Comfort by Janice Carter

Comfort: "a state or feeling of being less worried; a situation in which you are relaxed and do not have any physically unpleasant feelings"

Webster's Dictionary ticked all the boxes for my current state of mind. Well, my state of mind when I'm not giving in to worry or unpleasant feelings as I do sometimes during the day and often at night. But I'm not going to bring the real world into this post today (any more than I have to) because all I really want and need right now is comfort.
  I've always been a comfort eater, even from my teens. While my high school friends were socializing on the weekends, I was either babysitting or curled up in my bedroom with a good book, a glass of soda pop and a bag of chips. But I was completely happy with this. What more could I want? I never questioned this routine until college when I blossomed late and gave up potato chips...temporarily.
    I'm sure food has been a universal source of comfort for humans since we all had enough to eat and no longer feared starvation. My food preferences tend to savory (though I'd never turn down a French pastry) and as you can guess, my favorite salty treat remains a bag of potato chips. Not the cheap ones, mind. Think Kettle Cooked or artisanal! One of my daughters has inherited this gene and recently informed me I can join a Potato Chip Facebook page. Fortunately, I'm not driven to do that...yet.

     Besides eating foods that comfort me, I like to prepare them, too. Here are a few photos of some recent comfort food creations.

Current favorite sandwich - tuna salad and mashed avocado

Charcuterie!anytime

Lemon Meringue Pie, anytime

   
 I do most of my cooking, baking and entertaining at our cottage. Here's a summer favorite when we can't make a fast boat trip from the ice cream store on the mainland.
                                                       Roasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

                                           1 medium size (2 cups) whipping cream
                                          1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (freeze the rest for your next batch)
                                           1 tsp. vanilla extract
                                            2 cups (more or less) of miniature marshmallows
                   Line a rectangular cookie sheet with tin foil. Lay the marshmallows on it in a single layer and place on top oven rack. BROIL until charred. Don't walk away from the oven! Charring happens very quickly. Remove and cool. Then whip the cream until thick and fluffy. Add the condensed milk and vanilla and whip a bit more. When marshmallows are cool, scrape off the foil with a spatula into the whipped cream. Pour all into a container. I use a tall plastic one but a loaf tin will do as well. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze.
    Lest you assume eating is my only source of comfort, I've included: good books, especially romantic ones; FaceTime with daughters and granddaughter; social media because social distancing; streaming because...yep, same reason. Most of all, there is writing - with comfort and sometimes, stress but always joy. I'm grateful for all the above because the days are long.
   How have you been spending yours and what things give you pleasure these days?

Thanks for joining!

Janice Carter