There are many answers to the definition of comfort foods. There are as many variations to the answer as there are individuals who are asked the question. What makes something a comfort food while others are not? Is it related to diet or type of recipe? Is it related to ingredients?

Marie was a waitress at a French restaurant. She was asked what she thought of when I asked her what comfort foods were. After she put down a plate of garlic roasted Italian bread, parmesan cheese, and olive oil, she volunteered that oven-roasted chicken came to mind. That is what her grandmother served every Sunday evening when Susie was a child. Grandmother's Sunday chicken is what Susie thought of as a comfort food.

Familiarity is a word that is used to describe one's comfort level. This also applies to things that one eats. Foods that one recognizes, things that bring memories of family and home, are important characteristics of comfort foods. It is not the ingredients per se. It is the setting in which the food item is served. Family meals often are cited as part of the answer to the question of what are comfort foods.

Yahoo! News Search Results for comfort foods
Yahoo! News Search Results for comfort foods

Cheer up wisely: Comfort foods can be made healthier (Asheville Citizen-Times)
By definition, comfort foods are generally not the healthiest.
Remaking comfort foods: Cheddar and beer soup (South Bend Tribune)
Healthful eating and comfort food don't have to go together like spinach and brownies.
Back to basics: Experts predict food in 2009 will be comfort driven with more...
ANDREW SULLIVAN/STAMFORD ADVOCATEFrugal fare such as bean soup can be a reliable comfort when money's tight in uncertain times. Food trends are fickle. They ebb and flow with economic times and over the past few years they've run the gamut...
The Recipe for Cool Weather Comfort Foods (Today's News-Herald)
(ARA) - As the weather gets brisk and the sun sets earlier, we find ourselves yearning for food and beverages that are simple, familiar and home-made. Comfort food is as soothing as a warm sweater, but it doesn't have to be boring if you add a little creativity.
Recipe Makeover: chicken-fried steak and gravy (San Jose Mercury News)
In making over chicken-fried steak, "we skip the deep frying, but with rich country gravy as consolation, you won't miss it," writes Jessie Price in "Comfort Foods Made Healthy.
Coffee and Chocolate Holding Up in Down Economy (AG Weekly)
In the United States, the true comfort foods are chocolate and coffee -which may provide relief for investors battered by plummeting prices for oil, gold, wheat and other products.
Comfort foods can be healthy too (The Charlotte Observer)
(By Heather Lalley, Chicago Tribune) Healthful eating and comfort food don't have to go together like spinach and brownies. It's just that we've become so accustomed to thinking good-for-you dishes can't be warm, gooey and soul-satisfying. But Jessie Price and her fellow editors at Vermont-based EatingWell magazine want to prove that conventional wisdom wrong. They've compiled nearly 200 ...
Feel-good Foods to Battle the Winter Blues (Lexington Clipper-Herald)
(ARA) - It's that time of year again when temperatures hit single digits, clothing gets heavier and it can be difficult to resist the urge to curl up all day under a warm and comfy blanket with an engaging book.
Cold comfort (The Age)
Justine Costigan savours a range of flavours that take some licking.
Kettle adds sweet onion chip (The Portland Business Journal)
Kettle Foods added a new flavor to its line of ?Big Game? chips.