We often turn to comfort foods in times of stress.

Tweet

At least, here in the Midwest, we seem to. When the chips are down, someone is feeling badly, you are nostalgic, we sometimes turn to foods that seem to make us feel better. Often, these foods are simple, and we expect them to have a certain flavor that we recall from our childhood, or that reminds us of someone we loved. Comfort foods are a kind of pick-me-up, that lift our spirits and make us feel good. Comfort foods in my home have changed some over the years. When I was a young girl, many foods were fried. That frying pan was on the stove for something, for every meal a person fixed. Most people in the US do not fry very much food anymore. But some fried foods are still popular--fried chicken, fried potatoes, bacon, ham, sausage...most people still enjoy these things, but not nearly as often as they used to. I have my own favorites, and I know my children and grandchildren have favorite comfort foods as well. Meat loaf and mashed potatoes, homemade noodles with chicken, pot roast with potatoes, carrots, onions, and tons of gravy (except now we need a bank loan to get a pot roast!) macaroni and cheese, chili, potato soup...the list goes on and on. The son will occasionally ask to have a meal I consider a comfort food. There are comfort desserts as well--warm apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, spice cake, homemade cinnamon rolls...again, these lists are mostly Midwest favorites, I know that many areas of our country have different favorites. My New England cousins consider clam or seafood chowder the ultimate comfort food--but it's made with fresh seafood, which is hard to come by where I live. At the present time, the son isn't feeling that well. He had a medicine change and some things don't sound good to him today. He asked for homemade chicken soup. It's currently cooking for our dinner this evening. Do you have favorite comfort foods? I am curious to know, maybe I will try something new! According to Wikipedia, the term ''comfort food'' has been around since at least 1615!