Can You Ever Escape the Food of Your Childhood?
This seems like one of those weeks where the cosmic shit is hitting the fan for everyone I know at exactly the same time. I made one friend burst into tears, another called me crying in mid-afternoon, and there was my own aforementioned wine in the bathtub episode. And all of this on the heels of some crazy good forecasting from Susan Miller. Venus, planet of beauty and fun, is coming out of retrograde! Jupiter’s sending healing vibrations! (And yes, I actually feel comforted and cheered by this sort of astrological news.) Maybe the cosmic good fortune is taking its sweet time beaming its way down to the New York Metropolitan area. So what do I do when things are rough? I do what you probably do: I go into the kitchen.
First, I invited myself over to the house of Crying Friend #1. I was carrying a whole chicken and some brussels sprouts, ready to be roasted to perfection, and a bouquet of sunflowers. In the grocery store, I was getting kind of hung up on dessert when it hit me like, uh, Venus going direct: banana pudding with Nilla wafers! The entire meal was the kind of simple food I grew up eating and still turn to. And it worked its magic on grown women, even if dessert was the sort of pap I hadn’t eaten since I was tall enough to ride a roller coaster.
Fast forward to last night. Another cosmic crisis requires comfort food. I pluck the More-with-Less Cookbook off the shelf and flip, searching for the right thing. There it is on page 121, courtesy of Bonnie Sharp of Lancaster, PA, and Martha Charles of Indiana, PA: Spanish Noodle Skillet.
Who knows what makes this dish Spanish (the green pepper?), but it was just what the doctor ordered. Noodle-y, cheesy, beefy––it seemed to cure what ailed us.
This isn’t fine cooking. You might have surmised as much when you first looked at the picture up there. In fact, there may even be something embarrassing about it in this age of fresh-from-the-farm sustainability (for what it’s worth, I did use antibiotic- and hormone-free ground beef and organic tomatoes). But I love its simplicity, love how unassuming a dish like this is. Is it because it has some innate properties of healing wholesomeness, or is it just because it reminds me of the sort of meals my family used to eat, all gathered around one kitchen table together with glasses of milk and grace? Who can say, really. I just know that even when the more modern food sensibilities in me are making the grocery list, I am still drawn to this type of food: simple, wholesome, unpretentious.
Then again, you are talking to someone who yipped with delight when she received a pot of truffle salt in the mail this week, so I could totally be full of it.
What do you guys think? Do you still find yourself drawn to the kinds of foods you grew up eating? Will you be making something positively throwback-worthy this weekend?
Spanish Noodle Skillet
adapted from the More-with-Less Cookbook
Serves 4-6
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
4 cups egg noodles
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Sauté onion, green pepper, and ground beef together until meat is browned. Season with salt and pepper, and add oregano. Stir in tomatoes and water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Bring to a boil, and add egg noodles. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 additional minutes. Stir in grated cheese and serve.
sebastian: yes– who said laughter is the best medicine? it is actually a home cooked meal.1 year ago
Whoever said “Happy wife, happy life”? It’s really, “Happy husband, happy…..” nothing rhymes with husband, but you know what I mean.
1 year ago
Kanesha: This is a wonderful post, Sarah, just spectacular.
My mother-in-law saw me becoming frayed at the edges this week. Hubby was gone on week long travel, work for me was ramped up, I had the two kids and was hating that I could spend all the time I wanted with them, a girlfriend was dealing with some major life stuff…all this week. So my mother-in-law made some Hungarian goulash that calmed my spirit and made me take it down a bunch of notches. Of course there was the wine too…and we laughed (the two of us) about me and my checklists and overplanning. Life is good.1 year ago
Sasha: As always I love your posts (and your food recipes have actually gotten me to cook–which usually isn’t my bag!). Yes, there has been a lot of celestial and other “stuff” going on (I did an apartment clean-up this week that had me opening a bottle of red!). Venus and Jupiter are both going direct in a couple of weeks on November 18th, however Chiron (the Wounded Healer) is going direct today and Neptune is going direct Sunday–which is reason enough for me to celebrate! If you want more info on celestial events feel free to check out my blog: http://www.astromuse.com. As for what I will be cooking this weekend I think it may be slow cooker beef stew time (and I might actually start NaNoWriMo as well even though I’m behind)!1 year ago
Rebecca: As always Sarah, you hit the nail on the head. For me there is nothing more comforting than melted cheddar cheese on toast, with maybe some sliced tomatoes on top… my mother used to make it no-one felt like cooking, but everyone wanted dinner! And we’d all sit around the table… with our full glasses of milk! Casseroles always make me feel comforted, because my over-burdened single mother often made them for us. I may enjoy fancy salted caramel tarts… but I still love the chocolate chips cookies that mom made from the Fannie Farmer cookbook!
