As we’ve mentioned earlier this week in our Self-Care Links post, many of us are struggling and still in shock with the U.S. election results. We listed some calming activities and now we’re moving onto reading and eating, two of our favorite things! Below are a couple recipes for comforting food and drinks, plus some reading recommendations. Early next week, we’ll also be doing a post on ways to get involved whether it’s through donations or volunteer work.
Amanda: I really love this tortellini soup recipe for the slow cooker; I actually made it earlier last week. It’s super easy, though I wouldn’t add the tortellini until the last hour or so, if you prefer your pasta with more of a bite. I prefer using fresh spinach over frozen spinach, and I like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes or chili powder for some extra heat. For my boyfriend and I, it makes enough that there are plenty of leftovers for the next day and to freeze, but increase as necessary.
With this hearty, warm, and filling soup, I’d pair it with something by Sarah Addison Allen. I’ve talked before about why Garden Spells is on my keeper shelf, but you really can’t go wrong with any of her books. They’re magical and homey and will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. It also really stresses keeping your loved ones close, which I think is important right now.
Sarah: ‘Tis the season for me to do all the cooking, as most of my recipes are for the slow cooker and the pressure cooker. My husband does a lot of grilling and smoking in the warmer months, and now that the seasons have changed more decisively, I’m making all the comfort foods.
One of our new favorite recipes is one I adapted from Great Food Fast by Bob Warden, a terrific cookbook for pressure cooking. The Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is terrific, though I make some modifications to better suit our dietary needs.
Chicken with Wild Rice Soup for the Pressure Cooker – adapted from Great Food Fast
Ingredients:
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (*the ones from Costco that are very thin and come frozen individually in a mammoth bag work very well, and I use two regular sized ones, plus one of the weirdly shaped ones in the bottom of the bag)
- Salt & pepper
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 5-6 stalks of celery, chopped fine
- 3-4 large carrots, chopped fine (I go for a .5 inch cube if I can)
- 8-10 fresh sage leaves, rolled into a tube and sliced thin (aka chiffonade)
- 1 heaping teaspoon dried thyme
- 1.5 cups of wild rice**
- 6 cups chicken stock or broth
- ¼-⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1-2 plum tomatoes, diced
** For the wild rice, you want entirely wild rice, not a wild rice mixture or blend. I got two bags for a good price at Trader Joe’s, and you can sometimes find it in smaller boxes at the grocery store, or at Amazon. You want regular wild rice, not quick cooking.
Cut the chicken into cubes and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. (NB: the original recipe calls for flour to coat the chicken pieces, but I omit because flour makes me feel ill lately).
Melt the butter and oil, either in an electric pressure cooker on “brown” or “saute,” in a stovetop pressure cooker over medium high heat, or in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
Cook the chicken until it’s lightly browned, about 4-6 minutes.
Add onion, celery, carrots, sage, and thyme, and stir well, cooking for 2-3 minutes.
If it’s not in there already, pour that whole mixture into the pressure cooker. Add the wild rice and the broth, then lock the lid of the pressure cooker in place. Make sure it is not set to vent the steam.
Cook for 12 minutes at HIGH pressure. Naturally release the pressure (i.e. leave it the hell alone) for another 10 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure according to the directions for your make and model pressure cooker.
Carefully open the lid once it is safe to do so. Stir in the tomato, then the heavy cream. The original recipe calls for 1 cup of heavy cream, but that would make us really ill, so I use less than ½ cup when I make it, just enough to thicken the broth a little and make it richer, but not so much that it upsets our stomachs.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.
Comfort reads: I have three comfort read suggestions: rage and anger, comedy and warmth, and bleakness into hope.
I’ve been listening to the audiobook of The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston. The mantra of the Crows, “Let rage be your guide,” is really speaking to me right now. The narration is pretty good, but as many people have noted, listening to a book reveals different things than reading text sometimes, and that’s definitely true with this re-listening. I’ve got the next book queued up for the next few weeks of long dog walks.
