Comfort Food

I've gotten a little distressing news.  And I'm dealing with it in a way that is probably not good for me.  That's right, comfort food.  I'll admit it, I'm a stress eater.

I have one sister who loses weight when she's stressed.  If that worked for me, I'd be a size 10.

I'm just the opposite.  And when I'm stressed, I look for the foods of my childhood, comfort foods.  When I talk about childhood eating, I should start with one caveat.  My mother was not one of those great cooks that passed down lots of good recipes to me.  She taught me to make no fail gravy and her turkey curry.  That's about it.  Don't get me started on her pecan pie made from egg beaters so the pecans sink...

When I think of comfort foods, I am really thinking of food textures.  Smooth, creamy warm.  Homemade macaroni and cheese.  Homemade chicken and dumplins.  That kind of food.  Even tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches fill that need for me.  It's psychological, I'm sure.

So, tonight is homemade chicken and dumplins.  Only I have turkey broth and turkey, so it's turkey and dumplins instead.  I'm sure it will be just as good.  When we lived in North Carolina, they made a distinction between chicken and dumplins (that puff up) and chicken and pastry (which stays pie crust thin).  I'm a dumplin person, so that's what I'm making.  And it's important to me that the sauce it goes over be gravy thick and that the dumplins are completely cooked.  No raw dough in my comfort food.

I wish I had a great handed down recipe for this.  I don't.  I'm going to bust out the Bisquick box and go nuts.  I'm sure it will be fine.  It will calm my nerves just by being warm, creamy and homemade.

--Sandee Wagner