Let Them Eat Cake (etc.)

Let's talk about stress, baby.

People have different reactions to stress.  Some people eat.  Some read insipid women's magazines (BTW, do they really have to be filed under "women's interest" when everyone knows they end up as bathroom reading material for men?  Discuss!).  Some exercise obsessively.  Some troll the internet for vacuous articles about celebrity weight-loss secrets.  Some nap.  Some shop (or fake-shop by visiting stores over and over again, bitterly, without actually buying anything).  Some drink frightening quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon.  Some burst into tears in the middle of a crowded noontime city bustle.  Some glare at smokers until they toss their cigarettes on the ground and scurry away in shame.  Some take craploads of Valium.  While I can't claim to be innocent of many of these particular vices, I also can't blame stress for them (let's face it: these are just regular daily activities for me).

When I'm stressed, I bake.

That's my dirty little secret.  And it turns out that emotional baking can actually lead to stress - especially if one consumes the end product of said baking frenzy in one evening/for breakfast/while on the phone to one's nutritionist.  See above re. obsessive exercising.

I try not to make the same thing twice, but (unfortunately for my non-chocolate-loving husband) I'm a sucker for all things chocolate.  There have definitely been encores of certain brownies and cupcakes.  My most recent endeavor is a repeat: yes, I'm talking about chocolate cake.  Doesn't need frosting.  Just needs to get in my belly.

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but who the hell cares?

I think my next project will be chocolate chip cherry cookies.  Why?  Two reasons: (1) I need some serious stress relief right now (screw yoga); and (2) um... look at them.

Why do I need stress relief?  Stay tuned: I'm still trying to figure out how to make it funny enough to post here.