by Anthony Megna

Created on: January 19, 2010   Last Updated: May 05, 2012

It's snowing like hell outside, time to have the best combination in the world.....soup and sandwich!  My mother would make this perennial favorite almost every time there was a blizzard brewing growing in New England.  In the background you could hear the wind howling, but in closer to your ear you could hear the soup warming.  And warm us kids it did!

Some of the fondest memories I have are of actually staying home from school, even if I was sick, and knowing we were going to be ingesting comfort food that day.  Comfort food and game shows all day long.  You can't beat that combination!  Now if my brother or sisters were also staying home from school, we would have a Monopoly fest.  These times were the best!

But just soup and sandwiches were one combination of comfort food, there are a whole lot more.  How about macaroni and cheese?  I'm sure most folks have this in their cupboard.  Even though comfort food always tasted best when it was cold and snowy outside, ice cream still rates highly on the list.  My sister used to make gram crackers and ice cream, kind of like an ice cream sandwich.  Boy, that stuff is good and I feel like having one right now!

Comfort food means many things to many people.  In fact, eat too much of it and the pounds start stacking on your stomach and hips.  This is called the comfort food dis-comfort.  So comfort foods have to be balanced out and moderated, which unfortunately is hard to do.  Why is it that everything that is good is either fattening or no good for you?  Well, maybe not everything......

The main effect from comfort foods are the memories the thought of them bring.  At least for me, when I am walking in a mall or near a restaurant and smell tomato or chicken soup, it triggers powerful memories of those days long ago nestled at home trying to figure out if I should buy Park Place or save my money for the Railroads.  Maybe I'll get lucky and get that "Bank error in your favor" card that is an all-time Monopoly favorite.  Hope I don't get hit with that dreaded "Luxury Tax"!  That game Monopoly, it really makes your brain work!

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