It’s not about the destination, they say. It’s about the journey. To be aimless is not to wander or be lost, it is to be present in your journey. Indeed these words, shamelessly paraphrased from a Saturday morning yoga class, left me inspired to reflect […]
Hi Cozy followers, if you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to since returning from my New Year’s travels…the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I fell to one of the worst cases of the flu I have ever had. It all started last week Sunday when […]
So, why the decision to dive into cozy and nostalgic experiences with food? Since I was a child, I absolutely loved to cook. But for the longest time, I never truly asked myself why. I’ve discovered that cooking has always been my way of making someone happy and […]
I’ve never really believed in having a soul sister…until now, that is. This month’s food diary comes from a dear friend of mine who I met at, yet again, the magical yoga studio I keep talking about. I remember the first time I met Toni, […]
Hi friends! I’m delighted to share this month’s comfort food diary for many reasons. The first reason is because it comes from a friend of mine who I met just over a year ago, and thanks to whom I became so involved in many of […]
Ironically, this month’s lighthearted diary comes from a woman who is an expert in the art of making people feel comfy, safe, supported, and held – much like the effects of comfort food. She has been putting me in to cozy yoga shapes every single week […]
Between juggling yoga school, work, and doing laundry I haven’t had much time to write for Cozy lately. But the Comfort Food Diary of the month is one thing I will absolutely not miss – or so help me because these nostalgic pieces are the […]
Often when we think of “comfort” words all too familiar come rushing to our hearts – “home,” “childhood,” “family,” and perhaps most often, “Mom.” I admit, I am no different and it’s way past over due for a piece on the woman who taught me […]
It’s not about the destination, they say. It’s about the journey. To be aimless is not to wander or be lost, it is to be present in your journey. Indeed these words, shamelessly paraphrased from a Saturday morning yoga class, left me inspired to reflect […]
Hi Cozy followers, if you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to since returning from my New Year’s travels…the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I fell to one of the worst cases of the flu I have ever had. It all started last week Sunday when […]
A little bit obsessive. A little bit ritualistic. A little time honored family tradition is what my New Year’s boils down to, literally. Waiting 364 days to gulp down a soup very few people on this earth know how to make. The traditions of my […]
When you grow up in Hawaii and move away, we’re given what I like to call a sixth sense that let’s us identify any other Hawaii local no matter where we are in the world. And if you end up talking story with that person, […]
Hana Cafe nappa69 | Shinmaruko, Kawasaki, Japan | Photo by Jun Kawamura Earlier, I may have said that the grungy alley of Omoide Yokocho is my favorite place in all of Japan…but then again, there’s different kind of coziness that exists on the outskirts of […]
I’ve never really believed in having a soul sister…until now, that is. This month’s food diary comes from a dear friend of mine who I met at, yet again, the magical yoga studio I keep talking about. I remember the first time I met Toni, we practiced next to each other during her first time in the studio. Before we began our practice, we were all instructed to gather two yoga blocks and a blanket. The next thing you know, out of the corner of my eye, I notice Toni lining up her blocks ever so precisely next to her mat and refolding her blanket into the perfect square. I never thought I would meet someone so particular about their yoga props as I was – it was at this moment I knew we’d make great friends. From that day on we bonded over being “Type-A” yogis.
Toni and I continued to get to know each other as we were magically paired up to be “buddies” in our yoga teacher training this past winter. I couldn’t have asked for a better soul to lean on and confide in, during an intensely transformative period of my life. During training, we were often glued at the hip and constantly finding ourselves gravitating towards all the same things, having similar personal challenges, and somehow being totally okay with being terribly awkward in front of each other.
And so, having gotten to know Toni and as we continue to support each other’s endeavors, I asked her about her favorite comfort food. And what she had to say simply made my heart melt faster than you can say “I love bolognese.”
“Cooking is my comfort food…”
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My name is Toni, I am a mental health and addictions therapist by trade, am married to my wonderful husband Kevin for about 6 years now, and have a lovely, playful dog and cat at home. Carly and I met through the yoga studio where we both attend classes. She was one of the first people I talked to at the studio and made me feel so welcomed. We bonded further when we were paired up as buddies in our yoga teacher training program. We connected instantly over our mutual love of food. When Carly asked me to write a guest post for her about my comfort foods I struggled to think of just one. I grew up in Virginia, where comfort food is pretty much all we eat. Food is what you bring to someone when they have had a baby, when someone has died, when it’s their birthday, when it’s a holiday, WHENEVER. Food is my love language.
However, I never cooked much growing up. I would hang out in the kitchen with my mom when she was making dinner to help out here and there, but never really made a meal myself. During this time I’d say my comfort foods were biscuits and gravy and my mom’s perfect chocolate chip cookies.
In my sophomore year of college I had a schedule that allowed me to be in my dorm in the middle of the day. A lot of my friends had classes during that time, so I started watching daytime Food Network programming. I’m not sure why I was so captured by it, but it was riveting to watch people cook. I learned a lot, but didn’t have a kitchen in my dorm and couldn’t put anything into practice. When I returned home for spring break, I decided to host a dinner party for my family. A three course dinner party for six people. My first time cooking a full meal. I admit that it was a little ambitious. (The menu: split pea soup, chicken piccata with fettuccine, and profiteroles with chocolate sauce and ice cream). To my and my family’s surprise, it was all delicious and no one left hungry.
Once I moved into my own apartment I started cooking for myself a lot more. And feeding my roommates and friends. This is when I discovered that cooking is my comfort, no matter what the food is. There is just something about taking an assortment of disparate ingredients, combining them in specific ways and transforming them into something delicious that nourishes bodies and connects hearts. Cooking is a miracle every time. It calms my anxiety and stress, unites me with people, and gives me an avenue to express love.
If I had to pick one comfort food now it would be pasta bolognese. It’s one of the first recipes I bookmarked when I started becoming a Food Network fangirl. It’s a dish that is quite simple but takes about 5 hours to create. Bolognese is not so much a meal that you cook, it is one that you love into existence. The hearty sauce requires patient tending, love and care. For the entire day the house is filled with the smell of the simmering warm, herby tomato sauce. The scent itself will make your mouth water. Dinner is highly anticipated when I make pasta bolognese because we’ve been waiting for it all day. When we finally sit down to eat we are silent for the first few bites. Then, over the course of the meal and glasses of wine, connection happens. And of course, over the following days the next best thing happens: leftovers.
Written by Toni A.
