Comfort food in novels

This past weekend my neighbor stopped over and brought me a container of homemade chicken soup. An immediate sense of home and comfort swamped me as I sat on my wood stairs where I had just painted the kick plates and at the warm food. With that one kind act, my mind went tripping down memory lane.

Remember when you were a kid how your mom would make you tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich? What did your mom or dad make you as comfort food? What is your favorite comfort food? When do you eat it?

I was thinking about it over the last few days and it hit me that even in my novels I write about comfort food. In my first novel, the heroine makes Better than Sex cake. I wonder what comfort she was looking for? Hm. The Kickass Chili the heroine makes is one of my favorite comfort foods at any time of year.

In Killer Bunny Hill, the hero throws together beef barley soup and cornbread right after they come in from the freezing cold. There’s that warm soup comfort that’s perfect after making snow angels outside in a foot of snow or snowboarding down a treacherous bunny hill.

While writing Connect the Dots my mind went directly to my favorite pizza (Hot and Sassy) and favorite pizza place (Waldo’s). Hot and Sassy pizza is a concoction I invented. It has pepperoni, prosciutto, jalapenos, feta cheese, and whenever possible add green olives. YUM! Actually, when I was in high school it was a ritual to go out for pizza on Friday nights. Kinda like my heroine does.

Great! Now I am starving. Pizza is my all time favorite food. I could eat it every day for a week and never complain. Of course, nowadays I make it on Omega-3 wraps when I make it at home.

Do you see a pattern here? My characters are so real they eat what I eat. They like comfort food for their meals.

My next novel has this great old Irish guy in it who runs an Irish pub. Guess what he serves?

Tell us about your comfort foods? Do you include them in your writing? Do your characters only eat out or perhaps they never actually have a meal? Think about it.