Celebrating 200 Years
FOOD

Finding comfort in food

Students walk in front of Western Dining.
Students walk in front of Western Dining.

Food: possibly one of my favorite four-letter words; not just because I love a good meal, but also because of how it can represent people’s identities. Just take a quick look at the TV schedule for the Food Network, where celebrities take us into their personal lives with food. People like Ree Drummond take us behind the scenes and show us what food means to them, and the impact it’s had on their lives. Not only do we need food to live, we need it to thrive.

But that begs the question: what do we do when this schedule of home-cooked meals suddenly becomes breakfast at 6:30 a.m., lunch at 10:30 a.m., and dinner at 5:15 p.m.? How do we find comfort in food that instantly changes overnight?

Pasta is one of my favorite meals when I’m home, especially homemade pasta and what I’ve dubbed “fun pasta” (essentially just pasta in different shapes). It’s silly, but I’m a strong believer that fun-shaped food tastes 10 times better). Unfortunately, nowadays I don’t tend to have a KitchenAid mixer, eggs and flour on standby — tragic, I know — instead, every time I’m at Western for dinner, the first stop I make is the pasta section. Of course, nothing will ever compare to the magic of homemade pasta, but after a long day of trying to keep up with five lectures, 15 homework assignments and three discussion posts that require two responses to my peers, it hits the spot.

Throughout middle school and high school, I was lucky enough to have a mom who would wake up early and make me scrambled eggs for breakfast. Now I’m either too tired to wake up early enough, or Goldfish and GoGo Squeeze become the things I rush to grab before I have to sprint out the door. But if you’re a morning person — which I strongly believe no college student actually is — fear not, my personal favorite dining halls will come to your rescue. At places like Western or Maple Street Commons, there are kiosks where you can get made-to-order eggs. Will they taste the same as the decades-old recipe your grandparents keep locked away in the attic? Maybe. Maybe not. But will they make you feel a little more at home, in a place where home feels far away? More often than not, yes.

But between you and me,  if I’m really missing home… DoorDashing Chipotle solves that problem real quick.

humphrdk@miamioh.edu

August Humphrey is a first-year undecided student at Miami, minoring in German. When she’s not studying, you’ll most likely find her at home in bed with her cat.

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