Disappointment Demands Comfort (Food)

I had this fantastic idea for today that not only would help me on my journey to de-virginization but would also be a fun post for the blog.  But alas, it was not meant to be.  At least not for today.

What I was going to do was to try to learn a few of the standard herbs and seasonings by smell and taste.  So first I was going to study by tasting and smelling the herbs and then do a blind test to identify them until I passed with a 100%.  However, I woke up this morning congested and feeling miserable and without a sense of smell (and I'm not kidding, we went to Target and were trying out air fresheners, I couldn't smell a thing while the boyfriend was coughing the smell was so overwhelming).  Why my allergies acted up so much a day after we hit freezing temperatures I have no idea, but I am not happy about it.

I also ended up missing the farmer's market this morning.  Slept right through it.  All in all not a very good start to the weekend.  Perhaps that's why, when preparing my menu for the week, I kept selecting comfort foods.

The first thing I thought I needed for the week was a dessert (I told you I was in comfort mode).  I immediately went to 101cookbooks.com because I just knew Heidi's archive would have something decently healthy and yummy all at once.  Not only did she have something that fit the bill, it would use up some carrots that I need to use.  Her carrot cake sounds like heaven in a loaf pan and I will be sure to tell you all just how delicious it is.

The second item that immediately came to mind was a recipe I came across a while ago and immediately copied into OneTsp.com for future use.  The Pioneer Woman's macaroni and cheese looks to be the ultimate comfort food.  I'll peruse the grocery store for a good veggie companion and I may cook up some chicken to go with it.  I asked the boyfriend what I should make to go with the mac and cheese and he replied, "Ummm... mac and cheese," so I guess I'm on my own in those decisions.

To me, nothing is more comforting than Mexican food.  I grew up in a town where small Mom and Pop Mexican food restaurants are fairly prevalent and so when you wanted the equivalent of a home cooked meal out, you went for Mexican.  I saw this recipe for Tortilla Casserole on SeriousEats.com earlier this week and knew I wanted to try it out, I just didn't realize how soon!

The final item I have for the menu is a chicken and white bean chili I saw on Bon Appetit's site a while back.  This time of year especially I begin to crave chili.  My Mom may not be the best cook in the world, but I do love her chili. She would often make it for Husker game gatherings (ok confession time, I'm originally from Nebraska and I'm a Husker fan) so this time of year the chili cravings start. 

I'm curious, is Western Nebraska the only place where chili and cinnamon rolls are popular?  Because when I mention this combination to people out east they look at me as if I have two heads.  If you haven't tried it you should, you don't know what you're missing (disclaimer: you don't pour the chili on the cinnamon rolls you just eat the two at the same time). 

I know it's not much of a post today and I promise to rectify that soon (I WILL do that blind herb taste test, too much fun to pass up), but I did get the opportunity to share some excellent recipes I found as well as the sites of some pretty industrious foodies.  Lots of goodness to be had out there on the interwebs, just have to know where to look!

Comments

[Jasra]

You should switch to full feed instead of partial for your RSS. ;)

[Melissa - Cooking Virgin]

Hmm... I would love to if I could find the setting in Feedburner. I'll keep working on it. I'm sure I'm overlooking something obvious.

[Melissa - Cooking Virgin]

Aha! It was setting in TypePad. I'm not sure why I changed it to begin with, must have been click happy one day. Let me know if you see any other issues!

[Mike]

Cool! I just recently found this post mentioning One tsp. So great to hear you mention that you're using the site to organize your recipes. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

[Melissa - Cooking Virgin]

I love Onetsp.com! The simple design makes it extra easy to copy and paste recipes from the web and I love the way it looks on my phone too. I recently switched to a Droid from my Blackberry and I even once used the regular site without realizing it. It loaded that smoothly.

I can't really think of any suggestions right now, unless you can make the site magically copy and paste the recipes I find too ;) I'm so behind in my recipe organization! ;)

[Mike Brittain]

Hi again, Melissa! I bumped into your comment about "magically" copying and pasting recipes. You might want to check out a new feature I've been working on, which is a one-click recipe clipper. Sounds like what you're looking for.

http://onetsp.com/clip

You have to be logged in to see this page and install the clipper.