Fashionable food, published in 1995, isn't really about comfort food necessarily, but it has that nostalgic feel that I enjoy in a book written by Sylvia Lovegren: 
Another volume on Comfort Foods by Rita M. Harris, from 1997:
This one by Barbara Stuart Peterson, and published in 1997, has great vintage images inside - the same kind of things I like to feature in my blog posts - and great photos of the food, too :
I LOVE this next book -a wonderful volume with lots of vintage advertisements - again, the very same types of things I feature in my blog. This is a great book. Kudos to Bunny Crumpacker for this one!
I just cannot write about comfort food without including the original Farm Journal Cookbook from 1959. I've written about these books before, and they include a number of dishes we grew up eating. Our mashed potatoes, and also a great casserole Mother used to make with pork chops and scalloped potatoes. Yum:
Better Than Homemade? Not so sure about that, because I don't know that anything can beat homemade, but this book is an interesting little volume ( it was a gift from Lori), and I like the picture of the frozen dinner on the cover. When I was little, I LOVED the Swanson (or Banquet) TV dinners; fried chicken and turkey were my favorites. So , with a twinge of nostalgia, those feel like comfort food to me, too. Frozen meals have certainly changed in the years since - I kind of miss those old aluminum sectioned pans. But these days, if I want the best in a frozen meal (not the best FOR you because some of them are VERY high in fat and calories!), but the best TASTING - I'll pick Marie Callender's: Chicken Parmesan Dinner, Country Fried Chicken Dinner, or a Chicken Pot Pie. Comforting AND easy to fix!
I only wish that my favorites were not all so high in fat. The ones I already mentioned are some that I just don't dare to have very often. Some others that come to mind are homemade (from scratch) chocolate pudding, chicken and dumplings, and pot roast with carrots and and potatoes. Oh, my. Why do all of the yummiest things have to be so fattening? Sigh.What are YOUR favorite old-fashioned comfort foods?
8 comments:
One of my favorites is the normal box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. But you have to sprinkle in some extra cheddar and let it sit a bit. Then it's heaven. I suppose there are others homemade that are great, I've just never done it. Back in the day, Mother used to make our own TV dinners with our leftovers from Holiday dinners. Yummmmmm!!!!
I just got a laugh because I was waiting to give my answer which was macaroni and cheese and here is Lori saying the same thing.
AND I was thinking about our homemade turkey dinners in those great aluminum pans. Mother used to save the TV dinner pans so she could reuse them and then just cover them with foil. I miss those pans. I have a refridgerator magnet just like the cover of one of your comfort food books. Of course all the comfort foods you said, Heidi, are mine too. It is what you grow up with that comforts so well. I love the scalloped potatoes and pork chops and still try to make it every so often. I will take also a nice plate of spaghetti the way we used to make it, all mixed up already in a big revere ware dutch oven, just dig in and put some Kraft parmesan cheese on it, the same stuff Daddy just put on the popcorn last night. In fact, popcorn with parmesan cheese on it is pretty comforting too. Darn, another post, another morning, another growling tummy. Love T
i have made homemade macaroni and cheese - years and years ago - i was surprised how much work it was. i took no shortcuts. it was great but i would never dirty that many pans and work that hard again. my gram and mom made great chicken and dumplings. john loves spaghetti and meatballs and i have a great recipe for fantastic sauce and meatballs. i make that at least 2 or 3 times a year - which is a lot since i rarely cook. john is the cook in the family - thanks to his mom who was a great cook. fantastic cookbooks heidi.
Yum Faith, would love to have the spaghetti & meatballs recipe. T
tina - check your email - i just sent it to you. let me know if you have any questions. it is not a secret recipe but i only share it with enthusiastic requests - and from very satistfied and enthusiastic partakers who have broken bread with me when i have served it. just feel that ensures it will be made with the right attitude perhaps? i have treasured this recipe since very early in the 1970's. i got married in 1970. and not too long after that i reconnected with peggy who was married and made this when we wer there over a weekend. i can still remember the first time i had it and how everyone kept eating on it all weekend long.
That third book you mentioned, I own and it is probably my most used cookbook much to my waistlines misfortune. There is a great pizza dough recipe in that one.
I am hungry!
Any kind of pasta! Always comforting. Twyla
Comfort Food by Holly Garrison gets an A plus from someone who loves to cook.
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