My Favorite Comfort Foods from Childhood

As many of you know, I'm not a great cook. Well to be honest, I'm not a cook at all. I haven't kept this a secret. I never learned, and I never really wanted to. But it's odd, because my mother is an excellent cook, and her mother was such a great cook that she makes Paula Deen look like an amateur. My mother had enough practice, with four children and usually two extra folks living with us at any given time. I guess the cooking gene just skipped me.

Thinking of my mother and grandmother's home-cooking, got me to thinking of all the suppers I had as a kid. Each supper always had a meat, at least two veggies, some awesome bread and dessert. Mmmm!

Here are some of my favorites I remember, and I want to hear yours!

Pot Roast

On Sunday mornings my mother would always get up early and put on a pot roast to cook while we were at church. Awww the delicious smells in the house when we returned home. We would get out of our itchy Sunday clothes as fast as we could, eat til our bellies were fat and then plop ourselves in front of the tube and watch the Dallas Cowboys. Yep, Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Randy White, Tony Dorsett and the gang. Man, those were the days.

Fried Chicken

One of my favorite meals my mother would cook, would have to be her fried chicken. It was never, ever burned. I remember her telling us the secret was "to watch it and not leave it for a minute" while it was cooking. Whatever the secret, we ate it up like there was no tomorrow. Fried chicken with homemade mashed potatoes or mac n' cheese, some kind of cooked greens and cornbread. Are you kiddin' me?!

'Spread-On' Hamburgers

My other favorite meal was a "spread-on" hamburger. We would usually have these on Wednesday nights before choir practice at church. What's a "spread-on" hamburger? It's when you take a plain piece of bread, spread the bread with raw hamburger meat and fry it in a pan. I know, tasty right?

 

Fried Pies

My sweet granny could cook anything, but my favorite was her cooked greens and her home made fried pies. the crust was so light and delicate. I sure miss those pies and my granny. She would always chastise me for not knowing how to cook. I'd just tell her, "Why do I need to know how to cook? I got you." (She also hated I never learned to sew.)

I was lucky enough to have a mother who stayed home and cooked for us at every meal. She would even have snacks waiting for us after school. I'm grateful for all the meals and the memories. I sometimes feel guilty because I don't cook for my daughter, Chloe. When she was younger, she thought Stouffers was something I cooked. But now that she is 16, well the gig is up! Now to my defense, I do give the crock pot a whirl every now and then.

What are some of your favorite meals you loved as a kid?