| Author |
Farm Kitchen:  Comfort foods  |
|
bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
 Posted - May 16 2005 : 06:17:24 AM
|
I meant to bring this topic up in the winter but last night at dinner it came up again.What foods do you associate with "home"? We had meatloaf (1/2 veggie and they didn't even know!), fresh corn on the cob, and fresh green beans. My husband and son have been away the last three weekends and this was the first Sunday dinner we have had in awhile. My son made the comment "If we've got strawberry shortcake for dessert(we did) this is my best meal...EVER!" Not fancy food but obviously his favorites that someday will remind him of us and "home".
I can't look at homemade mac and cheese, baked custard or homemade pies and not think of my Mom. When I'm sick,I want a cup of tea and cinnamon toast,to feel better. Are there foods that trigger those warm fuzzy thoughts for you? Foods that are probably ingrained in your dna by now because you must have them? (I'm not talking chocolate here girls, that's for another day!)
with a happy heart |
Edited by - bramble on May 16 2005 06:19:46 AM |
|
|
Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2005 : 08:26:12 AM
|
Bramble, what a timely topic! I grew up with bacon and eggs for breakfast most mornings... so that evokes all sorts of memories for me, and especially of my Dad. Unfortunately, I can't partake of that very often now for health reasons, but when I splurge, it's a welcome treat.
Fried chicken for Sunday dinner when I was growing up was also another staple. We usually ate beef for dinner during the week, so this was a very nice change. These days I'd update the chicken by baking it, but same concept. We were a meat and potatoes family back then... so mashed potatoes with real butter is comforting, too.
For desserts, berry or apple homemade pies, or chocolate cake were nice treats. Ahh... memory lane!
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
 |
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2005 : 09:12:16 AM
|
pinto beads cooked with a hamhock in it,and cornbread remind me of my grandma's house..which was my favorite place....and fried okra at every big family meal (my older kids still insist on that)Our family has always barbqued alot too. (beef mostly)
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
|
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2005 : 09:44:01 AM
|
Fried Chicken, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Corn, Bisquits, Gravy, Cole Slaw, Bread and Butter Pickles and Beets, Spiced Peaches, Homemade Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream and Fresh Iced Tea to wash it all down on Blue Checked Cotton Table Cloth spread on large oak Farm table with mismatched oak chairs scraping old old flooring. Organdy curtains blowing gently in the warm summer breeze, screen doors opening and slamming shut and the sound of families laughter and voices sitting down to this feast. I am Home.
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
|
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2005 : 11:17:11 AM
|
An idea just flashed in: What about a Farmgirl Connection Comfort Foods of Home cookbook? MJF are you listening?
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
|
|
|
bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2005 : 2:38:53 PM
|
That's a great idea! I have "A QUILTER'S CHRISTMAS " COOKBOOK AND IT HAS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM WOMEN (AND MEN) FROM ALL DIFFERENT QUILTING GROUPS. THAT WOULD BE FUN!
with a happy heart |
|
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2005 : 8:22:03 PM
|
ooooooooh! great idea!!!
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
|
|
|
jamie
Farmgirl in Training
33 Posts
jamie
33 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2005 : 9:35:08 PM
|
Hi everyone!
What reminds me of my childhood and my grandma is fried bread, fresh homemade cookies of all kinds, bread rising on the counter and then the smell of fresh bread and cinnamon rolls, warm chocolate pudding, fried chicken on Sundays, the sounds of canning fruit and veggies. My grandma has Alzheimers now and she can't do any of this stuff anymore. We have always been so close so it is very difficult for me. She was a very proud farmwife and homekeeper. She taught me to bake, sew, iron, and all of the other homekeeping duties. We would turn on the radio and dance around together in the kitchen laughing while we were waiting for our food to be done. I cherish those memories.
I don't know why I got off the subject but she is "home" to me.
Take care y'all, Jamie |
|
|
|
shepherdess
True Blue Farmgirl
359 Posts
Robin
Eatonville
Washington
USA
359 Posts |
Posted - May 17 2005 : 10:48:26 AM
|
A cookbook sounds great to me ,too.
My family always cooked down home comfort foods. My grandma and mom were super cooks and could make anyhting from scratch.Nothing ever came out of a box. And to this day I cannot buy boxed or frozen foods.