I have also re-read Act Like It by Lucy Parker ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) several times, because of the humor, the dialogue, and the world building of the theatre community and the actors in the play being staged.
And I’ve got a bunch of Carla Kelly Regencies in my queue. After the Boston Marathon bombing, I read The Wedding Journey ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and since then, Kelly’s older Signet works are in my “comfort reads” folder. The Wedding Journey might seem like an odd choice for comfort, but the bleakness and the despair of the storyline are met with hope and determination that I found very soothing at that time, and when I’ve read it over again.
Elyse: I’m just going to go straight for the booze here. There is a German restaurant near me that makes an amazing gluhwein in the winter–and this recipe is the closest I’ve gotten to making it myself. It’s a hot, spiced wine with cider and brandy. Add an orange wedge and a cinnamon stick, and you have yourself warmth and comfort in a mug.
Right now for comfort reads I’m turning to historical and cozier mysteries–I want the satisfaction of a mystery solved, but I don’t have the emotional energy for a lot of gore or chills which is unusual for me. I’m reading the Veronica Speedwell mysteries by Deanna Raybourn. I also recommend Kate Morton for low-intensity Gothic thrills. I enjoyed The Lake House ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Redheadedgirl: For comfort food, I’m going pasta. Any pasta. I make my own red sauce with canned tomatoes, tomato paste, onions garlic, herbs, and a touch of Thai Fish Sauce. But when I’m sad or upset, I want to bake bread. Kneading helps work out that aggression and the smell of warm, yeasty, baking bread calms the soul.
As far as comfort reads go, I ended up pulling out an old favorite last night, The Tokaido Road by Lucia St. Clair Robinson. I’ve had this book since I was in 7th grade, and I can’t even count the number of times I’ve read it. It’s a revenge tale, a Girl Doing It For Herself tale, a road trip, female friendship, and a love story, all in one. It has worn tracks in my psyche that are soothing when I retrace them, and that is what I need right now.
What are you favorite comfort food recipes? Are you a baker or do you prefer something more savory? And don’t forget to give us some comfort read suggestions too!
Oh.my.
I just realized within a week or so there will undoubtedly be a Chuck Tingle book about the election.
THAT will be something.
I made this slow cooker chana masala yesterday & it was amazingly soothing:
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-10-hour-slow-cooker-chana-masala-228934
(I used all canned tomatoes, & powdered versions/whatever I had to hand for the more recherché spices, & you could substitute lemon or lime juice for the green mango powder; I also made the tomato mixture in advance so I could just put everything in the cooker before leaving for work yesterday.)
I just heard that Leonard Cohen died, & I really want to crawl into a blanket fort and hide for a long time. I just feel sad and want to listen to all of his music which can make me cry at the best of times. Weeks like this are why I read romance.
Um, all food comforts me, I’d say 😉 I live in South France, and they have this special sort of pizza here, with a very thin and flexible crust, Swiss cheese instead of mozzarella, lots of herbs, that is baked in a traditional firewood oven and sometimes still has a little ash left on the bottom. Nothing to do with Domino’s or Pizza Hut. It’s calorie heaven on earth 😀
Otherwise, when at home, I like to boil potatoes (without peeling them) until they’re soft, then smash them roughly with a fork, add salt and freshly ground pepper, and a generous helping of that special tasty olive oil I keep for drizzling over salads (if you can get really good olive oil, the kind that you can smell from across the kitchen when you open the bottle, you should NEVER use it for frying anything, what a waste!). Or if I have blue cheese in my fridge, I make mashed potatoes from potato flakes, and I add a big dollop of blue cheese (and extra grated Swiss cheese if it’s an emergency), freshly-ground pepper and a handful of almonds or hazelnuts. Then I watch my backside grow fatter with every spoonful, I binge-watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the hundredth time and I’m happy again 🙂
I made chicken noodle soup from scratch here. Daughter and her girlfriend’s special request so we made a big old vat. I love your comfort reads though. Me it’s been Gail Carriger. I just needed a laugh and the knowledge that when a woman is ticked off enough she can always build a mechanical weaponized spider and go on a rampage.
