food that is simply prepared and gives a sense of wellbeing; typically food with a high sugar or carbohydrate content that is associated with childhood or with home cooking www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
The term "comfort food" seems ironic at times. Sometimes when I think of the meals I've had with my family I can almost smell the spices or hear the voices of my now gone family members. Sometimes, most times, that is painful. I miss them and it's hard to remember them without longing to feel them near. But when I am preparing a meal that my grandmothers used to cook I feel joyus. Even through my tears. I have to fight through the pain of memory to feel the comfort of the past.
My comfort foods have always been associated with my two grandmothers, Granny and Grandma. For years they shared a two family flat on the Northside of St. Louis City. They would alternate between the first and second floor. When I was little girl visiting from Chicago sometimes the quickest way to tell which grandmother was living on which floor was to take a deep breath. If the smell of country fried chicken or spaghetti came wafting to the front door-Granny lived there. If the air was filled with the aroma of homemade cakes or macaroni and cheese or chicken n' dumplings-you were in Grandma's house!
