Comfort Food Memories

Baby, it's cold outside. And Number One Son has been sick with a brutal cold. It was definitely time for me to whip up some comfort food.

My mama always had a favorite meal when she was sick. One her mama made her often as she recovered from surgeries to help her overcome the lasting effects of polio. Tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich were her go to meal, and I remember making it for her a time or two when she was sick.

But I cannot stand tomato soup, and I will barely tolerate a grilled cheese sandwich. My mama knew a favorite home-cooked comfort food is necessary for proper healing, so through much trial and error she found what would satisfy me: chicken and dumplings with a side of fried okra.

I remember vividly, on a similar cold night after I had Number One Son, she fixed me my favorite comfort food as my first meal at home. Nothing in the world could have tasted better.

So, tonight I whipped up a batch of chicken and dumplings, and I fried some okra, and I thanked the good Lord that my mama taught me how to do both. As I stirred the pot, it struck me that the reason comfort food is comforting is because of the memories it evokes. But it doesn't hurt if it tastes good, too.

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