What Is Your Comfort Food and Why?

What is Your Comfort Food and Why? Comfort food. Just the thought of it reminds me of something warm and welcoming- like snuggling up by the fire on a crisp fall day. What is comfort food? It is usually the food we have good memories about and that reminds us of a simpler time. Whether you grow up in China or little old North Carolina there is always a meal that conjures up feelings of joy and safety, memories of childhood, or just simple pleasure. For me, my comfort food is spaghetti and meatballs. I have always had a strong desire for anything Italian but my mind always seems to wander back to good old-fashioned spaghetti and meatballs. I love this dish because it takes me back to my roots- the food that I grew up with and always had a soft spot for. It reminds me of spending holidays up in Minnesota with my huge family crammed around a wooden table and everything knocking elbows to try and get to the dish first. Seeing my grandmother hunched over a steaming pot of boiling water mixing the noodles and then looking over and seeing my cousin try and sneak a spoonful of marinara sauce brings me back to happier and more relaxed times. Being a senior in high school, I am busier and more stressed than I have ever been in my life. For me to feel warm and safe again I think about this delicious dish and my problems literally just disappear. When I begin to eat the spaghetti my eyes, hands, and mouth seem to start a chain of command in my brain. The sugar and starch spur serotonin, and from then on out I seem to be walking on sunshine. Whenever I seem to be having a bad week or I just cannot seem to find something good to focus on, I can always rely on my mom to make me a huge pot of spaghetti and meatballs and I know that those supposed “problems” I thought I had did not really matter at all. This comfort food is also the friend who never disappoints me or ditches me. Certain psychologists call comfort food a “social surrogate”- in other words, it does not quite