It's been years since I have drunk a cup of hot cocoa. When I was a teenager and came home from a date, many nights I would sit down with a cup of cocoa & cinnamon toast to chat with my mother about the evening. To this day, the combination spells comfort.
Monday night: printmaking class. I left early because I felt a headache coming on, was tired, and hoped to ward off the evil spirits that seem to have given everybody else coughs, fevers, and general malaise. When I got home, I had a sudden urge for cocoa - something I have not had in eons.
Eight years ago I became lactose intolerant and stopped drinking milk because I thought Lactaid tasted horrible. Last week, I bought an organic brand of lactose free milk and tonight, for the first time in decades, I made a cup of hot chocolate: a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder, a dash of vanilla, a scant teaspoon of sugar, and milk. I feel so much better now.
What's your ward-off-the-evil spirits/childhood comfort food? What are your memories connected with it? And does it still provide the warm fuzzies it used to? Do tell.
Monday, December 01, 2008
cocoa
It's been years since I have drunk a cup of hot cocoa. When I was a teenager and came home from a date, many nights I would sit down with a cup of cocoa & cinnamon toast to chat with my mother about the evening. To this day, the combination spells comfort.
Monday night: printmaking class. I left early because I felt a headache coming on, was tired, and hoped to ward off the evil spirits that seem to have given everybody else coughs, fevers, and general malaise. When I got home, I had a sudden urge for cocoa - something I have not had in eons.
Eight years ago I became lactose intolerant and stopped drinking milk because I thought Lactaid tasted horrible. Last week, I bought an organic brand of lactose free milk and tonight, for the first time in decades, I made a cup of hot chocolate: a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder, a dash of vanilla, a scant teaspoon of sugar, and milk. I feel so much better now.
What's your ward-off-the-evil spirits/childhood comfort food? What are your memories connected with it? And does it still provide the warm fuzzies it used to? Do tell.
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For breakfast, and when we were sick, Mum used to make us egg nogs served in our personal "bunny mugs" (china mugs with Bunnykins motifs by Royal Doulton).
Now when I am feeling poorly, the thought of a egg nog cheers me up but my bunny mug lives at Mum's place and that is part of the magic.
The term "comfort food" completely puzzles my husband. He says there is no translation in France. I myself have many though and ofen make them when I feel sad, homesick or ill. Hot chocolate is one of them but it must be homemade, not to sweet and the nice bite of cocoa coming through, just like my mother used to make for my brother and i when we would come in from playing in the snow. Homemade chicken with egg noodles is another and piping hot oatmeal with milk butter and sugar.
Whenever I would get sick, Mom would make me tomato soup or stewed tomatoes and hot tea (we just had Lipton back in those days) with lemon and honey in it. I don't know why, but just knowing I was getting my tomato soup or stewed tomatoes made me feel better, no matter what I had. Sometimes she would sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the soup. Now I have the flu and I am tempted to make some even though it is nearly midnight. But then one of the fun things about being a grownup is that you can have anything to eat at any time your little (or big) heart desires. The other morning I had a spinach salad with hard boiled sliced egg and baco bits and ranch dressing for breakfast! Oh, so grownup!!!
Funny I was digging around in my cupboards tonight looking for cocoa because I had a yearning for hot chocolate. Alas, I couldn't find any and decided melted baking chocolate in milk wasn't going to cut it! Haven't had hot chocolate for ages, but cocoa is now on my grocery list. But I did make one of my favorite comfort foods this week—egg noodles with chunks of leftover turkey, green onions and sour cream all mooshed together and baked in a casserole.
Any homemade soup... creamed tuna on biscuits... chicken and noodles... grilled cheese sandwiches... and of course, homemade cookies!
Brenda's comment about egg nog brings back wonderful memories, as that is also what my Mom would fix for us when we were feeling under the weather! I had totally forgotten that!
I like to put a bit of cocoa in my coffee on winter mornings.......mmmmmmm! In the warmer months I drink iced coffee, so cocoa won't work then. I normally have a cup of hot milk with some flavoring added (almond is divine) before I go to bed on winter nights. I sleep like a baby!
xo
xo
There must be something about this week. I hit the hot cocoa as well. I too am lactose intolerant and cannot abide the soy. For what it is worth, I have no problem with dairy from goat, sheep, or water buffalo! Chocolate pudding was always one of my comfort foods as well as macaroni and cheese. I have started to make it with goat cheddar and while it does not taste like my mother's, I still get a good feeling from it.
Isn't it fascinating to read about everyone's comfort foods?! Mine includes chocolate too. My dad used to work for Rowntrees chocolate and stored big boxes of chocolate bars in the garage, and I was often to be found out there having a snuffle around. He used to make fabulous cocoa too, using a teaspoon of cocoa, a small teaspoon of sugar, mixed to a paste with a little cold milk and topped off with boiling water. I still like mine like that today. As I'm trying to keep to 20gms of saturated fat a day (cholesterol problems) this is a brilliant alternative when the cravings strike!
Mmm, hot chocolate would definitely make my list- not too sweet, dark chocolate, whipped cream on top. But when I think of comfort food, the first thing that comes to mind is macaroni and cheese. Homemade, not the disgusting stuff from a box. Sharp cheddar cheese, lots of it, and crunchy on top. Yum!
You are all making me hungry. Interesting how there are some universals for comfort, isn't it.
great topic, Rayna! When I was a kid my grandmother would give us warm white rice, milk and cinnamon for breakfast, when she was "babysitting." It is wonderful comfort food. When I could eat all things comfort, my fav was a good homemade warm oatmeal cookie or a chunk of bittersweet chocolate. Now that I live like a nun, or scratch that, they can drink; i find enormous pleasure in some brown cow yogurt and homemade granola!
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