When Comfort Food Gets Too Comforting....

With the snow and ice that's been blowing into Cincinnati the past 2 weeks,
you hope for some warmth in some fashion or the other. Cozying up to a significant other is a very good option. If you don't have one currently, like me, here's the next best option:

Comfort Food

Ahhh yes, food that "takes you away", sort of like those old Calgon commercials using the ever so popular catch phrase, "Calgon, Take Me Away". Actually that does bring me back to some old memories, which my mom used to use as a scare tactic when I was a kid.

Whenever my height of mischievousness went past those bearable limits, my mom would tell me that she would like to have "Calgon to Take Her Away". Mysteriously that commerical would come on the same time on the TV (maybe she knew the people working at the network; maybe I should ask). Mommie dearest being the closest thing to me, as usually sons are attached to their mothers, I started hating Calgon. I even used to complain to my father about it as if my mother was going to do something horrendous. I would turn off the TV when that commercial came on air. Eventually I grew out of those silly scare tactics. But I still wonder can Calgon really take people away?

Anyway, getting back to what I was writing about, comfort food. If you read my previous blog post about the Maggiano's dish me and my cousin created, I did realize that some of these foods are too 'comforting' for the body (as one fellow blogger pointed out with her comment). The alcohol-fat-carb laden dish was just too tempting to say no to, and it's a once in a while kind of thing that you have at home or even at a restaurant.

But, then again you do need to call upon these mind and soul saving foods just to elevate your senses. For me, chocolate is one. Can't resist it. I can't resist it at all! And those of course, are not good for you. And the same goes for ice cream. For some reason I detest a lot of Indian sweets. And the few that I like fall into that 'comfort' zone.

Well yesterday with the cold still lingering, I decided to cook up some of this magical stuff. Cajun was the fare. So I decided to make some etoufee. I had to cheat, as I wasn't going to go from scratch, and used some ready spice/rice mix where I had to add some ingredients to make it a dish. I guess I didn't read so carefully when I picked up the box, but when I was going through the process my eyes were bulging out of my sockets. It was asking for a stick and a half of butter!

My mind was in shock. Is this the way this dish is really made? Is this what they use in Louisiana? Is this what they dump in at restaurants??? What the f*@$!?!?!?!

To follow the 'rules,' so I wouldn't mess up the dish, I decided to cut back on the butter a bit, and crossed my fingers hoping I didn't screw it up. At the end all in all, the dish was fantastic.

So what was the deal for adding so much butter if it really wasn't needed in that capacity? No wonder our country has so many overweight people!

I guess it really depends on what we choose as to comfort us while in need. But I don't see people snacking on rice cakes, low-fat chips and other such marketed items for "comfort". And salads in the winter don't cut it. I guess we savor the stuff which we love to indulge in, and say, "Who Cares?" for that moment. It's for that moment you cherish it. Seduction by food is sensual indeed.

As it is, comfort food, can be too comforting.