For me it’s mashed potatoes and onion gravy (imagine French onion soup but a bit thicker) with Yorkshire pudding (similar to popovers). A variation on “toad in the hole” and wonderfully comforting. Then sticky toffee pudding for afters. As for comfort reading, I turned to “Angels and Ages” by Adam Gopnik last night. Voices of reason in a world turned upside down.
Beef stew from scratch. And later jambalaya
There’s nothing more comforting than my grandma’s fried chicken. You soak the chicken in buttermilk, then roll it in flour and fry it up in a hot pan with lots of melted shortening. Definitely not health food, but it’s so good.
Her cornbread is great too. Cornmeal and buttermilk mixed together, then poured into a cast-iron skillet coated with melted shortening. Baked in a hot oven until it’s almost done, then broiled for the last few minutes to get that crunchy crust on it.
Another thing I sometimes do for the holidays is make mashed potatoes, then add either horseradish or horseradish-flavored cheese to them. It gives the potatoes a great, spicy kick.
My comfort read would be BEAUTY by Robin McKinley. It’s a lovely retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.
I’m diving straight into Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos and making a batch of williamsburg gingerbread.
Pasta is also my comfort food, as well as anything sweet. My top comfort read has always been Harry Potter, usually the whole series. Lately I have been wanting to reread Sarah MacLean’s backlist.
I’ve been on a binge reading of Beth Kendrick books. They’re gentle, small town, romance, recovering from heartbreak through support and friendship, found family, and hope. Also dialogue that feels like my friends talking. Everything’s ok in the end because women support each other.
Oh, THANK YOU, y’all. My mental health has taken a dive off the deep end this week, and these all sound like excellent suggestions for clambering back up the mountain.
The best comfort food for me is pizza. Just any pizza. I’m not picky. 🙂 Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris is my go-to comfort read. My fourth-grade teacher read it to us and it has stayed with me ever since. I just got the audiobook a few weeks ago and all the characters sound exactly like they did in my imagination whenever I read it. Yes, it’s meant for children far younger than myself, but it’s probably what kicked off my interest in romance and it’s all about friendship and love (of all kinds!) and courage and intelligence, all things we need right now.
I have been waking up waaaaay too early, which has led to some snuggled up in bed reading of Susan Elia MacNeal’s latest Maggie Hope book. They’re set in London during WWII, so besides being really good books, they’re a reminder that there’s light at the end of the darkest night.
As for comfort food, I realized yesterday that I have consumed more chocolate -solid and liquid- in the last week than in the whole month prior. The last three months prior. Last night I picked up a bag of powdered sugar & cocoa powder I didn’t need and now realize it was my subconscious trying to point out there isn’t enough chocolate in the house for the weekend. It was trying to stock me up for fudge making. My mother’s fudge. Well, really the recipe that appeared decades ago on either the cocoa tin or the powdered sugar box, but it’s how she always made it, and no one else’s has ever been as good. Two pounds of fudge coming up.
I like to make gulasch suppe which is a really simple soup I found a picky eater like me could eat while traveling in Vienna. You can find lots of recipes online but basically this soup uses paprika as its main flavoring-you choose your proportions of regular/hot Hungarian paprika. It has onions, beef (I use tri-tip steak), and potatoes. You fry up the onions first then sear the steak (cut into pretty small cubes) with the onions. Add paprika (couple of tablespoons), vinegar (couple tablespoons), caraway (if you like it, I cannot STAND caraway so I omit), and salt. Stir all that together, then add water and tomato puree. Simmer it all for 30 or so minutes, then add in diced potatoes for another 20 minutes or however well you like your potatoes cooked. I think my version is tastes best the next day, but it surely is delightful at any time, especially with some hot bread and maybe some sour cream on top.
