Comfort

What do you crave when you aren't feeling so good? When my daughter had her wisdom teeth out recently I made jook and puddings for her. When I was sick as a kid, I remember my mom would serve me well-buttered toast with home canned sliced peaches. My son remembers her making him cocoa, and he says a cup of cocoa will always be comfort for him. Comfort, for me, is eating peaches and toast, while spending a day lying on the couch, covered by a granny square blanket, and reading a good book. In one of her novels (Animal Dreams, I think?), Barbara Kingsolver describes a red granny square blanket that was comfort to a woman, and she remembers poking her finger through its holes as a kid when she was lying on the couch sick. This is my very incomplete list of 'really good reads with recipes' for a sick day spent on the couch -or any time really. These are all writers who are passionate about food -each in their own unique way- and I've enjoyed reading all of these books, more than once.

Home Cooking, and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
Spoon Fed by Kim Severson
Jam Today by Tod Davies
Blue Jelly by Debby Bull
A Pig in Provence by Georgeanne Brennan
The Year of Eating Dangerously by Tom Parker Bowles
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Pass the Polenta by Teresa Lust
Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes
In Season by Greg Atkinson
Pie Every Day by Pat Willard
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis