Your favorite comfort food? Plus BREAKING WBB NEWS! -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

THE JOY AND EXCITEMENT OF COMFORT FOOD

BREAKING WBB NEWS! 2018 PROSPECT SEYGAN ROBINS COMMITS TO LOUISVILLE! 

We'll have more on this tomorrow. Robins is a 5'8" point guard out of Harrodsburg (Mercer County) KY. 

Being that today is national French Fry day and it is a very slow sports day...after listening to a local radio show, I decided to do a comfort food article. Since I'm writing this while being hungry...I've listed three of my favorite comfort foods. Although I probably won't combine all three when I have lunch later...these are my go to selections. Trending on Twitter is #NationalFrenchFryDay currently. 

First off, french fries aren't one of them. There was a day when a plate of fries, covered in ketchup or Heinz 57 sauce would make my eyes water in delight. These days, I can take or leave them. Crinkle cut fried were my favorites. They still rank up there pretty high...although sweet potato fries have made significant inroads over the last couple of years.

1) Grilled Italian Sausages. One of the surest ways to get to Paulie's heart and guarantee his attendance is to mention grilled Italian sausages will be at your cookout. I don't need a fancy bun, or any bun at all. Grilled onions and peppers would be a plus. There are a couple of meat stores around town where I like to buy mine...home-made...but since they aren't offering us any advertising revenue...I won't mention them. 

2) Dark chocolate covered almonds. I discovered these recently. I cannot put them aside. Give me a container of those and you could even stick me in a 2-hour life estate planning seminar and I'd be just fine. Plus, almonds are good for you, right? Combining them with a dark chocolate coating is the perfect exacta.

3) Banana milkshakes. There are several places I have found around town that offer these. They are a delicious treat that go well with a lunch or snack. One place I occasionally frequent will make me a strawberry banana milkshake. They have my undying pledge of loyalty. I hope they never close their doors. The maraschino cherry isn't necessary on top and I really don't need the whipped cream topping. 

Athletes have comfort foods. A few years ago, I was discussing comfort foods with a prominent figure in UofL athletics. It was revealed to me that a certain style of tortilla chips reigned supreme with this individual. I will confess there are some places in town that serve the tortilla chips prior to or with a meal that do a very good job in preparing these. And, some places who botch the item pretty badly. 

What are some UofL student-athletes comfort foods? You might be surprised...How about sizzling chicken and shrimp? Sushi? Pop-tarts? Ham and pineapple pizza. Tacos. 

As our guest on Saturday's radio show trainer Nicole Lowery advised...comfort foods are fine, in moderation, and with exercise afterwards. 

We have an associate at CARDINAL COUPLE who is a cereal addict. We also have one that binges on chicken salad...but it has to prepared a certain way and there are some items that cannot be included. One of our sports-writing colleagues cannot resist the items that a certain "pie kitchen" in town has on their menu. My dear Sonja absolutely melts when I cook up a batch of potato pancakes..."panni", if you will. There is a coach on the UofL campus who loves the Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies. We all have our "to-go's". 

WHERE'S THE APPETIZER TABLE? 

For years, I had pizza in my comfort food list. I still enjoy it quite a bit but don't eat it as often as I used to. There is a Louisville pizza outlet that serves a very tasty pizza which is named after a "mama". Another favorite pizza joint I like does a white, alfredo chicken pizza with spinach and mushrooms which is very, very good indeed. My old buddy, the late Sonny Lentini, used to insist there were two types of people in the world...those who were either "red sauce" or "white sauce" on their noodles. I lean to the white sauce side...but I'm amicable with both factions. 

I read this about comfort foods (the term was officially recognized and added to Webster's Dictionary in 1977):

A study published in the journal Appetite found that the power of comfort food is based on the associations that it calls to mind.

During times of stress or discomfort, people who have strong family relationships often reach for something that reminds them of those strong relationships.

Often, those reminders come in edible form. This could explain why you want mashed potatoes or pizza in times of stress, which could help you recall memories of a family Thanksgiving or childhood pizza party.

I'm not sure if I 'buy in' to all of that...but I do remember summer Sundays from back when I was a little boy when my Dad would drag out the charcoal grill and cook up Italian sausages and burgers. Happy times. 

What are your comfort foods? Do you go to them in times of stress or just because you love eating them? Let us know... 

I'm going to get something to eat now...have a great Wednesday! 

paulie
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