Comfort reads are anything my Marion Chesney, but especially anything that includes Amy and Effy Tribble. Also Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie because who doesn’t love and root for both Cal and Min? Oh and Open Season by Linda Howard…if you haven’t read that, I highly recommend. There’s a scene outside a pharmacy that is just about the funniest thing ever.
Between the election and Leonard Cohen dying, I was so blue yesterday that I had to leave work early. I came home and made a chicken cordon bleu casserole that had not a single healthy ingredient in it. We needed comfort food.
Comfort reading has been the early Sookie Stackhouse mysteries–nothing like staking a few vampires to make you feel better.
I’m now in the eating-ice-cream-for-breakfast stage of my grief and rage, which marks an improvement over the first day, when I completely lost my appetite (I do not recall that ever happening before in my 35 years on this earth). I’ve been trying to reread Victoria Dahl’s Looking for Trouble, one of my favorites, but I’m finding it hard to concentrate. I’m planning to spend the next couple of days huddled under a blanket on my couch.
I’m finally getting my appetite back so I’m making a big ol’ lasagna, extra cheesy with some garlic bread. My favorite comfort reads are anything by Lisa Kleypas and Loretta Chase.
My love to all of you in the US. And the rest of the world too, but a super big hug to you guys.
This week I’ve been reading The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan, which had been in my tbr for a long while. It’s… oddly comforting. Badass women running a printing press and having opinions and never losing hope. It’s like Milan saw the future and knew I’d be having a crappy week and wrote the book to cheer me up, with a lesbian couple as a secondary romance. I want to wrap myself in that book.
Ugh, 2016, man. What a year.
Gigi,
I love some Loretta Chase, particularly Mr. Impossible. Rupert Carsington is in my top five romance heroes of all time.
Despite having been burned by a new read (and the rant that kept me up waaay past my bedtime), I’m reading “Magnate” by Joanne Shupe with two new-to-me Elizabeth Hoyts waiting at the library. I will be spinning up Robin McKinley’s “Sunshine” for a reread this weekend as I make something yummy – maybe Bolognese sauce with chocolate crinkle cookies for after, and to share. Sharing seems important to me right now. I’m also trying to figure out how I can be part of the solution for fixing this mess. I need to step up to the plate and help the future.
Non-dairy Chocolate Fudge sorbet topped with sliced strawberries at Menchie’s is my go-to. I have been rereading Pride & Prejudice. Chocolate goes with everything.
I find most food comforting probably because I particularly enjoy cooking – it’s very calming. For added comfort I usually turn back time to either my British childhood (spag bol, macaroni cheese, egg in a cup with marmite soldiers) or my Malaysian childhood, (big bowls of laksa noodle soup or a good coconut curry). But for the past few days it has been zingy Chinese hot and sour soup, simple to make and utterly delicious. It’s definitely helping to soothe those rather savage thoughts I’m having right now 🙂
I’ve been doing a lot of comfort reading since Brexit here in the UK. I totally agree with suggestions of Jennifer Crusie and Sarah Addison Allen. Books about food and friendship always comfort me. But my abaolutely favourite historical romance novel of all time is the late Diana Norman’s (aka Ariana Franklin) book “The Vizard Mask” about a young Puritan orphan who arrives in the London just before the Great Plague and ends up working in a bawdy house. It has all the tropes I love in an historical – bawdy houses, theatre (and Aphra Behn), rakes, misunderstandings, redemption, food and even a little humour. I am also convinced that all of Diana Norman’s heroes are actually based on her real life husband (British readers will probably be familar with the film critic, Barry Norman), so her books always take on a whole new whimsical comfort for me.
I have about 27 different comfort reads for a variety of moods; they include Oracle’s Moon (Harrison), The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (Ashley), Alpha and Omega series (Briggs), books by Mary Balogh, and a number of Star Trek favorites to name a few. I find that chocolate goes well with every one of them.