Robin
In Western Washington
" From sheep to handspun " |
|
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - May 17 2005 : 4:24:09 PM
|
The only thing I usually get in the frozen food isle is juice concentrate (100% juice) and I hate the box mixes too. Since alot of my kids are adopted, they came from homes where hot dogs and mac and cheese from a box were the norm..but I have converted them all over to real food.
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - May 17 2005 : 4:59:03 PM
|
Yes!
Real food started from rreal ingredients like home made baked beans from scratch and using your own home grown bacon if you have it. I have a neighbor who raises her own organic pigs. Nothing tastes so good as fresh bacon home cured. I am also a fan of noodles and cheese, the kind you make from scratch with real ,wonderful cheeses like New York Sharp Chedder and fresh grated parmesan. Home made noodles and sauce. OOOOO my mouth is watering.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
cecelia
True Blue Farmgirl
497 Posts
cecelia
new york
USA
497 Posts |
Posted - May 19 2005 : 6:23:48 PM
|
Anything homemade! From scratch! Even "bad" foods can be good - I have been making meatloaf or hamburgers using a pound of Buffalo meat (very low fat), oatbran (instead of breadcrumbs with hydrogenated fat), vegetables minced fine, etc. Nothing like a piece of real cheddar with an apple, instead of pie. I love fruit and have found frozen fruit instead of using canned, even the one with fruit juice instead of sugar syrup. Everything can be like we remembered without the fat, corn syrup, etc. Except for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!
Cecelia
ce's farm
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery" Victor Hugo |
|
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - May 19 2005 : 9:57:21 PM
|
one of my favorite snacks is some good cheese with a good apple..yum. Reminds me of my grandpa! (of course he ate cornbread chunks in a glass of buttermilk with a spoon too..I don't take the nostalgia thing THAT far..haha)
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - May 20 2005 : 09:51:07 AM
|
My kids taught me about apple slices and a jar of freshly ground peanut butter, you know, the kind you grind at the market yourself from the freshly roasted peanuts. Anyway, dipping apple slices in peanut butter is another real treat that is an energy booster in mid afternoon and a comfort food for me.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
Kim
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
Kim
Pflugerville
Texas
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - May 20 2005 : 3:36:02 PM
|
Chicken Fried Steak and Mac n Cheese, Mashed potatoes and gravy...Yum!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow |
|
|
|
sugar1
Farmgirl in Training
19 Posts
Diane
Fostoria
MI
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2005 : 06:38:42 AM
|
Cornbread!! I love it homemade, Kentucky style which is dry and crumbly, I like to break it apart, put it in a glass and fill it with buttermilk. Then you eat it with a spoon--it sounds weird but it's delicious! I also love my mom's homemade macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven and iced tea. (not all together, of course!) |
|
|
|
mollymae
True Blue Farmgirl
694 Posts
Molly
Visalia
California
USA
694 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2005 : 1:24:57 PM
|
[quote]Originally posted by Aunt Jenny
one of my favorite snacks is some good cheese with a good apple..yum. Reminds me of my grandpa! (of course he ate cornbread chunks in a glass of buttermilk with a spoon too..I don't take the nostalgia thing THAT far..haha)
Jenny, thank you for the memory of my dear departed father! Whenever my mom would make her homemade chili beans and cornbread for dinner, he would always have his "dessert" of cornbread chunks in milk! It was always regular, not buttermilk, but we all would look at him as if he were nuts as he grinned and "mmmmm'd" all through it...
Molly
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." --Henry David Thoreau
|
|
|
|
goodmojo
Farmgirl in Training
11 Posts
Yarmouth
MA
11 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2005 : 3:15:53 PM
|
I remember growing up outside of Albany, NY (in the 60's) and coming in the house after playing outside on a brisk Fall day and the smell of homemade spaghetti sauce pervading the entire house, along with homemade garlic bread! Mom made THE BEST spaghetti sauce in the world! I tell you, every Fall I get a craving for a pile of spaghetti sauce. I make it based on my mom's recipe, plus I add artichoke hearts, black olives and whatever else might strike my fancy that day. I love cooking it and hearing it simmer in the pot, and the way the house fills up with the aroma. It always comes out terrific, and when I sit down with my one big plate of spaghetti (for the year, usually!) I am reminded of home.
