I'm making a big pot of beef stew.  Loaded with carrots and onions in a delicious gravy...the smell permeating my house is wonderful.  Add to that the aroma of home-made bread-bowls baking in my oven and you have an idea of what my kitchen smells like!

I'd have to say that beef stew is my comfort food.  I remember my mom making it on cold and snowy days...coming home from school, walking into a warm and fragrant kitchen...nothing could compare to that.  If I'm stressed or upset about something (and today I'm a little upset - see my previous article for explanation), I cook beef stew and bake a cake.  When my dad had his first heart attack and got whisked off in an ambulance in the middle of the night, I cooked.  It was 2 am, there was nothing on TV (we lived in England, there were 4 channels and nothing was broadcast after midnight)...so I cooked.  I made beef stew and whilst that was simmering I set about making a black forest gateau.  By the time my big brother got there at 6am, I had an entire meal ready.  So, we sat at the table, my brother Kevin and I, and we ate.  We talked about my dad, we talked about what we would do now, and we ate.  When my mom got back from the hospital to tell us my dad was still alive, we made her a plate and she sat and ate too.

I'm going to do that tonight.  D's working, but the kids and I are going to sit at the table, eat, and I'm going to have to break the news to them that their dad is being deployed again. 

Beef stew and black forest gateau.  My comfort foods.

What are yours?