I know. I know. It's been over a week since I've blogged. My goal is to share a new recipe at least once a week and preferably twice, but this week my mind was less on my goals and more on throwing myself a pity party. Have you ever done that? Thrown yourself a whoppin' pity party? No need for guilt here, every now and then a good old fashioned pity party is in order. Every now and then we're all entitled to a little pity, accompanied by a party. Not too often, just every now and then.
The reasons for my personal pity party this past week will not be the subject of this post. I will tell you this, the reasons total more than one, and they're not super small reasons. They are what I consider to be legitimate pity party issues. Hang nails don't count. Split ends don't either. Legitimate pity party reasons are ones that keep you up at night, ruin your eye makeup, and make you go running to the kitchen for comfort food. Which brings me to the subject of this post. Comfort food.
I thought I'd give you help in planning your next pity party, with the hope that you won't need it soon, but with the knowledge that sooner or later, for one reason or another, we all need to ease our troubles, and here, my friends, are some trouble easing recipes.
Nothing brings comfort to my soul like chocolate. It's my number one (and to be honest, my number two, three, four and five) choices of comfort food. I realize that not everyone is comforted by chocolate, but most people are, and I fall into that group of most people.
This recipe: Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies is as good as it gets when it comes to comfort food. And I'm gonna give you a little tip, if you are in need of extreme comfort, don't bother baking, just eat the dough. Somehow, for reasons that can't be explained, the dough is more comforting than the baked cookie. So make a batch, get a spoon, and let this magical dough work your worries away. You'll also need to run a marathon to work off the fat and calories, but when you're in need of comfort, you don't think consequences, you think cookie dough!
This recipe: My Favorite Brownie Recipe was my drug of choice this past week. It's what I catered my pity party with, and I think I chose wisely. I had actually made these brownies for a whole different reason and then put them in the freezer so they wouldn't be a temptation. Let me just say that I found out this week that they taste delicious frozen! When a pity party is needed, there's no time for thawing. No time at all. The risk of breaking a tooth on something frozen is once again a consequence that cannot be considered when the pity party moment comes upon you. At least that's my experience.
This recipe: White Chocolate Cheesecake is the bees knees when it comes to food that brings comfort. The texture alone is one of the most comforting phenomenons on earth! Add to that a taste that will make your eyes roll back into your head and you've got a prescription for comfort.
This recipe: Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls screams comfort! And, if your reason for pity includes anger and rage, using a rolling pin can be very therapeutic. Not on the person, just on the dough. Work out that anger and frustration on the dough, cover it in butter, sugar and cinnamon, then send it into your mouth, through your tummy, and straight to your buns and thighs. Yep, that's where it will eventually end up, but I must say again, consequences are not considered during pity parties. In order to throw the perfect pity party you must throw caution to the wind and embrace the calories.
This recipe: Corn Chowder might be your ticket if sweets aren't your first choice in the comfort department. It's rich, it's creamy and it's very delicious. Let's do a little math, shall we? Rich + Creamy + Delicious = Comfort. That's a fact!
This recipe: My Favorite Macaroni and Cheese is an American classic when it comes to comfort food. If you don't believe me, just ask my BFF Paula Deen. It will comfort your soul. Honest!
This recipe: Amish Bread is another little ditty that will lift your load and help you drown your sorrows. It's a terrific pity party choice. I highly recommend it.
This recipe: Buttermilk Pancakes, no pity party would be complete without 'em! If you're not comforted by pancakes, I don't even know what to say. For one thing, pancakes start with the letter P, and so do the words perfect, pity and party. Enough said!
I guess the bottom line here is that my little cooking blog is full of very comforting recipes. And for me, just being in the kitchen, stirring something up, usually helps a lot.
Everyone has hard times. No one is exempt. The hard times help us truly appreciate the not so hard times, and that's a good thing.
This week I said to The Spy Who Loves Me, in regards to the reasons that made me throw a pity party in the first place, "I think we've had our share." He knew just what I meant, our share of troubles. And then The Spy said something very annoying. Super annoying. (He's lucky I didn't have a rolling pin in my hands.) He said, "I think we are very blessed." Ugh! That is not what I wanted to hear at that very moment. I was in the middle of a world class pity party, and everyone knows that nothing will bring a pity party to a screeching halt like counting your blessings. And so, that's just what I'm trying to do. That's what we need to do when all we want to do is sit on the couch and eat cookie dough, start counting our blessings. I am blessed. I truly am. But I do at times find myself saying, "Lord, please give me the patience to deal with my blessings!" When you have those times, stir up something comforting, and then start to count.
Hope you enjoy stirring it up!
