Hand over the Potatoes and Nobody Gets Hurt

Ahhhh, my senses are exploding into ecstasy.  The aroma is encapsulating my space; my mouth is watering as my fork slowly, methodically enters the puffy mountain budding from my salver.  As the eating utensil rises upward my eyes unconsciously close anticipating the arrival of the impassioned delight.  I feel a chill sweep my body; my intended is so very close.  My aperture inaudibly parts as the ardent provision of warmth enters.  The creamy mashed potatoes linger onto my taste buds and memories fill my head.  What did you think I was talking about?  I am talking comfort foods.  You know, those delicacies of the past that erupt emotions and calm frayed nerves.

When the week gets a bit hectic and things spiral out of control I reach for food items that take me to a quieter place.  Peanut butter brings tranquility – made even better if placed on celery with raisins on top.  Chicken salad transcends me back to long gone summers by the pool, kids laughing, and memories of my mom.  Pecan pie catapults me back 39 years to the old neighborhood and the time one of my mom’s friends made a pie that didn’t quite work out and a hatchet was needed to try to “cut” it.  Iced Tea, with extra lemon, always brings a smile to my face with the umpteenth times it has been in the presence at lunchtime discussions with friends.  If it is true that we are what we eat, then we must have a whole lifetime of reminiscences stored up when we open the pantry door.

Meat loaf and mashed potatoes are classic comfort foods.  Green Jell-O with fruit cocktail made by Aunt Millie, for every Thanksgiving for 20 years, always brings a chuckle.  Special birthday cakes with just the right frosting can make you salivate.  Fluffernutters can’t be made quickly enough and homemade chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven with a glass of milk are perfect companions to long conversations with your child after school.

The association between food and emotion probably goes way back to the cave folks, but we have perfected it.  Since the populace makes it a social happening to join together in admiration of foods and spirits we do so often and with gusto!  Breakfast, lunch and dinner have become cornucopias of elegant, sophisticated, co-mingling of tasty treats, all poised to become comfort foods for future generations.

The pure union of food texture, taste, smell, flavor and atmosphere is something we need and should hand down.  It is our responsibility to pass on this time-honored victuals tradition to our children:  a part of who they are and their heritage.  Running to catch the ever-elusive ice-cream truck is a right of passage.  Biting the bottom of an ice-cream cone and letting the sticky sensation ooze onto your fingers is essential for positive mental health.  Diving into a big, fluffy, pink cotton candy treat can only be a start of something great.  Mixing together of time-tested family recipes encourages harmony and links to the past.  Creating concoctions that layer diametrically opposed food items together is inspired, resourceful and fun. 

Good food memories can be made anywhere with almost anyone.  I encourage you to get out there and bring some of the old recollections together with innovative encounters and create some of your own original memories.  Ever the while chanting out loud,…”Over the teeth and past the gums, watch out stomach here it comes!”

Cynthia A. McClelland, curious observer of the obvious with interpretations of the oddities of daily life. Mother, wife and lover of the furry, resides in the north Lake Tahoe area.

Cynthia A. McClelland © 2003-