am I the only person who DOESN'T use food for comfort

over the years in here there have been many threads of "comfort food"

I always read the recipes and even make some dishes for Mr K when he has had a bad day or isn't feeling well, but when I'm sick or upset I just don't eat. Nothing looks/sounds/smells/tastes good and if I'm in a really bad stretch I'll lose weight.

:shrug:

...but what I bring away from most "comfort food" threads are that they are an homage to a more carefree time when Moms cooked,Dads worked, and the world was much more a 50's kind of place. A time of jello molds and green bean casseroles and macaroni and cheese...your first REAL tv dinner in front of a b&w television...choices were easier-Ovaltine or Bosco,popcycles or frost sticks,Twinkies or Tastykakes...A time before "Cuisines" and "Ethnic Foods" and "Dietary Restrictions" turned our dining choices into a morass of complexities...in short the kitchen of our homes, in our youths.So to me comfort food is not about being "comforted" by food,but rather of being comforted by our memories....

My comfort food has moved way beyond the proto mac and cheese from the blue box. Comfort food is good food, prepared without all the "should" and "ought" that infects my daily diet. Yesterday it was a piece of Dover sole lightly dredged in flour, seasoned with cracked pepper, lightly sauteed in butter, finished with white wine, and served with rice and four stalks of asparagus (organic, out of season, $9/lb here). It was extremely comforting after the last 6 weeks of trying to eat up a bunch of frozen dinners my dad had bought on sale in a kitchen that wasn't set up for cooking.

Comfort food for me is food I spend time choosing and cooking because I need nourishment I'm not getting in other areas of my life. It works, at least temporarily.

Nostalgia for the 50s, which I remember as a very grey and bitter time, is not part of it.

My mom was a terrific cook. So, I do have family favorites that comfort me. But I have to include those meals that I fix that have nothing to do with traditions. Meals where the food tastes wholesome and makes me feel full but comfortable - not stuffed. And they don't taste like they came from a restaurant or a can. I'm thinking of my homemade soups that are made from whatever I have in the house at the time. Very individual, maybe experiments that turned out great.

When I'm stressed, upset, nervous etc. I do not eat. Nothing sounds good. Nothing smells good. I too, will lose weight.

Wait, maybe I should get upset more often?

:rofl:

You're weird. :evilgrin: (But we love you. :loveya:)

thanks!

I'm sitting here with my tummy all agrumble and after yesterday I think I can handle some toast (maybe)

:hug:

Hope you don't have "the Valley Flu" that's jammed up the hospitals and emergency rooms lately.

:hug:

You are weird. :loveya: When I'm emotional (good or bad) I can eat myself into a stupor.

i just can't do it....

You're demonstrating far healthier behavior than I do. Food can have a powerful tranquilizing effect for some folks and it's not a terribly good coping mechanism to head for the fridge with every high or low. It's a battle that I wish I didn't have to fight.

I starve and it packs on pounds :rofl:

but I'm gonna blame it on menopause... that's my story and I'm sticking to it! :hide:

over the holidays. I get too busy and stressed. Then all the super-rich food starts to gross me out.

I do find home cooked food very comforting and the act of cooking is also calming. So in a way it is "comfort food". But I don't eat to shut down my feelings, either. At least not much.

yeah that's what I was trying to say I guess. but I hear you on the holiday stuff and I really need to drop a few pounds here.... I need to whip up some more stress :crazy:

its comfort food.

But I think, seriously, that catnhatnh hit the nail on the head.

:rofl:

When I'm stressed, I don't eat, but my body goes into this weird starvation, self-protective mode where the 500 calories of lettuce and tomatoes I manage to force down my throat turn into 14 pounds of lard on my ass and hips. (Can I get a refund on this body? I'm sure it's not what I ordered....)

So I force myself to eat a regular diet when I'm stressed out to short circuit the evolutionary cues that stress = starvation = self-preservation.

But the food has no flavor, it's not fun, and I have to eat it in small doses or I get sick to my stomach. When I'm that stressed, the only real comfort food I have is sushi, because the various ingredients have a lot of the amino acids and micronutrients that help turn off the adrenal system when it's in overflow mode.

:hi:

refers to the "feelings" that return with a whif of a long-forgotten food from childhood, or a mention of it..

There actually WAS a time when Moms & Grandmas baked every day..There really were apple pies cooling on window sills, and stew bubbling away on the stove tops.

People's lives no longer fit that model, but it used to be that way..

Childhood is usually the time when people cater to us, cook what we like, make special treats just for us, and all that's asked of us is to enjoy it, thank the cook and then go play.. Comfort foods for most adults, are the foods they remember from their childhoods...back when everything was pretty easy, and their responsibility-gene had not yet formed:)

Even people who gew up poor, have those memories of Mom and/or Grandma cooking special treats for them..

It's not so much about the actual food, as it is the time travel backwards..

The irony is that when you follow the old recipes exactly, the foods don't usually taste as good today...no matter how hard you try.. The ingredients themselves have changed, the cooking utensils have changed, and so have the taste buds..

We didn't go out to eat much; there just wasn't enough money for that. If we went out, it was to the cafeteria once a week.

Both my parents worked and all of us kids learned to cook very early. I was making fudge on the stove by the time I was nine. I could also cook eggs, toast, brownies, and make a salad.

Yes, there are some things that remind me of growing up:

1) Homemade rolls for Sunday dinner (lunch to the rest of the planet).

2) A whole plateful of home grown corn and lima beans with salt, pepper and butter.

3) Canteloupes and watermelons,

4) Brownies

5) My grandma's sweet potato pie

6) Freshly made cornbread and get out the molasses and butter, too.

Mostly it's the company I miss these days. *Sigh*

But sadly, I am a stress eater. I do better with it other times than others. Right now, I'm not doing such a hot job of it. :-(

my grocery shops, when the cupboards are full, and I know I can make almost anything I'd like.

I don't really understand the comfort food idea, but do better since reading the thread. My Mom ate when she was stressed (and was overweight), and I was on the chubby side growing up so I tried not to eat when stressed. (I drank instead, which still causes weight gain LOL)

My Mom is a great cook and baker. I can't bake. But I never had rare meat til I left home, my Mom would dry it out, I think because my father liked it DONE. But I remember smelling stews and spaghetti sauce, especially in the winter, walking up the driveway, and the smell of fresh baked bread or pies. Sense of smell can be a powerful memory evoker.

The distinction is between haute cuisine/gourmet food and more homey food. Things like fried chicken, good mac and cheese, homemade stews, good spaghetti sauce, home baked pies...that sort of thing. Not baby vegetables braised in balsamic vinegar and served on a bed fried tofu. I'm being silly here, but I think you know what I mean.