cover image Comfort Food

Comfort Food

Holly Garrison. Dutton Books, $16.95 (205pp) ISBN 978-1-55611-095-5

This slim volume is for people who, when feeling blue, yearn for a taste of Mom's meatloaf to remind them of simpler times. Even if your grandmother cooked nothing more complicated than TV dinners, the recipes by Garrisona food editor at Parent's Magazine will provide you with basic American home cooking and some semi-regional fare. (For the seriously depressed, there are nursery food recipes.) Filled with family anecdotes about food, directions are clearly presented, with good advice given on how humidity, heat or cold can affect preparation. What the recipes won't do is win prizes from Weight Watchers or the American Heart Association. Most call for cream, eggs, butter, sugar, mayonnaise and, now and then, even lard. Aficionados of food processors, microwaves and convenience foods won't be pleased, either. As far as the author is concerned, none of these gadgets exist. She calls for fresh ingredients, patience and elbow grease. If Grandma didn't get to use labor-saving devices, neither do you. (Oct.)