Foods That Comfort Me

Time for a little listology tonight. Its been a long time since I had a listy post. Been thinking about food lately, especially since we were just on a little weekend away and I was cooking for pure pleasure one night. Some people think vacation is a time to get away from food prep (and I do that too sometimes) but I find a deep enjoyment in cooking for pleasure with no time pressure or requirements. Food is a kind of art, but also a kind of loving communication. We all care for others with food. How do we care for ourselves with food? I think the notion of comfort food gets a bad rap. No need to imagine Bridget Jones gorging on a tub of ice cream while sobbing to illustrate the idea. Comfort food can be frivolous or ridiculous but it can be just as building and health giving too. The real idea is to think of what foods bring kindness to you in an intimate and reflexive way. Comfort is something our country needs a little bit of right now.

When life has handed me lemons and I am lower than low, when I wish I had a Mommy in-house to take over for the day, when I have company coming and everything is at all ends....these are my comfort foods:

• Mushrooms of any kind but especially morels, chanterelles, or oysters sauteed in butter.
• Roast Chicken....especially cooking it but eating it too. Its my tradition that I always make roast chickens for people the first time I have them over to dinner. Its my safe meal, and it makes me feel calmer to cook it.
• Early Grey Tea is my favorite flavor...its the stuff that feels like ideal winter evening or ideal summer vacation early morning or idea slow afternoon remedy. Extra cream, drizzle of honey....ice or hot. 
• Raspberries are my favorite fruit, I think. They are so delicious and totally one of things I grab for a Mommy comfort snack during a rough shopping trip to the store. 
• Eggs. Fried, boiled or scrambled....its my favorite breakfast. I eat them almost every day. I think A might have finally decided to stop complaining about it. Its just how it works. I love eggs. Blame my mama...I remember her eating them the same way when I was a kid.
• Shrimp or Crab. I like them canned, fresh and frozen and all the better for a little melted butter and squeeze of lemon at the end of a hard day. 
• Coffee. It has to be admitted that I drink it not only for the caffeine but for the comforting, nurturing ritual of the whole affair. Nobody loves you quite like your coffee pot some mornings.
• Goat's Milk is a throwback favorite to my early childhood. When I was a little girl we had goats and that was the only drinking milk I really had. It must have imprinted deep or else the romanticism of the idea lodged in my mind....in either case, a glass of warm goat's milk makes me feel okay in short order.
• Sprouts, are always the very most fragrant, delicate and tender of the leafy greens. I love all kinds of sprouts: sunflower, radish, pea, bean etc. I feel like I am getting the most intense shots of nutrition and the most gentle and motherly of foods (no tough chewing, just all melty, baby sweetness) both at once. 
• Chocolate Croissants or Pain Chocolate, if you're being properly French. I know they aren't good for me but they make me feel like a Dutchess who will make it through her trials. 
• Chocolate Chips + Coconut Flakes + Coconut Oil + Tigernut Flour, melted in the microwave and stirred until a melty, chocolaty goo, eaten with a very small spoon, huddled in the kitchen after the kids are in bed.
• Avocado, with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of sea salt, eaten right out of the skin with a spoon is a really big favorite of mine. I've been known to eat them in the car, pack them for picnics or even take them camping. 

What do you eat or cook to bring yourself some measure of safety and love?