Open Thread: Re-Baking Childhood Memories

How many of you, maybe coming home from college on the weekends, or visiting a grandparent's house for dinner, have walked into the front door and confronted a smell that automatically takes you on a magic carpet ride? Maybe it's garlic, cayenne pepper, or even chocolate chip cookies, but all of a sudden you are seven years old again and all you have to worry about is multiplication homework and your younger sister stealing your clothes; the hardest decision you have to make is whether or not to watch cartoons after dinner or a movie.

Those days were simple.

But now we have bills, midterms, jobs, roommates, and more responsibilities than we knew existed at that sweet, innocent age. I know that when I come home from a stressful day of tutoring and school, I crave the favorite dinners or desserts my mom or my mom-mom made when I was younger: chicken with mushrooms, roast beef, monkey bread, and meat stuffing. They are my comfort food.

There's one food that transports me back faster than any other.

Pizza Fritta.

Ever since I was a child, donuts and the fried dough at the pizza shops couldn't cut it. The donuts tasted stale and too sweet, while the fried dough was often hard and too sticky. Pizza fritta, on the other hand, comes out of the oil crispy and crunchy on the outside, but soft and fluffy in the middle. Dipped in powdered sugar or white sugar, they are the perfect combination of sweet, warm and fulfilling. We ate these for dinner, or breakfast or lunch; they were a meal unto themselves.

Sometimes I come home on the weekend my mom has the dough rising in a pot on the counter. When we cook them, we often cut the dough into shapes and the kitchen fills with the smell of oil. One bite and I'm ten years old again, sleeping over at mom-mom and pop-pops, frustrated by the thirteen-times tables.

Sometimes I wish life was that simple again.

Sometimes I realize all I need is a little taste of my childhood.

Now you know the one food I cherish and still love from my childhood. Now I want you to tell me about the food that takes you back to your innocent years, a food you miss or a food your parents surprise you with on the weekends. Tell us a story. And if you can, leave the recipe so I can add it to my recipe collection: it can be a dessert, a snack or even an entree.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to seeing your responses!