On top of everything else this week, a hit-and-run driver wrecked my son’s car (but he’s okay, thank goodness.) We’re all depressed and we need some comfort food. I haven’t baked cookies since my husband died last year, but I think we need some. Either Aztec Shortbread (buttery shortbread with grated 80% chocolate bits, cinnamon and just a tiny hit of chili powder) or that box of Ghirardelli brownie mix I’ve been saving for an emergency. And maybe a big lasagna.
Been bouncing back and forth between several books but none of them are doing it for me. Hubby’s BFF just sent me the anime “My Love Story” so I will probably binge-watch that this weekend while crocheting more scarves.
The day of the election, our local produce market had fresh Florida sweet corn on sale, so I picked up enough to make a from-scratch corn chowder. Mmmm.
As for comfort reading, I’m having an Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels moment, somewhat inspired by a talk at a conference I attended. Peters’ books never fail to pick me up; I feel particularly drawn to her Jacqueline Kirby books at the moment.
I will be pulling out my pressure cooker to make beef stew using my mother’s recipe which really was just the one included in the booklet that came with hers in 1955.
After that, I’m making Swiss steak from scratch. Usually served with mashed potatoes and corn but I’m thinking egg noodles or rice instead for some weird reason. But still with corn, never without that.
All of it to be served with fresh baked rolls courtesy of my grocer’s freezer and real butter.
Mom’s Stew
~2 tbsps oil (olive, vegetable or canola)
1 medium onion, roughly chopped (more if you like it, I use more)
~1.5-2#s of beef cubes,
~2#s peeled cubed (1″) potatoes,
~3#s peeled carrots cut into 1″ chunks (longer if thin), 2 cans of Campbell’s beef gravy.
Also paprika, red pepper flakes (or cayenne), dried parsley and L&P Worcestershire sauce to taste.
Trim meat of excess fat, cutting it into .75-1″ cubes. Salt, pepper and sprinkle with paprika. I use a lot of paprika, literally covering the meat. Heat the oil and brown the meat, in batches if necessary, in the pressure cooker.
When done, you can either brown the onions then or just dump them in with the meat (what we usually do) and add 1.5 cups of water. Close the lid and cook on medium high, hit pressure and cook for 15 minutes at medium heat.
Quick release steam and add carrots and potatoes. Recover and bring to pressure, then cook for 6 minutes.
Quick release steam again. Stir in gravy, parsley (~1-3 tsps) and add Worcestershire sauce to taste. I use a pinch of cayenne at the end but used to use the pepper flakes, which I added to the beef in order to soften the flakes during cooking.
Seriously easy but tasty. It takes more time waiting for it to pressurize than anything else.
One of the things I like best about this recipe is that it is completely adaptable. It’s been years since I read the original, which was rather meat heavy and we’ve basically adjusted the entire recipe over the years. Most especially the vegetables. I’m thinking of adding sautéed mushrooms this time.
All of the spices are eyeballed, nothing is measured, and adjusted/ refined according to taste.
Also, fewer pans needed to cook it- always a win in my book.
As for reading, I’m finally reading Kinsale’s Flowers from the Storm along with the entire Christy McMullen & Lt Jack Rivera series from Lois Greiman. Then I’ll probably reread Laurenston’s/Aiken’s entire catalog before going on to Hoyt, Milan, Garwood, James, Chase and Balogh. It looks like an entire winter’s worth of rereads for me.
I’m mainlining soups at the moment. Cream of tomato, cream of mushroom, Moroccan chicken. This weekend I’m planning to make a gorgeous aubergine and lamb stew called Patlican, and some ragu for the week ahead, and for Sunday night supper, it will be chicken paprika, which has been a comfort meal for me for nigh on 35 years.
Reading – I’m revisiting Georgette Heyer (Frederica and Sylvester), Jennifer Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation and Eva Ibbotson’s Morning Gift, Magic Flutes and Countess Below Stairs. I’m also revisiting my beloved Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett this winter. Total immersion in fictional worlds, bring it on.
