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I think Indian Pie is my favorite comfort food. I learned it from my mother; it's a stack of tortillas, cheddar/jack cheese, tomato/chili sauce, and a little bit of half and half, baked in the oven. It takes several steps to complete, and the process of putting it all together is very soothing. I can lose myself in the construction of it. I also make this when I am happy! It is delicious with a simple green salad. I hope your poutine made your day better.

baked mac & cheese with a crunchy top. No contest.

double chocolate muffins

If its cold out, grilled cheese and tomato soup (sandwich to be sliced on the diagonal and dunked into the soup.) If it is hot out, red flavored jello with canned mandarin orange segments suspended in it.

This is gonna sound weird....but roasted brussel sprouts. With a sprinkling of lemon pepper

Good old homemade mashed potatoes with real butter. So soothing...

Almost anything involving melted cheese. Mozzarella, from crap industrial to the oozy good stuff. Pizza. Squishy white bread with grape jelly. Fresh matzoh with butter. Everything bagel with cream cheese. Egg noodles with butter. And a seasonal one--cold stuffing, the ultimate comfort food.

baked macaroni, ice cream, brownies, pizza, hot chocolate.

I go for a big bowl of plain pasta with butter and salt. Preferably wheel-shaped.

Shephard's Pie or just plain old mashed potatoes.

Grilled cheese, french fries and a Pepsi.

A chunk of baguette with butter and sea salt always sets me right. Must be the carb-based endorphins.

Oatmeal in a hefty, warmed cereal bowl with honey, molasses, and vanilla.

I also second the roasted brussels sprouts. Yum.

steamed carrots and peas with butter honey and black pepper... somehow it just tastes like childhood.

Udon noodle soup. And, I know you are not supposed to do this to chocolate, but mini chocolate bars right out of the freezer.

Hot homemade cider prepared with granny smith apples, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks and a handful of raisins. Put fresh lime juice and honey in the cup when I drink it.

potato chips, those with lots of msg in them, and a can of coke to wash the aftertaste. this always work for me!

@Buslady: grilled cheese bread pudding?!!? I never thought to combine those two favorites! (just kidding)

Mac and cheese for me, all the way

When I am sad or stressed out I go to Fairway Supermarkets in Harlem (free parking! already feeling better) and buy a Baguette, 1/4 pound of Serrano Ham, some olives, pesto sauce and some manchego cheese. I make a sandwich with all that and have the whole thing by myself! I am so full afterward that I fall sleep for a good couple of hours; I almost always feel better equipped to deal with whatever it is bothering me after I wake up.

I'm with Tiki that sometimes the act of preparing it is enough, no matter what it is. I'm currently low carbing it, so most of my comfort food are off limits. But losing myself in the chopping and stirring a pot of chilli helped a lot last night.

And when I'm eating carbs and I have a bad day, I reach for grilled cheese, mom's lasagna, or a big brownie.

Comfort foods: chocolate, mac 'n cheese, pastel de choclo, instant noodles with rendang flavour, surinam food in general, whole wheat bread with cold pasta sauce (I know, disgusting). Basically, I love to eat ^_^

Unfortunately I've had a lot of experience with this lately. When I lost my mom last month I think we all ate our own weight in smoked brisket, potato salad and washed it down with Shiner beers and Lone Star. Seemed to fit the bill. My mom made great fried green tomatoes, always fried in bacon fat. That's going to get made before too long on one of my inevitable bad days.