An Analysis of Comfort Food

Why can't we break free from that pint of Ben & Jerry's? jayt919 provides insight into the oh-so intricate workings of the female food psyche.—Sparkitors

Admit it, ladies: at one point or another, you've drowned your sorrows in food. Despite our best intentions, a bad grade or a serious case of unrequited love can send us girls careening toward the fridge, and hours later, we'll be slumped over the countertop, looking mournfully at an empty tub of Rocky Road, hot fudge all over our forlorn faces. Here’s a guide to our complicated comfort food addictions:

1. In times of irritation/sadness, we turn to our ever-loving source of calories: chocolate. Eaten in bite-sized pieces, it can persuade us to quit heaving exasperated sighs about a boy and go work on our Bio project instead.

2. A step up (or down, depending on how you look at it) would be ice cream. Unlike the just-move-on motivation that chocolate pieces can provide, ice cream tends to stir up philosophical musings that create a more prolonged meal of misery. What better way to wallow in your sorrow than with a giant spoonful of melty, sprinkle-covered goodness?

3. The top tier of the comfort food pyramid has got to be cake. No, not a small slice of lemon meringue, but comfort cake, which is huge, creamy, and chocolate-y, often with icing 2 inches thick. When you see a girl armed with fork, looking down at a triple-fudge cake, maintain a safe distance. She's in it for the long haul.

What's your favorite comfort food? We like to chase down a few bacon cheeseburgers with a tube of cookie dough. That usually dulls the pain.

Related post: Cooking with Shivani: Chocolate French Toast