Comfort Foods

[Guest guest]

My favorite comfort meal is a jacket sweet potato (one baked in its skin only)

greens (I prefer Kale but if you throw in some collards I won't complain)

Mac-n-cheese (I prefer my Momma's) and corn bread. 

 

This was basically Sunday dinner from when I was coming up.  We would go to

Miller's Farm on Friday evenings and get cases of fresh greens, yams and two

wheels of cheese and come home and start soaking the greens.  When Great Grandma

was alive she would tell us stories while we picked, scrubbed and soaked the

greens again, and again and again... 

 

Most of Saturday morning was spent preparing Sunday Dinner which meant that we

always went out for dinner on Saturday (Chesapeake Bay Seafood House- I think we

put them out of business on just our family alone- " all you can eat " is a

dangerous phrase).  Sunday, before service, Momma would start making the corn

breads (around 5 am) and we would always volunteer to see if it was " poisoned "

which usually took at least two piping hot slices with butter to determine. The

really good corn bread batches were always declared unfit for human consumption

and the brave soul would sacrifice himself for the good of the family by

volunteering to eat the whole pan. (In between that she would press, curl or

otherwise style 9 or so heads of hair. My grown, married sisters would come to

have her do their hair on Sundays.  She would put the hot comb or the curling

iron between the grates under the cooking pots.. The woman is resourceful if

nothing else).

 

When we returned we could have dinner, and this is the one day we used the

Formal Dining Room and the good china, we always had someone coming by to " get a

plate " or another part of the family would come by to eat.  I am the youngest of

13 so this was when I would see my older siblings and their children and it

almost always met a gift, usually money, from my brothers and their wives. Lots

of laughter and good ol' fashion family bonding- and Lord a Mercy, pray you

hadn't gotten in trouble that week because the whole family got involved in the

chastisement. Family business would be aired and many a problem solved or made

worse depending... but I never left feeling anything but happy. 

 

The best compliments would come when we tried to outdo each other on how well

Momma " stuck her foot " in the greens.  They could be so funny sometimes...

 

The best part was Monday morning breakfast which was a slice of corn bread with

some hot pot licka in a bowl. If you have a good hot sauce to put on it that

just takes it past perfection! I tell you there is no better way to start the

week!

 

I am so glad to have the memories tied to these foods since my siblings live all

over the world and Momma is in another state.  These foods represent happiness,

acceptance and peace to me. They are some of my children's favorites too because

they tie them to a past they never got to experience first hand (my siblings

grandchildren are my kid's ages). 

 

This was a great question of the week, I am feeling all warm and happy from the

memories.