Comfort Food Is Like ...

Your Favorite Blanket

Comfort Food is like your favorite blanket. It simply makes you feel good and can actually relieve your stress.

Many people, including scientists who study such things, will tell you that eating certain things can make a person feel better.

If you were asked what one food you associate with feeling good, what would you answer? The answer is probably different for everyone because of individual life experiences and cultures.

Even within the United States people will have different answers because of regional differences. If a person grew up in the South, fried chicken and barbecue might be named. In some parts of the East, many people might answer a hoagie or scrapple. A particular casserole might come to mind for someone from the Upper Midwest. Chili, mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, beef stew, meatloaf, pot roast and particular soups are foods associated with fond memories in most areas of America.

As winter begins with the colder weather and the holidays approach, many of us look forward to preparing and eating those foods that comfort us and bring us to the table with family and friends. These foods are best shared with loving family and friends. It is what I enjoy most about preparing comfort food - the sharing. The kitchen is filled with the aroma and flavor of food that brings back warm memories and happy times. And as these recollections takes place around the table with the meal, yet another fond memory is given life.

Someone once wrote (I can't remember who it was) that "...preparing and sharing classic comfort food is like turning your stressful life down to simmer." I really like that.

Most of us don't have just one great memory associated with just one food - we have many. So the list of favorite foods can be large and varied.

Here are recipes for foods that people have specifically requested because they give them comfort. These foods are unpretentious, but have great flavors and make you feel good preparing and eating them. They are simple culinary delights we crave - for comfort.