2016 has been an incredibly awful year for me, and the week was just the icing on the cake. One of my favourite comfort foods is potato-leek soup (warm) served with good bread and Butter Tarts for dessert. My favourite comfort read is Tigana by Guy Gabriel Kay, closely followed by his Lions of Al Rassan and The Fionavar Tapestry.
I’m inspired to make my mom’s chicken and dumplings this weekend. I will need to decipher the “recipe”, which means I’ll also call my mom and get and give warm fuzzies 🙂
I’ll probably watch either Beauty and the Beast or Pride and Prejudice (Kiera Knightly/Matthew MacFayden version – I know, heretical), and read for the uptheenth time Written in Red by Anne Bishop. The woman who escapes totalitarianism abuse and finds herself amidst supportive Others and who gains enough strength to take on an entire country? Yes please.
My go to comfort reads are Eva Ibbotson, Kathleen Gilles Seidel and Rosamunde Pilcher. For food it’s roasted pork belly, roast potatoes (I am famous for my roast potatoes; people text from my dining room table to brag that they are eating them) and apple crisp with whipped cream.
Out here in sunny (or at the moment, foggy) Northern California, there is a brand of ice cream called Tillamook. It is so creamy and heavenly. The other day I bought White Chocolate Raspberry Yum, which is just outstanding.
I haven’t been able to read this week. My brain is just tired and in such a state of confusion that I was afraid that reading would be too taxing. What has helped is television. Last night’s Supernatural had the Winchesters kill Hitler, which was so satisfying on many levels. Also, has anyone heard of Good Girls Revolt? It is an Amazon Prime original and it stars Anna Camp (of Pitch Perfect fame). The first season (sadly only 10 episodes) takes place in NYC in 1969 and 1970 and I think is based off of Nora Ephron’s early career as a reporter (she’s one of a few “real” characters, but for the most part everyone is fictional). My mom turned me onto this show and I just love it. It reminds me that as women we’ve been fighting this battle for a long time and that if our mothers, aunts, grandparents, etc. could do that so can we.
My usual comfort reads are Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons, late 90’s-early 2000’s Nora Roberts, and Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series. I also think that for this particular situation the Harry Potter series might be helpful.
I’m having a terribly hard time I think I need to follow your leads and cook my feelings. I want something rich and hot over mashed potatos. I just haven’t felt up to reading, but maybe I’ll try a reread of Harry Potter. Simple good conquering evil is something I need right now.
My comfort foods would be my grandmother’s homemade vegetable soup with cornbread, my mom’s fried chicken tenders, and my husband’s chocolate chip cookies. My favorite comfort reads are Nora Roberts… Especially the Gallagher trilogy.
I’m totally going to make the mulled wine recipe you provided for my Friendsgiving tomorrow. Thanks! I think everyone is going to need wine after this election.
Decent chance of some pumpkin brownies this weekend (they’re pretty simple, 1 can of pumpkin, 1 package of brownie mix, mix it up, bake…throw on peanut butter chips if you feel really froggy).
I’m not really reading for comfort at the moment. I’m reading a book called America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. Not comforting at all, since while Thomas Jefferson was highly problematic as a person, but decent as a president.
I’m on this site pretty much every day (if my kindle was a shelf, it’d be groaning under the weight of all the samples I’ve downloaded alone), and I really want to thank you for posting about self soothing this week. As an empathetic person, it’s been a tough week of coping with other’s emotions, let alone puzzling out what I’m going to do with my own. So thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing snark and recommendations and recipes. Thank you.
Chocolate and Jane Austen. And a gallon of wine.
I just reread Julie Anne Long’s “It Happened One Midnight” and it really hit the spot. Not only an HEA but a good-triumphs-over-evil story line.
A friend of mine just graduated from an Environmental Stewards program at Rutgers, the graduation was on Wednesday, but she said the election really cast a pall over everyone. I have not been in the mood to cook or turn on the TV yet. Luckily I had some homemade brownies in the freezer.