This article is a nice roundup of studies that show cooking and baking can make us feel better, and why.
I have to say this is true for myself, and that I've always been a bit puzzled by people who say they hate to cook. But I'd never heard about "culinary therapy" before!
The Science Behind Why Cooking and Baking Help You Feel Better
“Assuredly it is a great accomplishment to be a novelist, but it is no mediocre glory to be a cook.” -- Alexandre Dumas
"I give you Chicago. It is no London and Harvard. It is not Paris and buttermilk. It is American in every chitling and sparerib. It is alive from tail to snout." -- H.L. Mencken