Rebecca in TO1 year ago
Claire: Loved this post! I’ve been meaning to make tuna noodle casserole for about a year now…the weather just got chilly and blustery in Chicago and perhaps this will be the weekend to do so! My family also had dinner every night together with tall glasses of milk; we still do when I go home to visit.
1 year ago
Cadi: Once again so timely, Sarah! The cosmic shit hit the fan all the way in California too, everything was upside down for everyone this week… My favorite comfort food is either mashed potatoes with fresh pan gravy, or absent a drippings pan to make gravy with I crave chicken noodle casserole, with the mayo, cream of chicken soup and the whole nasty bit. This weekend’s comfort food is going to be a roasted pork shoulder studded with garlic and chipotle mac and cheese – adult comfort food for Dear Husband’s birthday.1 year ago
Miranda M.: Perfect! Normally I would turn my nose up at my sweet mother’s tuna noodle casserole a la Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom. But at this particular time (it’s crazy cosmos on the west coast too!) a gooey, starchy, creamy dish sounds like just the ticket. Now, if only my mum were in town to make it…1 year ago
Beth: It’s not just NY and Cali– there seems to be an inordinate amount of drama down here in the south as well. Work drama, spouse drama, school drama… feels like everyone I know is about a second and a half from a major meltdown.
My personal somebody-fix-it-all-and-make-it-go-away favorite is mac and cheese–maybe with a can of tuna thrown in there to make it healthy
Mom had a tuna casserole creation that, I swear, we ate once a week growing up. While I’m not quite dedicated enough to chop watercress and sprinkle bread crumbs (at least, not on mac and cheese) like she did, the tuna-mac is enough like that to make the world somewhat right again.1 year ago
heather: i came home from work on tuesday, and burst into tears when i couldn’t find soft pants to change into. it was all TOO MUCH.
i’m about as foodie and nerdy as food nerds come, and i can promise you that one box of mac & cheese + one can of tuna (plus a bunch of frozen peas, if you have ‘em and can muster the will to open the freezer) = soothing perfection.1 year ago
Jackie: it has definitely been one of those weeks for my husband an myself too — we just can’t escape the hectic-ness of work even when we are home. tonight though, things are going to change. while risotto isn’t exactly a food that either of us grew up eating, it is something we really enjoy making and eating. we call it “food of love” and it really is magical in its ability to melt all of our worries away. with each comforting spoonful we are able to reconnect and that to me is the best feeling of “home-ness.”1 year ago
domestikate: Drama over here in Scotland too! WHAT is going on at the moment?! But yes, what with all the stress and the weather suddenly becoming very cold and wet, comfort food is definitely in order. All hail mashed potato, macaroni cheese, baked potatoes, big bowls of soup and the like!1 year ago
Lesley: Wholeheartedly agreeing with everyone else: lots of stuff happened to me in the past week, too, and most of it not good. (Sarah, I could’ve easily been your crying friend.) Been craving comfort food something major. Sweet, doughy breads. Tortillas and melted cheese. Cream of Wheat in the mornings, although I can’t find that in Mexico.
I’m really in the mood for pumpkin lately, too, although I didn’t eat much of it as a kid. Think my next dish is going to be roasted pumpkin with pasta and a dark-green veggie.1 year ago
Karen: Sarah, You always so eloquently express what is going on in my head! Great post. Comfort food is the best. When I am enjoying a favorite dish it feels like I am sitting in my childhood kitchen having a meal with my family….. like a hug!1 year ago
While I’m bummed to hear so many of you were on the receiving end of cosmic mayhem this week, I’m very glad to hear you are all so embracing comfort food! Also, you’ve really put me in the mood for making a tuna noodle casserole this week!1 year ago
Steph: Yup! I still make what my mom lovingly calls “mush-crap”, which is ground beef with taco seasoning with a can of refried beans (with green chiles) mixed in to make tacos.1 year ago
Jessica: I’m late to this party, but have to share a childhood fave that hits the spot for me when life feels too hard. It’s sort of a 5 minute tuna casserole type thing, called “Dad’s Away Dinner” in my family because my father wouldn’t eat it, and so we only had it when he was away (my college roomies called it wallpaper paste, but loved it!). Just a can of cream of chicken/mushroom/what-have-you soup, heated up, with a can of tuna mixed in and a bit of milk to thin it out, served over rice or on toast. YUM. And now I’m going to have to make it this week
1 year ago
wendy: Of course we never run from the good stuff, we teach it to our kids! and those around us that continue to put up with us. Fried noodles with a poached egg! Anything fried with a poached egg!
My mother always just threw whatever leftovers she could find into a large pot and called it stew. If we liked it we ate it, if we didn’t we didn’t complaine as those “stew nights” were also dessert nights!1 year ago