As the semester wears on and midterms no longer loom on the horizon but come crashing down with full force, plunging us into the pits of despair, there are not too many things that can really calm my brain and sooth my soul. Sure, yoga is nice to calm your nerves and realign your chi after you've been hunched over a textbook for six hours straight. But sometimes I find myself reciting all the Byzantine emperors between 702 and 813 A.D. while I'm supposed to be focusing on my breathing and holding the down dog.
The only surefire way to really reign in my racing thoughts and achieve my inner peace is by cooking and/or baking my ultimate comfort foods. I'm sure everyone has their own comfort foods—the ones that make you smile and close your eyes as you drift away into sweet serenity. For just that short moment of pure bliss, no exam worth 40 percent of your grade can bring you back down.
One of my personal favorites is ice cream. The second that cold, smooth texture hits my tongue, all outside noise and worries evaporate. I could be stressed to the max, runnin' my mouth about how I'm going to just drop out of school because there is no way I can write four papers, study for an exam and read four textbook chapters in two days, but if you give this girl an ice cream cone, she will shut her mouth like that. Whether it's Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Cookies n' Cream, Dulce de Leche, Toffee Heath Crunch or just plain Chocolate ice cream, all of my previous anxieties vanish.
Another scrumptious treat clinically proven to ease my tension is party potatoes, otherwise known as cheesy potato casserole. These tasty tots are the absolute perfect combination of cheesy, gooey goodness, finished with a crunchy, crumbly topping and a hint of onion. I simply cannot go to any family event without bringing this casserole along with, and let me tell you, other people I know share my love for this first-class dish. I made them for the Super Bowl party I went to this year, and they disappeared in approximately 1.3 minutes. These tots are almost as good as disapparating into Hogwarts and finally being able to play a Quidditch match and dive into Dumbledore's memories through his magical sieve.
Anything pumpkin flavored will undoubtedly send me into a state of nirvana. I have made more pumpkin dishes than any fellow amateur chef I've met, and look up new pumpkin recipes on a near daily basis and then tell every person I see all about the best ones I find. Some examples of treats I have made this year are pumpkin molasses cookies, pumpkin oatmeal and white chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin blondies with walnuts, pumpkin and chocolate cake with a maple cream cheese frosting, and of course, pumpkin pie. When the special edition pumpkin spice coffee creamer comes out in September and all of the coffee shops start selling pumpkin spice lattes, I feel like a four-year-old on Christmas morning.
When they came out with Pumpkin Pie flavored ice cream two years ago, I had to cross my legs to stop from piddling myself from excitement in Pick n' Save.
Normally I would say soup is the next most comforting food, especially after a long, cold March day complete with trudging up Bascom Hill in the freezing rain. However, unfortunately I have a quite abnormal gastrointestinal system, and soup seems to actually make me sick rather than cure what ails me. Instead, I am listing oatmeal as my final most comforting food. Its creamy texture warms my stomach, and like ice cream, it comes in an abundance of flavors. You can also make your own textures and flavors over the stove, which allows my culinary creativity to come alive. I personally love adding a scoop of peanut butter, brown sugar, apples, or raisins and cinnamon into my oatmeal. Chunky or smooth, sweet and warm, this delicious dish melts in your mouth and lightens your load.
Of course, there are many other foods that tickle my fancy, like sweet potatoes and corn on the cob, but none that send me quite into the same state of ecstasy like these. I noticed the other day they have Girl Scout Cookie special edition ice cream out. I'm definitely stockin' up on buckets of the Samoas kind for the next couple of grueling weeks before spring break. After all, I'm not going anywhere tropical over spring break so there's no need to stop a pooch from forming around the waistline.
What are your favorite comfort foods? E-mail the recipes to alt2@wisc.edu.
