Comfort Food

On this morning, when there is still ice and snow on the ground, I am pondering the topic of comfort food. I knew what a comfort food felt like and tasted like to me, but was not sure about the actual definition of that term. So, I looked it up and learned that comfort food is "food that is simply prepared and associated with a sense of home or contentment."

That definition makes complete sense to me. It explains why I woke up yesterday as the temperatures had dipped into the teens, knowing that I was going to make chocolate oatmeal cookies. It did not matter that we did not have the ingredients, and that there was ice and snow on the ground. Somehow, I would make those cookies. By the end of the day, there were 23 chocolate oatmeal cookies on a piece of wax paper on the kitchen counter. You are probably familiar with the no bake variety that need to boil exactly one minute. As it turned out, I must have missed the exact part, as they never did firm up. But, that did not discourage us from eating those soft, mushy cookies with a spoon. I believe that chocolate oatmeal cookies are a comfort food for me as my mom made hundreds of them over the years. It was a real treat to discover those delicious cookies waiting for us when we returned home from school. We never knew when Mama was making them. So, it was a delightful surprise when we found them.

A "comfort meal" for me is a big breakfast. As a young girl, I loved the days when I woke up to the smell of a big breakfast cooking. I would lie there in the warmth of my bed for just a few minutes as the delectable smells wafted into my room. Above the sounds of the sizzling bacon, I could usually hear my mom singing a hymn. Her favorite is still "Amazing Grace", and I heard that song often as she was in the kitchen cooking.

As my son goes off to college later this year, I hope he will carry some memories of home that will bring him comfort in the days to come.

Isaiah 66:13a - "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.."