. (Rising times vary depending on room temperature, yeast, and flour.)

Heat oven to 400º.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400º. Turn heat down to 350º and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove bread from pans and cool on racks.

Makes 3-4 loaves

OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
Susan Morgan

Homemade noodles might sound complicated, but they actually are not and taste so-o-o good.

1 whole chicken or 4-5 bone-in chicken breasts
2-3 quarts water
1 onion, quartered
3 stalks celery, quartered
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
2-3 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon thyme
2 carrots, thinly sliced or diced
1 stalk celery, sliced
frozen peas (optional)
chopped broccoli (optional)
frozen corn (optional)
packaged or homemade noodles

In a large pot or Dutch oven, put chicken, water, onion, celery, parsley, bouillon, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 2½ -3 hours. Remove chicken from broth. Strain broth, skimming fat. Return broth to pot.

Remove chicken from bones and add to broth. Add carrots and other vegetables as desired. Bring to a boil again. Reduce heat. Add cooked noodles or homemade noodles. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are tender and noodles are cooked.

Noodles

1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten

Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl, making a well in the center. Mix together milk and egg in a small bowl. Pour into flour well. Stir until mixture forms a dough. Knead on a floured board 8-10 times. Roll very thin. Let stand 20 minutes. Cut into 1-inch strips, as wide as desired. Drop into boiling broth. Can let dry for 2 hours before cooking.

Serves 8-10.

CLASSIC MEATLOAF
Janet Peterson

Pure comfort food, reminiscent of the past.

3 pieces bread
½ cup milk
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped celery
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½-1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
1½ pounds ground beef
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup catsup
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Heat oven to at 350º.

Tear bread into pieces and put in mixing bowl. Add milk, egg, onion, celery, Worcestershire sauce, teaspoon salt, and teaspoon poultry seasoning. Stir until well mixed. Add ground beef and mix. Put meat mixture into a 5x9-inch loaf pan or a 2-quart casserole dish. Make sauce of brown sugar, catsup, and mustard and spread over meat. Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Serves 6.

MACARONI AND CHEESE
Pat Menlove

“Wonderful macaroni and cheese. Serve with crusty bread, stewed tomatoes, and spinach salad.”

1½ cups macaroni
1½ cups cheese, cubed (mild or medium Cheddar or some of both)
½ teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
milk

Heat oven to 325º.

Cook macaroni until fairly tender. Drain and put in a greased 2- or 2½ -quart casserole dish.   Add onion salt and Worcestershire sauce and stir. Stir cheese cubes into macaroni, distributing them evenly. Pour milk into casserole to top of macaroni. Bake, uncovered, until set, at least an hour. Test by inserting a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, macaroni and cheese is done.

Serves 6.

QUICK CHICKEN A LA KING
Eva Wallace

Chicken a la king has been enjoyed by families for generations. Serve over toast, baking powder biscuits, rice, or puff pastries.

¼ cup onion, diced
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1 (10¾-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1½ cups cooked diced chicken or turkey
1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms
2 tablespoons chopped pimiento
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
½ cup sour cream

In a large skillet, sauté onion in butter, until limp, but not brown. Add flour. In a small bowl, blend soup and milk. Add to onion mixture. Cook and stir until thickened. Add chicken or turkey, mushrooms, pimiento, and green pepper. Heat but do not boil. Add sour cream. Serve over toast, baking powder biscuits, rice, or puff pastries.

Serves 4-5.

CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES
Carol Gardner

Make the chocolate chunks as big as you like.

1 cup butter (not margarine)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flour
14 ounces milk chocolate bars, chopped
1½ cups chopped nuts
1 cup coconut (optional)

Heat oven to 375º.

Cream sugars and butter. Add eggs and beat well. Mix in salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Add chocolate, nuts, and coconut. Mold into golf-size balls and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press slightly. Bake for 7 minutes. Cookies will be very soft. Remove immediately from cookie sheet. When cool, they will firm. (If cooked until firm, they will be dry and hard when cool.)

Makes 2½ dozen cookies.

BERRY ICE CREAM
Jami Ward

Raspberries, strawberries, blackberries—any kind makes delicious ice cream.

4 cups fresh berries (or frozen but thawed)
2 eggs
1-11/3 cups sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 cup whipping cream
1-1½ cups half-and-half cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Puree berries in blender until almost smooth. Remove seeds, if desired, by pressing puree through a strainer. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar until thick and lemon colored, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in puree, corn syrup, whipping cream, half-and-half, and lemon juice. Pour into freezer container. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Makes about 2 quarts.