Comfort Food

Instead of the early night I had planned for myself yesterday, I ended up watching “The Village” and “Gattaca” back-to-back, resulting in a late night and me spending most of the morning in dream land. When I finally did drag myself out from under my lovely electric blanket, I decided that I need some kind of project. What did I settle on? Baking some delicious cupcakes; this is simple in itself, but you know that cupcakes are nothing without homemade frosting to go along with it. The result consisted of a pound of confectionary sugar, half a cup of Crisco, half a cup of butter, a teaspoon of vanilla and two table spoons of milk. Yes, it is butter cream frosting as you have never tasted it before. I’ve found that I enjoy food so much more when I’m the one who has taken the time to prepare it. It feels like art, not the science that some claim it to be. I’m convinced that you can bake emotions into your food—much like you paint your ideas or write your imaginings.
Just like my comfort food, I have comfort reading. If a day just seems to have it in for me, I’ll turn to books that have been my steady friends from childhood—books like “Mara, Daughter of the Nile,” the Anne series, or “Gone Away Lake” comfort me and seem to deliver an invisible hug, one that warms the heart. I’ve been trying to put my finger on just what it is about these books that is so endearing, and I think that it is the possibilities they present. Mara is a slave girl who has her life suddenly changed, a girl who is swept up into adventures and even love. I suppose it’s just what I want to happen to me on these days, so I’m living vicariously through her on the pages of this dog-eared book. For Anne, she is my kindred spirit. I take inspiration from how she takes charge of her life, how she decides the path it will take. Her spirit lends me courage, and so I read each book over and still over again. As for the last book, well, who wouldn’t want to find a hidden row of almost-abandoned houses with their best friend/cousin? I certainly would. You see? Each book present these possibilities to readers, these things that, though not always at all plausible for us, seem just right for the characters, and so we fall in love with them.
So, next time that you feel an urgent need to dig into the chips and chocolate, don’t forget to grab that old favorite paperback to go with it—you won’t be sorry for renewing the dusty friendship.
“No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books.” ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning