Thursday, March 3, 2011

Comfort Food

As this cold, cold winter lingers, we combat it with comfort foods. It's a long time until bathing suit season so calories are irrelevant. Our taste buds are deactivated due to clogged sinuses so subtle taste doesn't matter. It's time for Comfort Food Classics like meat loaf, mac & cheese, and rice pudding!

Of course here in the Lehigh Valley, a Pennsylvania Dutch staple like chicken & dumplings rises to the top of the Comfort Food Hit Parade. Real PA Dutch C&D is not for the faint-hearted. I once took a customer from Chicago to Walp's Restaurant ("Home Style Dutch Cooking"). A world traveler, he was anxious to try exotic cuisines. We ordered the chicken & dumplings. His comments included: "Shouldn't dumplings float instead of sinking to the bottom of the bowl?", "Is that yellow layer on top of the gravy really pure chicken fat?", and "People eat this for lunch?"

A recent newspaper article surveyed locals regarding their favorite comfort foods. The results were the classics, but this being the Lehigh Valley, there was a caloric-laden twist - grilled cheese sandwiches dunked in hot chocolate before eating. Now there's the PA Dutch Food Pyramid all in one entree. Artery-clogging milk fat with the cheese, carbohydrates from the bread, trans-fats provided by the frying grease, sugars included with the hot chocolate, and unknown artificial ingredients form the marshmallow that undoubtedly capped the cocoa.

Try getting the USDA Food Pyramid all in one entree! PA Dutch food rules!

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