When brutalized by life:
Riisipuuro and ruisenevellia (sp?): cold rice pudding topped with hot raisin-prune soup. Yummy and regulating!
When brutalized by life AND whimpering for Mommy:
Malt-O-Meal, made with whole milk and topped with a pat of butter and brown sugar.
I’ll mention chocolate. I can always be consoled by a Mars Bar, a Hershey’s with almonds or something in a chocolate cake/cream filling snack cake.
Other than that:
Moo goo gai pan
Chicken noodle soup
Ice cream-mint chocolate chip, pistacchio, chocolate chip cookie dough
Peanut butter and honey sammitch with a tall glass of cold buttermilk. Or, German chocolate cake with a tall glass of cold buttermilk. Or, a tall glass of cold buttermilk.
Mom’s chicken soup with matzo balls. Everything else pales in comparison.
And her matzo balls are like CLOUDS. Mine tend to be like golf balls.
Also–when I have the occasional rainy day–I love Stove Top stuffing, made as directed but with the butter added at the last minute, and cheese chunks added, mixed in, and nuked to melt.
droooooooooooool…
Chocolate is a big one for me. I hardly ever have snack foods in my apartment, but a friend recently gave me a huge martini glass, so I’ve made the mistake of filling it with Hershey’s miniatures and Nestle Crunches (mmmmmm…)
Ice cream is another good one.
Pineapple for those really special occassions.
Kung Pao Chicken if it’s been a really bad day (or a really good one).
If you scoot back up to the second entry, you’ll find:
Just so’s you know. 
Actually with me as long as its food and theres lots of it …
Frito Pie… with NO sour cream!
Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk with real aerosal whipped cream on it. Mmmmmmm…
Anyting cinnamon, apple or pumpkin. Also Earl Grey tea.
Mmmm…
Strangely, when I’m feeling sick, coming down with the flu or a cold, I start craving two things:
Sharp cheddar, and sushi.
When I was a kid, my med-school father wouldn’t let me have anything dairy when I was feeling sick, so I’d sneak to the fridge and cut myself big slabs of cheddar cheese, and it’d make me feel better. Still does.
And something about the sushi – clean rice, with ginger and wasabi – feels like good medicine to me. Generally it calms my stomach.
Fresh-baked bread with butter and honey is probably my biggest general comfort food.
Daniel
I thought I was going to be the first to mention buttermilk. Been known to go through a quart in one sitting, if I’m really depressed. Buttermilk is my numero uno comfort food. Behind that, mashed potatoes with saurkraut.
Heavy carbs and chocolate, I get- they help stimulate serotonin production, but what’s up with the buttermilk?
FRITO PIES! Oh my gosh, memories of New Mexico…
A “jumbo snack” size bag of fritos opened up with chili, beans, and cheese (sometimes diced onions) dumped over them… mmm…
meat loaf and mashed potatoes.
turkey and home made noodles.
popsicles.
Hershey’s Kisses. I’ve almost finished the 10 oz bag I bought last night.
:sigh:
Homemade mashed taters loaded with butter, spread across a sourdough roll and dunked in gravy. Works best when hiding under a wool blanket and having a glass of QUIK nearby to wash it down.
Comfort Food problem:
I know it’s heresy, but for Frito Pie I prefer Canned Chili to Fresh Chili (heresy #1), and Turkey Chili to Beef Chili (heresy #2, and I dare call myself a Texan?). Further, my Frito Pie chili of choice is the venerable Wolf Brand Turkey Chili, which I’ve recently found can NOT be purchased in my new neck of the woods and I’ve been forced to substitute (gag!) the vastly inferior Hormel chili.
It’s just not the same, and certainly not nearly as comforting.
mom’s oatmeal raisin cookies. or tomato soup with garlic toast on the side. oh my god…yum. drool
GeezeOPeete I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned this yet:
Johnsonville Brauts,
Boiled in beer,
and onions,
Grilled for a couplea minutes on the grill for color
on a soft hoagie bun that’s been lightly toasted.
Mustard (Deli - with seeds), no ketchup
Sheesh!
Put me in the soup and homemade bread catagory. Of course there are times that I don’t feel up to making bread, then I eat french fries with LOTS of ketchup.