What's Your Favorite Comfort or Holiday Food?

[MoonCat]

With the holidays here, I got to thinking about goodies. Most of us have things we love to eat when we're feeling down or that just give us a sense of well-being.

And most of us have holiday favorites that they just have to have at Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays or other special events.

1) Comfort Food:
- Spaghetti & meatballs.
- Or, one of our favorite recipes which is called Country Chicken Casserole. It's boneless/skinless chicken thighs with tomato sauce, carrots and elbow noodles.

2) Holiday favorites:
- There's a cookie called cashew nougats that is to die for. I can only find them at the holidays.
- Anise cookies. We get the homemade ones at the Broadway Market; usually cutout cookies shaped like Santa with colored frosting & red or green sugar sprinkles. But in a pinch, Jingles will do (or whatever they're called now; the company sold out a few years ago).

What are your favorites?

[firecat88]

1) Comfort food
~Soup. Doesn't matter if it's miso, tomato, or chicken noodle. There are times when I just *need* soup.
~Tea and toast.
~Arepas

2) Holiday Food
~ For me, it's not a proper Thanksgiving dinner without stuffing and/or mashed potatoes.
~ Hallacas. For as long as I can remember, they've been a tradition at my house. I helped to make them last year. Sadly, though, I don't think we're doing them this year because we're going out-of-state for Christmas.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Comfort foods...Ice cream and hot cocoa (not at the same time). Totally unhealthy cheese lasagna from a certain overpriced restaurant nearby. Edit: I forgot cinnamon toast - soft whole wheat bread with lots of butter and cinnamon/sugar.

Holidays...turkey/gravy/mashed potatoes with butter/peas/gravy. This is my Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. (Though I actually prefer roast chicken to turkey, but that's not an option on the holidays.) Cranberry sauce if I'm in the mood. The rest of it I ignore. Sometimes I don't even care about dessert.

My mom makes these cookies every year at Christmas; they're not really a Christmas-specific sort of cookie, but for whatever reason that's the only time we have them. They're just flour, brown sugar, and butter, baked in a sheet pan, about 1/4 inch thick, then right after they come out of the oven you pour a bag of chocolate chips on top and spread them into an even layer as they melt. (Or you can melt them in a pan or double boiler and pour it on but it's easier my way.) Top with chopped nuts (she uses walnuts) or sprinkles (because I don't eat nuts).

[DGoddessChardonnay]

As far as comfort foods go:

Mac and Cheese w/sliced hot dogs
Garlic mashed potatoes
Mom's Chicken Cassserole - chicken breast w/the broth (we use the chicken breast halves bone-in so it makes its own broth) and Pepperidge Farm Stuffing, and cream of chicken soup. I can eat the entire dish by myself - not sure what Mom and my brother will eat, but hey they're on their own.

Favorite Holiday Foods:

Dressing - I make mine w/the Pepperidge Farm in the blue bag, add onions and celery and lots of sage. Yummy on my tummy.

Cranberry Sauce I have to have - the whole berry variety is good, but if I can find some cranberry-orange relish, I'm in Heaven . . . *drooling*

[Marmalady]

Did someone mention food?

1) Comfort food:
- Anything Italian, but lasagna or cannelloni especially..mmm.....
- Home baked shortbread and tea
- Lemon cheesecake ice cream

(I also have to say that I find the process of baking to be very comforting as well....)

2) Holiday favourites:
- Mince pies (but they have to be homemade - shop-bought ones have too sweet a pastry)
- Pumpkin pie (for Halloween and also Christmas)
- Ginger jellies (I don't know why, but I can only find them at Christmas)

[Mishi]

Comfort Foods:
- Potato Salad
- Coffee
- Buttery toasted white bread with vegemite
- Pad Thai
- Pralines N Cream Ice Cream

Holiday Foods:
- Risalamande
- Roast Pork
- Caramelised Potatoes (Brunede Kartofler)

[Kazim]

Comfort food: Reindeer jerky

Holiday food: My own home made meatballs ^^

[chikenlady]

I had to google Arepas, Risalamande and Hallacas. I think I have led a deprived life

[Dasota]

Comfort foods:
Chocolate Milk
anything cheese and broccoli.
Mac and Cheese, homemade or Kraft
a big thing of mashed potatoes

Holiday Foods:
EGG NOG! I found it before Halloween this year and was jumping around like a moron when I saw it. (mind you it was 2am with friend of mine in a mostly empty grocery store)

Whatever it is the neighbor across the street from my dad makes with pretzel's and peanut butter that come on the cookie tray she sends every year. Plus the bag of deer jerky that Dad so lovingly splits with me

And that's it.... As far as holiday foods, I've never been a "yay! it's x time of year, bring on the turkey!" kind of person. Mostly because my family will change things around at the holiday dinners. One Christmas we had a HUGE stock pot of seafood chowder instead of a traditional turkey/ham/whatever dinner.

Plus my cousins ruined cranberry sauce for me forever when I was little. The can shaped stuff+milk does not taste good at all.

[Food Lady]

I make an effort not to comfort myself with food, but foods that remind me of childhood are mashed potatoes boiled with onion powder and made with butter, and mayo (don't knock it--creamiest potatoes ever), cereal, cream of wheat, and chocolate malteds.

For the holidays I have to get the candy cane Ande's Candies before they are gone. The rest of the holiday foods are nice, but I don't go out of my way for them.

[crazylegs]

Comfort food - Faggots & mash.

I'm not kidding, there's a foodstuff called faggots - they taste really good!

Holiday food -

Christmas Dinner, so that's turkey, roast potatoes, stuffing, various veg etc

[firecat88]

I had to google Arepas, Risalamande and Hallacas. I think I have led a deprived life

I had to google risalamande too...and now I want some.

[Teysa]

Comfort food for me is ice cream. Pretty much any flavor will do unless it has nuts in it.

For the holidays, I love the different holiday themed ice creams that Braums comes out with. I like the Jack in the Box shakes too. Of course we can't forget the eggnog and cranberry sauce. And I do have to get a pumpkin latte from Starbucks at least once during the holiday season.

[Jester]

Holiday food:

Stuffing. Mashed Potatoes. Stuffing. Cranberry sauce. Stuffing. Green bean casserole. Stuffing. Sweet potatoes. Stuffing. Candied yams. Did I mention stuffing?

Seriously, stuffing (with gravy when possible) is my favorite part of the "traditional" American holiday meal. How much? Well, usually I pass on the turkey and get an extra helping of stuffing. And I have been known to go back for more. A lot more. My personal record in one sitting was SIX helpings of stuffing. Even my stepbrother, whose nickname at the dinner table was "Hoover," was in awe that day!

Comfort food:

Obviously stuffing. We've been over that.
Mashed potatoes and gravy. (And I like gravy on my stuffing, too.)
Pot pies.
Lasagne.
Spaghetti.
Stew.
Split pea soup.
Macaroni and cheese.

[firecat88]

I pass on the turkey and get an extra helping of stuffing.

If I could get away with it, I'd serve myself no turkey at all so I'd have more room on my plate for stuffing.