Comfort Food

 This has been a long, raw, hectic week.  It rained a lot and I was longing for some down time and comfort food. I got the phone call to play some last minute Bridge.  The hostess lit a warm, winter candle.  I think we were all feeling a bit chilled. We talked, drank tea, ate tons of  buttery carbs and never actually got down to playing cards.  I hate when that happens, but at the same time, I love when that happens.

Yesterday, I made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and macaroni salad.  Elbow pasta is such a comfort food.  I love it hot in macaroni and cheese with a crumbly topping or cold with veggies and mayo or sour cream.  The one in the picture was made with canned mini shrimp, sliced cherry tomatoes, celery, mayo, vinegar and dried basil flakes. It is not fancy but it always get's eaten at cook outs. I have also had macaroni salad with fruit and yogurt. It was pretty good but I think I would have preferred it with orzo pasta.

I also made a really nice chicken soup with alphabet pasta for fun. I used a whole onion with some chopped dill and carrots. Chicken soup is such an east satisfying meal.  It was just thing with some crunchy rustic bread with butter.