On winter.

So I haven't been posting very often recently (I'm trying to make sure to post at least once a week), and there's a reason for it. Philadelphia's in the grip of one of the most ridiculously snowy winters in recent history, and this kind of weather brings a body down. Between the shoveling and the parking and the trying to get anywhere in goddamn town, the season's piling on all these tiny little stresses that wear me out until all I have the energy for at the end of the day is to flop down on the couch with a bowl of something warm and goopy.

And that's what this season does to you, right? This is the season of soups and stews, of long, slow braises. This is the time of year when we cook things that take hours, when we fill the house with the smell of meat and broth. This is the season of fat and collagen.

We eat foods that flood the mouth with flavor and linger on the taste buds, whether it's the thick gravy of a long-cooked short rib or the encompassing swell of a good soup. We want it warm and soothing, fatty and filling. We want it to make us sleepy after. We want it heavy and hot. We want our food to give us a hug.

Because when the chips are down and the world outside is cold and slick and angry, that's all we really need. A hug.

So do yourself a favor this winter. Cook something you can eat with a spoon, whether you're supposed to or not. Cook something that makes you want to lick the bowl after. Stay in and give yourself a food hug. You need it. You deserve it.