Comfort Food and Memories

My Granma, every Christmas would send us a bag of phefferneses. These little german cookies are only an inch big and like popcorn we would just grab a handful to snack on. They aren't too sweet, but they are absolutely delicious and Christmas is never Christmas unless we have a bag. I can't tell you how many times I have taken a bag of those little light brown bit-size balls to work or pulled out for a friend to be asked. What is that? They don't look like they would be that good, their is no bright colors or smothering of chocolate but I haven't met a person yet who upon trying one hasn't fallen in love as I am with these!
Now every year, I carry on the tradition for my family and make a batch (or two!). My children love them!
My husband is half Polish and when we got married he introduced to me many of the dishes he loves. Pierogies were the one that I fell in love with! They remind me of us, our marriage and our journey together. They are delicious little dumplings filled with potatoes and cheese cooked with onions and eaten with sourcream. They are absolutely delicous and for us a real treat (because they take quite a bit of time to make!).
And the final dish I can think of that is a comfort food for me is chicken and dumplings! My mother got this recipe from my Granma and it is incredibly simple and incredibly delicious. As a child this was the meal I always asked for. For every birthday I requested a big pot of chicken and dumplings, when I came home from college I requested chicken and dumplings and now when it is cold and rainy what do I want? Chicken and dumplings!

Ah, yes....comfort foods and memories! I totally relate to this as I'm always remembering things by foods, sounds, colors and smells from my childhood. My mom also made a stew out of everything but the kitchen sink but she called hers "Slumgullian". lol She was raised in the generation that said, "Waste not, want not" and boy, did my mom take that to heart! She would sometimes, in the winter, keep a large mason jar in the fridge and after supper each evening, put many of the leftovers into the jar. Needless to say, when the jar was full, she made a unique soup for supper that evening with cornbread. I have to say that it was always very good but the problem was that you could never completely repeat the recipe....couldn't remember what or how much was in each "stew". So, I'd have to say my mom's "slumgullian" was a treasured memory for me. Grace

I am going to try this recipe, it sounds good! Who would have thought?

When we were little my Great-Grandparents babysat us. I still make many of the recipes that Grandma passed on, and when I do I can almost feel the sunshine gleeming in the picture window as Grandma pulls brownie drop cookies from the oven, passing my brother and I the cooled ones to "frost" before handing the cookies over to Grandpa for the walnut cap. Our frosting was probably more smearing and licking than actual frosting.
While recipes bring back vivid memories, I think of them most often when I drink milk. Grandma was a teacher, but she and Grandpa were also dairy farmers and they taught me to love milk. My brother and I were famous for spilling our milk on the formica kitchen table just so we could slurp it up. Grandma would scold while Grandpa laughed.

My mom's side of the family is Finnish and we really celebrate that heritage. Every Christmas my mom bakes Finnish Braid, which is a wonderful bread with cardomom and orange zest. We always eat it on Christmas morning with frosting drizzled on top. My mom also makes clam chowder every Christmas Eve. She is teaching my sister and I how to make it so we can carry on the tradition.