Comfort Food

Eric and I walk in the afternoon and the other day the conversation came up about food.  There are certain people in our lives that we associate different foods with.  When I was growing up and attended church, we had Homecoming every year.  Women cooked for 2-3 days to get ready for the Sunday that special speakers and guests would be there.  Chicken and dumplings, fresh coconut cakes, all kinds of food that weren't made every day. 

We started naming the women who made dishes that we could remember.  LB made the small little ham sandwiches on the dinner rolls.  MJ made chicken and dumplings that made you think she had just killed the chicken that morning and cooked it.  One lady made country ham biscuits that she took on the bus when we went to the Worlds Fair in Knoxville one year.  Hot dog suppers meant someone always brought her baked beans (no canned) in a big casserole dish. 

Thanksgiving Day was spent with both families.  Everyone had their familiar standbys that we could be counted on to bring.  No need to call each other to make sure we didn't have 5 of one dish.  That never happened.  Eric's grandmother always made the dressing and when you walked into her house that day, the smell of sage met you at the door.  My specialty was macaroni and cheese and rice casserole and I took home empty containers every time.  At my parents house, you could always count on my mom to make a cherry pie.  My sister had a garden and always brought green beans that she had canned that summer.  As it happened one year, she dropped the pot of beans in the yard.  Thinking she could pick up the pile of beans that had not hit the ground, she scooped them up and put them back into the pot.  Only later as we were fixing our plates, did we realize what she had done when we found a few pine needles mixed in.  Since we had all eaten 2 meals that day, dessert wasn't really thought about.  But every year, my sister-in-law made rocky road squares for us to snack on as we sat around and talked.

I can see pictures of food now and think about those days.  I can walk into a place and a familiar scent will be present.  It takes me back to the days of good food and good times.