Eating Your Feelings. Good or Bad? Discuss.

Today I want to talk about using food as comfort. I know we all do it. Let's just discuss this openly, shall we?

I have a friend who, when struggling through personal difficulties, pulls out a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Not the gourmet kind of mac and cheese. (By the way, I have a fabulous recipe for Mac and Cheese in a Flat Pan right here, but that's not important right now.) But the powdered orange cheese-food stuff that comes in a BOX, like no cheese ever should. It comforts her in a childlike way. I get that. 

Although my tastes in comfort food tend to run in a different direction.

So, this past week you may have noticed if you tried to visit this site, that My Big, Fat, Cuban Family was MIA. Gone. Disappeared into the ether. Nothing but a white page and a sinister "site not found" notice. Wait. What?

It turns out that my lovely cyber-hosts, SAY Media and Typepad were the targets of cyber-terrorism and hundreds of other Typepad sites were down as well. If you're curious as to exactly what happened, you can read the entire article here at Tech-Crunch. 

Because I'm Cuban, I blamed the communists. They were responsible for all the grief we ever knew when I was growing up. I've just continued that time-honored tradition. "Comunistas de mierda!"

Back to the comfort food thing...

We have been doing some interior painting and remodeling and our home is completely chaotic. You can read about all that here:

Where There is Life, There Will Be a Mess.

Last week, we celebrated Eric's birthday and then Easter weekend was coming and even though our house is still getting worked on and we didn't have our act together, we had so many plans!

We were going to be attending church and then my family was having a pool party/brunch thing at my niece's house. I was so looking forward to that. Celebrating and visiting and relaxing. All the things I excel at.

But then...I woke up achy, and feverish, and unfit to be with humans. Wait. What?

And then my site was down. Gone. Vanished. Wait. What? Nooooooo! 

And my house is a crazy mess. (I can feel you weeping with me. Thank you.)

I was down for the count over Easter weekend, which I spent in my pj's moving from bed to couch to bed and back and barely able to pick up the remote. Did I mention we had tons of plans? I was not a happy camper.

I had no appetite, which is unusual for me, but once this achy, flu thing took hold, I was done.

My site was down. And I still felt so sick. And there was nothing I could do except follow Typepad's progress (a little obsessively) on Twitter. And wring my hands. And take my temperature. And feel sorry for myself. And complain impotently about the cyber-terrorists. Say it with me, louder this time, and with feeling:

"Comunistas de mierda!"

I despaired. 

But of course, as some brilliant, but cheesy sage used to say, "Tough times don't last; Tough people do."

I fancy myself as a tough Cuban cookie.

It was right around the time I started feeling better that I also started craving Comfort Food. And no, I did not feel like cooking, thankyouverymuch. 

So as soon as I was able, I managed to find a way to eat my feelings, Cuban-style. 

(I'm not proud of this, and I totally shared, okay?) *ahem* A taste of yuca frita, croquetas, tamales, masitas de puerco, and papa rellena. And for the main event:  Bistec de palomilla, black beans and white rice, and plantains. For dessert: cascos de guayaba with cream cheese.

I'm going to assume you all can relate to this whole "eating your feelings" thing, even if your comfort food is a bit different from mine. I admit my cravings tend to be much more elaborate than a bowl of Captain Crunch, but I can't help it. Black beans and plantains are part of my Cuban DNA.

Also, I don't usually eat cascos de guayaba con queso crema (guava shells with cream cheese) unless there's a serious disturbance in the force. And trust me, my force was disturbed.

My house is still a work in progress, but the mess is so much easier to deal with now that I'm feeling better and I ate dealt with my feelings.

So, what's your comfort food of choice? (It doesn't have to be Cuban.) What are your triggers?

Also, suck it, hackers! My Big, Fat, Cuban Family is BACK!

See? I'm feeling better already.