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Fried chicken may be cliché, but it comforts me just the same. I think grandma's brownies would comfort anyone!

This is one of my most cherished recipes - a true comfort to me. These are my grandma's brownies. I have no idea where she happened upon this recipe, but I've never had any like this and don't expect to.

Grandma Sharp's Brownies

In two 8x8 baking pans (grandma always used metal pans), melt 1 stick of margarine in each.

In a medium bowl mix together 2 cups sugar and 2 T cocoa (grandma meant SERVING tablespoon so, about 1/2 c or slightly more)

Add melted butter from pans and 4 eggs.

Blend well and add 1 cup flour and 2 cups mini marshmallows.

Blend and divide equally among the already buttered pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until puffy and slightly browned on top. Don't bake any longer! These are wonderfully rich and gooey, but turn hard quickly if cooked too long.

This time of year seems to be especially appropriate for comfort food. The holidays are over, family has gone home, the kids are back to school and with the colder weather and a long stretch of winter ahead, warming from the inside-out is a delicious idea.

I got to thinking about what the number one comfort food might be and I had some ideas: Anything mom or grandma makes; anything you grew up eating; anything that makes you feel warm and fuzzy when you feast on it.

Strip away the pretense of gourmet meals and dash the necessity of eating to live and what you unearth is comfort food.

Comfort food is like a big warm hug; it's home food. My personal favorites have always been stews, soups, fried chicken, grandma's chocolate cake, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Knowing what I like is one thing, though, and I was still not satisfied that I instinctively knew what the number one food was among others, so I ran several polls in different areas and the information I gleaned was flat out surprising.

The polls, rather than supporting my preconceived notions, challenged all I thought I knew about comfort food. I expected several replies of 'meatloaf and mashed potatoes' or 'macaroni and cheese', but what I got was quite different. There was kimchi, chicken shawarma, New York-style pizza, ice cream, sweet potato fries, popcorn, potato chips, margaritas and beer. It gave me pause, and so, I investigated the real definition of comfort food, and everything I could find was what I had always known it to be: Simply prepared food that evokes a sense of wellbeing and is usually linked with childhood or home. I then looked up the single word comfort and found that it was only slightly different, but in such a way that it took home out of the equation and left us with “relieving from pain, stress or anxiety“. So, technically, comfort food really could be beer or potato chips or coffee. It just depends on who is seeking the comfort.

I'm still me, though, and the comfort foods I like are rather cliché, and for the majority of people I polled, so are theirs. Potatoes, in any form, ranked up there first, followed by chocolate and meat dishes like stews and roasts. No matter what the rest of the world is eating, when it comes to comfort, follow your heart and eat what you love.