The biggest perk about visiting home has to be delicious home-cooked meals and extra leftovers to take back to your college dorm. I was reminded of this when I had an impromptu visit home this weekend and my mom served me the meal I had requested for my birthday (ham and scalloped potatoes with strawberry shortcake for dessert! Score!) It sent me thinking, what other foods explicitly remind me of home? So what are you waiting for, read the menu!
1. Chicken Noodle Soup
Kluski noodles are the best noodles, end of discussion.
This one belongs at the top of the list for obvious reasons. First, it's pretty much an American staple. Second, it does a wonderful job of warming up the body and clearing stuffed noses. Thirdly, its mild salty broth and simple ingredients give it a nice flavor and balance making it both tasty and healthier than the ramen noodles you've been eating all week.
2. Barley Stew
Just imagine the bowl flooded with delicious broth and you get the picture
One of my personal favorites, this hearty stew contains beef, celery, potatoes, carrots, and, you guessed it, barley. What sets this stew apart from other stews is the fact the broth remains thin and the barley. The barley has the perfect balance of soft and firm, and it is what makes the stew so filling.
3. Ham and Scallop Potatoes
So apparently, y'all make it with cheese. Weirdoes.
While I know this meal doesn't float everyone's boat, just be glad I didn't include kielbasa and sauerkraut instead. Every time my mom makes it, the consistency of the flour, milk, and butter sauce varies. I prefer it thick, while everyone else in my family prefers it thin. Plus, the different tastes of ham and potatoes compliment each other nicely.
4. Corned Beef and Cabbage
Oh shoot. My mouth's drooling now.
My mother makes this meal every St. Patrick's Day, yet every St. Patrick's Day someone else in the family makes a point of requesting it. I've always been a meat-lover, and corned beef is my favorite kind. It just shreds so neatly into bit-sized pieces, unlike most other meats, and the spices used on it give it more of a taste than just salt. I've only come to like the cooked cabbage in recent years, I tend to gravitate toward the cooked carrots my mom also makes.
5. Grilled Cheese
Yeah, time for an upgrade.
Yeah, this may seem like a college staple, but I'm not talking about your typical grilled cheese sandwich made of Kraft cheese and white bread. (See above) I'm talking about grilled cheese made with rye bread and two slices of provolone cheese, with possibly a dash of dill or nutmeg thrown in. It's heaven to the tastebuds, especially if you can convince someone else to make it for you.
This has been a brief list of all the comfort foods I yearn for whenever I'm stressed (which is every other day) and whenever the campus food hall serves a far inferior version which I erroneously assumed would taste as phenomenal as well, my mother's cooking. Which foods remind you of home?
