In my next broadcast, I’ll be sharing some resources and discussions regarding food: the production of, topical news regarding, and the cultural experiences of what we eat.
I would love your help on one topic*: comfort or soul food. That is, what do you love to eat that, like nothing else, consistently provides both emotional and physical nourishment? What do you make yourself, for an easy meal? What do you most like prepared for you – especially in a home-cooking setting? What (if anything) do you enjoy preparing for others?
It should go without saying: you probably won’t want to listen to this podcast while hungry, or it may drive you wild!
You can post here, send me a reply through twitter (@kellyhogaboom), text or call (360.500.3287), or email me at kelly dot hogaboom dot org. Thank you!
* Of course, any links, thoughts, writings, or recordings you send my way will be considered!
For me, spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread consistently provides both emotional and physical nourishment. If I can’t have meatballs, then it has to be meat sauce. Spaghetti with only tomato sauce just doesn’t taste right.
For an easy meal, I make scrambled eggs and toast. It’s fast and provides that perfect boost of protein and carbs when my energy is low.
In a home-cooking setting I love having Thanksgiving dinner prepared for me. I’m picky, but I look forward to the white meat, gravy, fresh rolls, mashed potatoes and the veggies.
For others? I enjoy making pancakes for my family. Although it’s usually only for Kylie and myself. The family schedule rarely brings us all together for a breakfast. I find it a challenge to make all of the pancakes golden brown and the same size. I’m not much of a cook, so it IS a challenge.
nettles in one form or another are one of my favorite emotional and physical nourishment meals…nettle pasta or nettle pesto, or nettle tea even. nettles and eggs. dreamy
my favorite quick meal is noodles with grated romano, garlic, ginger and a little onion (all grated actually, and not cooked, except for the noodles) with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. it takes about a minute to prepare and is somehow great.
my favorite things for someone else to make…anything by my friend megan, but other than that I don’t know. she cooks this delightful, flavorful, rustic vegetarian food, and it is always mindblowing. she uses a shit ton of butter. and her cheesy pasta is great – it’s heavy cream, a little parm. and some noodles.
i make so much stuff, and so much of it I forget, and then remember, maybe, years later. our family favorites list is about a mile long. when I cook with food from the garden, or wild stuff harvested from where we live it’s usually a big hit.
I love curried chickpeas and potatoes with roti(indian flat bread). If I don’t have curry I’ll have random raw veg or a salad sandwich for comfort foods. I don’t like cooking for myself even though I enjoy doing it for many people so when I am cooked for I like steamed fish, sweet potatoes and yam. For desert I like fresh fruit salads with lots of pineapple cos you can never have too much pineapple. 😛
I love the dishes listed below and ask for them each birthday. They remind me of Summer and also are some of the best examples of my mom’s cooking. We are both good at making all of these things, but I always make the cobbler or pie and she always makes the beans. Her beans kill me.
potato salad
coleslaw
baked beans
slow-cooked pork with homemade barbecue sauce
little wild blackberry cobbler or pie
I also love clam fritters, salmon and scalloped potatoes… all Linda classics.
Jason and I always have king crab with garlic butter and french bread for Valentine’s Day. Wonderful!
I will probably write more later since my list is long.
I have so many favorites.
-Mashed potatoes, always
-‘Grandma’s potatoes”, aka Mary’s cheese potatoes, something my grandma used to make from a church-lady cookbook. Loaded with half and half, velveeta, cheddar cheese and butter. But delicious.
-fried chicken the way I make it – fried to make it crispy but then baked in the oven
-spaghetti, naturally
-scalloped corn, also known as corn casserole
My current most favorite – spaghetti carbonara. I love the taste of it so much that I amaze myself at how fast I inhale it. It’s almost embarrassing. Almost. Surprisingly, the kids love it, too. I had it once when I was pregnant with Gwyneth, at an Italian restaurant owned and run by real Italians but located in the Bavarian Alps in Garmisch, Germany. It was absolutely the best I’ve ever had and I keep trying to recreate it. Sometimes I get close to recreating the taste, even if I can’t recreate the venue. And according to the owners of said restaurant, REAL carbonara doesn’t have peas in it, ever.
One of my favorite meals is one-vegetable pureed soup (like cauliflower or butternut squash — so you saute some onions/garlic/herbs/leeks in oil, then add chopped up whatever vegetable, saute all of that for another minute, then add a box or two of broth – or homemade broth if you have it – cook until the vegetables are soft, then puree with an immersion blender or food processor) with homemade bread (lots of butter, yum), plus lots of parmesan in the soup. Soothing, yummy, and easy.
Oh, and I could probably live on wine, olives, and cheese. Maybe I should just move to Spain and get it over with.
Some quick snacks and/or meals that I love adn eat multiple times a week when I have the ingredients.
Plain yogurt with tons of blueberries.
Butternut squash cut into cubes, tossed with olive oil and salt and roasted till golden-brown.
Taco salad with anything and everything I find in the fridge for lunch. It has to have lettuce and salsa, then anything else goes (beans, leftover meat, roasted veggies, chips, crackers, parmesan or cheddar cheese, salad dressing etc.)
warm pudding made in the microwave or on stove top (milk, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, cocoa powder and anything else that sounds tasty) cook while stirring often till thick
Fried rice with leftover rice and any veggies or meat with soy and sometimes egg cooked right in served with more soy Mae Ploy and Sriracha. Has to be cooked until there are lots of brown crispy parts.
What we call “Dips of the World” started as a joke when we had Anthony and little food in the house. Take any and all fresh or frozen meat you can find and grill it, include some sturdy veggies too such as zucchini. Put any condiments you have in small bowls (soy, teriyaki, Mae Ploy, Sriracha, sesame seeds, hot mustard etc.) Make a big pan of rice. Sit on the floor with bowls and chopsticks and try everything in different combinations. So exotic!