Comments on: You Tell Me: Favorite Comfort and Holiday Foods

By: Jemelene

Jemelene — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:27:40 +0000

My comfort food is homemade potato soup. We have had it a couple of times since the weather turned nippy the past few weeks. I even added turkey kielbasa to the last batch.

Our Christmas food is what my oldest daughter calls “Christmas Quiche”. Its really a sausage casserole with bread, butter, milk, eggs and a little mustard. My Mom always made it and stuck it in the oven Christmas morning. We could smell it cooking while we unwrapped gifts. I started making it for my family and didn’t realize it was a tradition until I suggested not having it one year. I was met with protests and after a trip to the store have never suggested anything so shocking again!

By: Marci

Marci — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:05:58 +0000

Render bear fat also works THE BEST for baking – but you probably won’t find that there either :)

By: Marci

Marci — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:03:51 +0000

@ Tammy:
Oh I found an old 1920 era recipe.

Calls for 2 Qts flour, 1 cup lard, 1 cup butter,
1 T salt, 1 T sugar, and 1.5 cups cold water.

Says you may omit the lard and use ALL butter, but to increase the butter to 2.5 cups instead of 2 cups. Lard makes the crust tender and flaky – butter gives it the good flavor.

I included the recipe so you would have the proportions you need to cut it down. Obviously, the above recipe makes several pie crusts.

By: Marci

Marci — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:55:35 +0000

@Tammy – Back in the “old days” they mostly used Lard, which is rendered pig/hog fat, for the pie crust. But if you can’t find shortening, you probably aren’t going to find lard. If by chance you have a pork roast to bake, you could first trim every inch of back fat off the roast before baking, and then render it out for your lard. You can probably find directions for rendering lard somewhere on the internet. It’s fairly simple – cook in down, strain it, and cool it. Fat from ham wouldn’t work as it’s been brined.

A second suggestion would be to try butter – real butter. If you tried a margaring it would have to be one with a very low % of water in it. You might just have to experiment some.

By: Tammy

Tammy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:53:07 +0000

I love Pumpkin Pie but I live in Egypt but I can not find any vegtable shortening here so I don’t know what to use for making the crust….Oh what to do does anyone have any sujestions or a grandmother to tell you what her mom or grandmother used back in the day?thank you for sharing.Tammy

By: Ryan McLean

Ryan McLean — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:55:24 +0000

I LOVE Banana Bread!
I have found that eating banana bread is a great frugal way to eat out. I often go out for breakfast with my girlfriend and just get a banana bread each. We get away with it for about $4 each which is great for the experience.

By: Denise

Denise — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:38:24 +0000

Our family’s favorite comfort food is chicken and rice. I make this in the winter when I have the stock and leftovers from a whole chicken.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:40:17 +0000

One of my favorite comfort foods is homemade baked bread, nice and warm from the oven and slathered with a little bit of butter… Mmmmm! :)

By: Marci

Marci — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:30:02 +0000

Lisa’s comment about rice and butter made me realize I forgot to mention GRITS and a big dollop of melting butter in the middle! The ultimate in comfort!

By: Angela Fehr

Angela Fehr — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:22:18 +0000

Definitely homemade buns. My mom was given this recipe and our family has won awards at the country fair for them. They are soft, delicious, and quick(er) to make than most. I’ve posted the recipe on my blog http://hangingoutthewash.blogs.....-buns.html