Tag Archives: waffles

Sugar Cubes: Horses, Mindy Lahiri, and Me

Remember when I ranted and raved about how awesome Mindy Kaling is and I told you to add The Mindy Project to your DVR?  Did you listen?  Are you watching it???  I hope so! Because if not, you’ve missed some seriously funny stuff.

And right now, I’d like… no… LOVE… to talk about this funny little scene right here:

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In this scene, Mindy is hanging out at Danny’s and it’s all very cute, but what I really need to bring your attention to is this:

MINDY IS EATING SUGAR CUBES STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX!

(See the little box, just next to Mindy’s left hip… that’s the sugar cubes!  I’d recognize that box anywhere!)

This scene!

This beautiful, validating scene!!

Seriously, who is watching me at my house?!  And how did this get on national television?! And why do I feel so insanely validated right now?!

We’ve discussed binge eating disorder before and it’s very serious and painful and shameful and all of that, of course… but sometimes, when I’m not sitting down in the bottom of that deep dark hole, it’s actually really flipping funny.  Because some of the stuff I have eaten when desperate for a binge (yes… this is why food issues parallel the language of addiction…) have been absolutely insane.  And I’m not going to lie to you right now, sugar cubes have been it for me before.

But last week, there it was on tv– a gorgeous actress, playing an awesome and lovable doctor on tv, eating sugar cubes straight out of the box.  I loved Mindy Kaling before, but this– a whole new level of devotion!

And now that I think about it, these brilliantly funny actresses who are really into food– love them all!  Tiny Fey as Liz Lemon in 30 Rock says one time that she’s headed home for a nooner… which is what she calls having pancakes for lunch.  Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope in Parks and Rec is a waffle fiend (oh snap, love me some waffles) and when Rebel Wilson as Kimmi in Super Fun Night sees that her man friend has ordered her fries to go along with the champagne, her reaction is priceless!  These are the women I can get behind and cheer for, because sometimes food is way more than just food– it can be a nooner, a top three life priority, a mood setter, or even just a little something crispy and sweet to take the edge off a long day.  I’m not advocating food abuse, of course, but I do like when it gets represented on tv in a normal way, which is kind of funny, kind of weird, and definitely multi-dimensional in this crazy thin-obsessed culture of ours where to admit you’d rather have the burger than the salad is not the cool thing to do.

I have sugar cubes in my house because they are necessary for real old fashions (i.e. made with bitters and cherries rather than a mix) and my husband is a big old fashion fan. I’ve always thought that they’d be really useful if a stray horse every showed up in our back yard and I needed to lure it to the deck to secure it (it could happen– there’s a lot of Amish around here).  Horses do love sugar cubes, right?  Why do I feel so sure about this?  I don’t know… but it turns out horses and I aren’t the only ones who need a sugar cube every now and again.  So does Mindy Kaling as Dr. Mindy Lahiri, and suddenly my secret shame doesn’t feel quite so shameful anymore.

That's a horse and buggy right across the street from my house-- never know when you might need a sugar cube!
That’s a horse and buggy right across the street from my house– never know when you might need a sugar cube!