Someone told me that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the ultimate comfort food.  That got me thinking about the foods that satisfy when I need a pat on the back, a kind word or a little treat

When I was a kid, it was always about something sweet.  A wedge of angel food cake with lofty white frosting topped with chocolate chips, a handful of bridge mix (and why is it called bridge mix?), a piece of lemon meringue pie, eaten in separate layers, or the ultimate: oreo cookies, broken apart, and devoured filling first. 

But as I got older, comfort related to more than the basic lust for sugar, and became both seasonal and situational.  After a big exam, nothing tasted as good as a slightly soggy grilled cheese sandwich, simply white bread with melted American cheese.  In the summer months, a big bowl of local strawberries in the afternoon was reward enough for working all day in the garden.  The forboding days of deep winter in the Pacific Northwest encouraged hot Irish oatmeal, steel-cut and topped with sliced almonds, dried cranberries and a dollop of plain yoghurt.

My comfort food these days is even simpler:  just one or two ingredients, easy to assemble and slow to eat.  I can linger over a toasted bagel, treating myself to a little peanut butter on top, after I finish a long jog.  Following a grueling drive in heavy traffic, I sit down to a piece of last night's homemade pizza, served cold, and feel myself wind down.  Food has the ability to not just nourish , but to satisfy on many levels.  Well, that's a pretty deep thought, and I'm feeling a little chilly, so I need a big bowl of lentil soup to keep me going. How about you?