Comfort Foods . . .

Foods that--no matter how miserable you are--will always warm you and put a smile on your face:

• Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast - which I happen to be having right now. It is -6F outside (here in the middle of the Great American Corn Desert) and I needed not only cheering but warming. Also known as S.O.S., which my father once told me meant "Shit on a Shingle." This particular incarnation is the Stouffer's frozen S.O.S. It is as good as any homemade I ever had.
• Kraft Macaroni and Cheese - I cannot remember the last time I had it. I do remember, though, that Laurie and I lived on it and baloney when we were first married. It was not that we were miserable--or needed warming, Charleston being a relatively toasty place to live--it was that we were broke, living on a 2nd Class Petty Officer's "salary." It was all we could afford.
• Fast becoming a favorite: my own homemade Tortilla Soup, the recipe for which varies with the wind. I honestly do not think I have made it the same way twice. It does, though, always make me feel better not only eating it but making it, as well.
• Then, there is Clam Sauce on Linguini . . . one would not think something as "classic" as this has the potential to be not only a comfort food but one of those "everything but the kitchen sink"-type recipes. You really have to work to hose this one up; and if you are judicious about additions everything you add improves it. It always brings a smile to my face.