I came to this planet for the french roast, and the chocolate, of course..... |
|
|
|
jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2005 : 4:57:54 PM
|
Count me in on the cookbook idea! Good idea! And it would make a great and fun cookbook to own.
I remember my mom's made-from-scratch tuna noodle casserole. Try as I may, I cannot replicate it. I also remember her chocolate sheet cake with seven minute frosting. Yum. Somehow, I have forgotten all the healthy things she made! :)
jpbluesky
Heaven gives its glimpses only to those
Not in position to look too close.
from "A Passing Glimpse" by Robert Frost |
Edited by - jpbluesky on May 26 2005 4:59:03 PM |
|
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2005 : 6:56:02 PM
|
I'm a spaghetti junkie and I want Goodmojo's Mom's sauce recipe,Yum! And JP's Mom's tuna casserole and sheet cake recipes, and I will share my mom's delicious beef vegetable soup!
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
|
|
|
Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 07:05:20 AM
|
I guess I should add homemade chocolate chip cookies. I was feeling down in the dumps last night, so I decided to bake some. (Haven't done that in a very long time). Pretty darn good! Figure I can treat myself once in a blue moon.
This triggered a childhood memory for me. My mother encouraged my brothers to be in the kitchen by allowing them to make their own batches of chocolate chip cookies. Got them to learn to measure, and all sorts of things that helped them in the future.... but the funny thing was, they loved the raw cookie dough so much, they rarely ended up with a full batch of baked cookies! Doesn't appeal much to me, but boys will be boys!
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 09:40:27 AM
|
My husban still loves to bake chocolate chip cookies. His mother taught him to bake too and he has some scars to show for his creative efforts. One day while baking a batch of his chocolate chip cookies he reached over the hot burner on the stove where his mother was doing some canning to get the salt shaker and his shirt tail got onto the burner which immediately set it on fire. His mother has scars on her wrists from putting the fire out with them.
didn't deter him from continuing to bake cookies and banana bread.
After that his mother never used the nich on the stove top for the salt and pepper shakers anymore. They were those wonderful green glass shakers with the metal lids like you see in the antique stores.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
sleepless reader
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
CA
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 10:58:47 PM
|
Here comes the true confessions of a dough-eater: I coud pretty much walk away from chocolate chip cookies once they're baked, but oh!, that dough!!! I've had raw dough parties with a few other friends who are so inclined. If we know we're eating it raw, we leave out the eggs.
I have a great recipe for Sourdough- Chocolate Chip Cookies.They're so yummy, I'll even eat them baked! |
|
|
|
countrykat
True Blue Farmgirl
85 Posts
kathy
paola
kansas
USA
85 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 11:50:24 PM
|
The first BLT of the season. I'm a tomato snob, won't buy them from the store for anything. So, after the first toms are ready to harvest I get the bacon frying and between us, my husband and I, we each eat a couple sandwiches. I like my bread toasted he doesn't but we pretty much agree that it doesn't get much better than the first BLT of the season.
Then there is the Clam Chowder. Yep, I'm from New England. Can't get enough of the stuff when we go back to visit family and friends. I don't care if it's the middle of Summer. I want Chowda. I will get my fix in just two more weeks! |
|
|
|
RachelLeigh
True Blue Farmgirl
635 Posts
Rachel
Rainier
WA
USA
635 Posts |
Posted - Jun 02 2005 : 06:07:48 AM
|
| Sleepless, I'm with ya on the raw cookie dough. I finally learned that if I bake my cookies for just a short amount of time, they're "cooked" but they still taste like dough but are no longer doughy. Now my boyfriend is hooked on my cookies that way. We don't make them often or we'll eat them all in one sitting!!! |
|
|
|
ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2005 : 06:36:22 AM
|
| My ultimate comfort food is a recipe that my German great-great-aunt made for sweet and sour cabbage with mashed potatoes. My grandmother makes it, my mother makes it, and I make it. It's the most comforting thing in the world. |
|
|
|
Farm Kitchen: Comfort foods |
|
Comfort foods
