“Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort.”
~ Norman Kolpas

Comfort food was definitely on my menu this week. The past few days have been chaotic and stressful, but above all life-changing. I still haven’t processed all of it yet.

Monday night was a victory for students, teachers, and parents in the community. After a five-day strike, the school board finally caved and agreed to a fair contract for our teachers. This group of seven clearly had no idea what they were up against. In total, 92% of our 2,200 teachers walked the picket line. Thousands of parents and students joined in our stand-off and embraced our teachers whole-heartedly. Only 37% of our students attended school during the strike, with only 10% of our high schoolers showing up. What happens when a huge majority of your teachers and students walk out… a whole lot of media attention that the board never anticipated.

The moral of the story is this… if you plan  on backing 2,000+ teachers into a corner, you better be prepared to deal with the consequences.

Not only am I a teacher, but also a parent in the district. My boy has been lucky enough to have had the same teacher for two years. She has been such a blessing in our lives. My son has grown tremendously because of her support and guidance.

What could we do to show her our support? Comfort food, yes that works! While I got ready for each strike day, my boy and his dad picked up Starbucks for the staff and delivered it, along with some comfort food I had made.

Comfort food for me usually is something sweet. I’m not much of a main meal or side dish kind of girl. In fact, I’m fine skipping dinner completely. Note to Prince Charming…Nachos and mashed potatoes are exceptions ~ feel free to deliver those in stressful times.

During the strike, I made two of my favorites, Starbuck’s copycat coffee cake and oatmeal blueberry bars. I also baked up two new recipes, which were loaded with comfort. I found a can of pumpkin puree in my pantry and made pumpkin bars with chocolate chips. I also made use of the ripe bananas on my counter, and the result was one of the moistest cakes I’ve ever tasted. It was iced with a cream cheese frosting. Let’s face it, life can never be too bad if you’ve got cream cheese icing.

We survived all of the chaos and are ready to rest up and recover this weekend! Have a great weekend!

Pumpkin Bars (Recipe from Realmomkitchen.com)

printable recipe

6 eggs 1 1/2 cup oil

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 large can (29 oz) pumpkin

3 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin. Fold in dry ingredients and pour into jelly roll pan (13 x 18 pan) . (At this point I sprinkle half the pan with 1 cup of chocolate chips) Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not over bake.

Banana cake With Cream Cheese Frosting 

(printable recipe)

(allrecipes.com)

3/4 cup butter

2 1/8 cups white sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.

For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add confectioner’s sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake.