Comfort Food

What is it about comfort food that is so...comforting?  We all have that go-to food that just makes us feel better.  Or the one thing at holiday dinners that we just can’t get enough of.

I would put my mom’s potato salad up against anybody, even a high-priced catering business.  Nobody can beat it.  Or her corn flake Christmas wreath...yum!  

Captain’s mom makes the best macaroni salad, hands down, ever.  And her apple crisp?  Well, we fight over it.  

Brogan holiday menus don’t even need to be discussed anymore.  Everyone knows what they are supposed to bring.  Captain’s mom does the mac-n-salad (as we refer to it around here), Chris makes scalloped corn, and Leah makes that salad thing with lettuce, peas, sour cream, and cheese in layers...seven layer salad?  Whatever, it’s good.  Me, I bring deviled eggs.  Mama Bear brings homemade buns.

Raise your hand if you put on a pot of soup or chili on a cold snowy/rainy day.  Yeah, me too.  

Captain’s go-to food is pizza.  His frequent comment is “Seven days without pizza makes one weak.”  Get it?  Seven days, one week.  He likes his puns, even when they are dumb.  He likes Mexican food, hates Chinese, and will tolerate a burger joint if he has to.  But given a choice, it’s pizza.  Hands down, the best pizza in Rochester is North Mr. Pizza.  No question.  

We used to take the kids to Pizza Hut about once a month on Sundays for the buffet.  Young Man would forego the pizza, pasta, and other stuff and load up on a salad.  He was 3 years old...what 3-year-old eats salad instead of pizza?!  Oh well, it made a nice family outing anyway.  Then again, this is the kid who went through a phase where all he wanted to eat was canned peaches with ketchup on them. Barrel o'barf!

Princess will go for tacos every time.  When she was living at home, we had tacos at least once, if not twice, every week.  Now that she is no longer here...tacos rarely make an appearance on the menu.  

Me, I go for meatloaf.  When I worked downtown, the best day ever was when the Rochester Methodist Hospital employee cafeteria would have their daily special with meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, and gravy.  Load me up!   

After a rather unpleasant day at work that involved an extended power outage, which meant I had to work until 7:30 to make up the time, I needed some comfort food.  If someone had shown up at the door with a takeout box from the RMH employee cafeteria with meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, and gravy...I’d have laid a hot one on them.  

Alas, that didn’t happen, and since I also had to go to Rochester for another urgent errand, I went with Captain’s comfort food and picked up a Mr. Pizza deluxe.  And a snicker doodle, because when all else fails, sugar and butter will fix anything.