Comfort Food

It's been awhile since I posted. For several reasons. I've been busy at work and at home, and I've been in a funk. Not sure any of it has been avoidable, but it's certainly zapped my motivation to write.

One of the things many of us (including me) seem to turn to when we're down in the dumps is comfort food. That would be any food that just makes things better because it's so good and yummy. There are a lot of them. Many of them made better when given the Southern touch. I think I realized how much of an impact these foods carried when I recently went to Denver on businesss. There were 4 of us there, and we went to this very trendy restaurant one night for dinner. Next to the sea bass, arctic char, filet mignon, sushi, and grilled asparagus, in all their glory, were macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, and fried chicken. I threatened to order the fried chicken, just to see if it tasted the same away from home. That restaurant had some simply luscious food, but I can't imagine their fried chicken could hold a candle to my momma's. They did take the prize for the most eclectic menu I've ever seen, though!

What qualifies a food for the category of comfort? Well, there can be no mention of calories or fat grams or carbs. In fact, I'm fairly certain it has to be full of all of those to fit the bill. I'm thinking my famous mashed potatoes....homemade mac and cheese....again, my momma's fried chicken....my melt-in-your mouth meatloaf.....my grandma's warm banana pudding.....chocolate in any shape, form, or fashion.....brownies.

Speaking of brownies. I remember when I was in college. My best friend's boyfriend broke up with her. She was just miserable. So, I made a pan of brownies. We each took a spoon and dove into the pan. Twelve hours and plenty of tears and discussion later, the sun came up, she felt better, and the pan was completely empty.

Oh and I'd better not leave out ice cream. I mean, this stuff has seen me through a multitude of depressions and disappointments. I love Haagen Daz Chocolate Chocolate Chip. But if times are truly tough, nearly any chocolate flavor will do. Ben and Jerry's gets me with New York Super Fudge Chunk and Cherry Garcia. And if there's only vanilla....well, give me some hot fudge and I'm just fine with that, too!

Hardly any of the issues that send us running for the comfort food can actually be solved by it. But it sure does make facing things a little easier. The best part about it is that I know I can find all that food even in Denver. While it might not be cooked with bacon grease or butter....or heck, even a little lard, it's still there if I need it. And now I'm starving! The only question is...which comfort food will fill the bill???