Chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese with french fries, rice and beans, or an ice cream sundae . . . comfort food is as varied as the experiences they recall. The Urban Dictionary defines comfort food as “food that gives emotional comfort to the one eating it, these tend to be favorite foods of childhood, or linked to a person, place or time with which the food has a positive association.” As it gets increasingly colder outside and we continue to hunker down, many of us find ourselves drawn to recipes that invoke feelings of warmth and nurturance. With that in mind, we posed this question to staff: what is a comfort food that you adore and why?
Steve G - I have always been a fan of breakfast for dinner. My favorite comfort food would be just that, breakfast! There is something especially exciting in the winter of coming inside after a cold day out in the snow to a plate of pancakes and some eggs!!
Rachel A - My favorite comfort food is anything baked from scratch. Lately, this has been homemade chocolate chip cookies. They are my favorite when they are fresh out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! I love to share them with family and friends!
Jerry R - This time of year it’s hard to get past latkes, fried to a crisp, golden brown in plenty of hot, hot oil. And of course served with “Mommy’s famous applesauce”! The key to great latkes is, embrace frying!
Amy M - Personally, on these cold days, I like to eat some split pea soup that my mom makes. As a child, I remember my grandmother and mother would work together to make it during holidays and snow days. That is one of my fondest memories from childhood.
Kathy B - A favorite comfort food of mine is a nice cup of hot chocolate along with a nice bowl of soup. My parents would always make us a different kind of soup whenever we had a snow day. They never made the same soup twice, so it was always a nice surprise. Hot chocolate on cold snowy days has also been a staple in my house. My brother and I like to top our hot chocolate with whipped cream and mini marshmallows!
Lizzy K - My comfort food is definitely mac and cheese. But not just any mac and cheese, homemade mac and cheese. My babysitter would make it for me, on snow days or when I’d stay home sick from school. She’d either pair it with a nice glass of chocolate milk or carrot juice. It was so important to me that when I went away to college I made sure I knew how to make it exactly how she did. When I eat it now I’m instantly transported back to being a kid.
Simple Recipe: 1 cup of pasta (elbows)
4 slices of American cheese
A little bit of milk (I don’t measure but it’s like a milk cap full)
40 seconds in the microwave, take out and stir, another 40 seconds in the microwave.