So tonight I made tuna casserole for dinner.
I had been thinking about tuna casserole for several days. No idea why. I mean, it is not exactly a gourmet meal, right??? LOL
But my mom made it sooooo good, and I never made it quite as good as hers. It finally dawned on me - while I was cooking - why it was on my mind. It's comfort food. It reminds me of her. She has been gone since 2001. She would be really happy about this primary. She loved Bill and Hill, and I remember how pissed off she was by Ken Starr, Whitewater, etc. - the whole right wing conspiracy endless hunt to try to bring them down. (She'd also be happy about how Starr f'd up at Baylor, though sad for the young women.)
So I raise my fork to my mommy. I hope I am wrong about an afterlife, so she can be watching this election. Bring it on home for momma, Hill!
FWIW, I think I finally made it as good as hers tonight! 
= new reply since forum marked as read
First, keep in mind that comfort food is totally dependent upon what one experienced growing up, so what feels like home to me may not be what you are looking for in a recipe.
It is really not the same way she did it, but it comes closer to how hers tasted than how my past attempts did. She just used the condensed soup plus seasonings and sauteed onions, but I couldn't get the complexity of flavor she did that way. Something was missing. So I experimented today.
I crushed saltine crackers (but you could also use bread crumbs) and mixed them with melted butter and garlic in a plastic bag and set aside.
With the melted butter left in the pan (about a tablespoon), I sauteed about a quarter cup of chopped celery a few minutes and then added 2 cloves of shallots and 2 cloves of garlic and sauteed a few more minutes. I added about a tablespoon of flour and stirred it all together and sauteed a couple minutes, and then added about a half cup of milk. Heat until thickened. I added about a teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon chicken base and a can of cream of mushroom soup. I added a bit of water to thin it out and some garlic powder, celery salt, thyme, and white pepper. I added the spices to taste, so I can't tell you how much.
Once I had the flavor I wanted, I added about 2/3 of a can of La Seur peas (I know fresh or frozen is better, but I was aiming for mom's recipe- LOL), 2 of the envelopes of tuna (so you don't have to drain it), and enough cooked medium egg noodles to get it to the right consistency.
I put it in a casserole and then topped it with the buttered cracker crumbs, and a few shakes of each spice and heated until the crumbs were lightly browned.
EDITED TO ADD: Oh, I forgot - I also added a couple tablespoons of grated parmesean-reggiano to the crumbs
Oh goodness, casseroles are food for the soul! LOL! So many hearty meals!
I just ran through the one I made in a reply above.
It's a favorite of busy moms; you can take it to potluck dinners; it's a wonderful thing to take over to a sick neighbor or drop off for a grieving family after the funeral. It relies on a lot of ingredients being pre-cooked.
A protein, already cooked (i.e. canned tuna, or night before last's roast)
A starch, like potatos or pasta
A vegetable or two
A sauce (canned mushroom soup used to be a favorite in the 1950s and 1960s)
Bake at 350 for an hour until bubbly and brown on top.
Whatever your mother's favorite recipe was will always say "home and comfort" to you.
To you and your mom. 
I raise mine, too~
Mahalo, Lisa~
But if you're ever in Texas, I will cook for you
im sure it would be great!
