My first thought was movie theater popcorn. :)

(Great, now I'm hungry. LOL)

Donna

Even when I was a hardcore vegan, I still salivated at the smell of hamburgers on the grill. DH and I were out walking last weekend, and that smell hit me so hard that we had to rush home, shower, and go get us some beef. ;-)

Actually, I think the best food aroma is fresh bread baking. My dentist's office used to be right next to a bakery, and I don't know how they could stand it. I would've been craving carbs all day long, but I guess they became less sensitive to the smell after awhile.

Popcorn, at home!

Fried chicken

Chocolate cake

Melting butter

Candied sweet potatoes

Apple pie

Cinnamon rolls

Dinner rolls

Yum.....

I think a chicken roasting in the oven is one of the best smells ever. Also, beef on the grill. I'm trying to give up meat but I don't think I'll be able to completely give it up. Those two meals are just too good! Also, the smell of roasted/sauteed garlic.

The aroma of sauteing garlic.

Oh, I love foody-scented body lotions too! I'm currently indulging my senses in Bath & Body Works Sparkling Limoncello. I used to love a lot of their items, but the last time I shopped there I liked very little of what they offer - except the lemon-scented lotions were pretty heavenly to my nose.

Pot roast.

I'm going to have to go with pot roast, too. I let mine cook while I'm at work, so walking in the door to that aroma and knowing dinner is already cooked is heaven :)

Oh, and I can't stand the food-scented lotions. They make me think of stickiness. I don't consider things like citrus or mint sticky, but can't do things like vanilla, cookie, coconut, berry.

Favorite food scent? Someone else cooking - anything!

DH makes cinnamon graham crackers and the house smells so good! But I still remember walking around Hershey PA and the smell of chocolate permeated the air...not unlike when Mrs. Fields' are baking their cookies.

Bread baking in the oven

My Mother's spaghetti sauce and meatballs

A chicken roasting for Sunday dinner

Onions sauteing in butter will always get my attention.

coffee and bacon in the morning

roast turkey or chicken

cinnamon buns

Sheeisback is it not boiling hot outside in your area?

Way back when Dad was building the addition on our house, he'd work nights and spend all morning through lunch working on the addition. He had to be at work by 3 so Mom would make him his big meal at lunch time and then pack a sandwich lunch for his supper. One day he was working outside and Mom was reheating leftover steak for him. For her lunch, she fried up some baloney. Well that must've been awfully good smelling as when he came in for lunch and found out he had steak, he was soooo disappointed!

Thanksgiving.

Bread baking

Cinnamon rolls

Brownies

Cake

I think probably coffee.

Bread rising

Bread baking

Granola baking

My Morroccan Chicken the chicken is rubbed with Coriander, Cumin, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cayenne, and salt and pepper, then browned, then braised with tomatoes and apricots. Oh My!

Pork and sauerkraut! When I was young and walked home from school, I could smell it as I came down the street. I was soooo hoping that it was coming from MY house!

My homemade red chile (sauce) and/or enchiladas covered in it

Green chiles being roasted in roadside stands during our Autumn months out here.

Bacon frying and coffee brewing in the mornings

Apple pie

Biscochitos baking in the oven during the Christmas Season (they're our beloved, delicious state cookie and smell of cinnamon and anise)

Every part of our Thanksgiving dinner!

Winter Spiced Molten Lava Cakes. I got the recipe from Bon Appitit Magazine years ago and it is incredible: warm, rich dark chocolate, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, coriander, cloves and rum.

It's not my favorite, but it immediately came to mind: The cinnamon rolls baking when you enter IKEA.

At home, I'm the main cook and so don't really notice smells much. Growing up, it was pot roast.

Grapefruit, pork and sauerkraut... yum! Haven't had that in years.

Cinnamon. In anything. Close second is vanilla. I love the smell in the bottle and any food with it heavily flavored with it such as a vanilla custard. Coffee. Bread baking. Sautéed onions. roast chicken.

Errant, I'm with you 100%. No food smells in body lotions or soap for me. I can almost handle citrus or herbal, but no berry, coconut, vanilla.

So funny, Annie mentioned the smell of chocolate in Hershey. I blame that smell for the fact that I don't like chocolate. I did NOT like the smell!

I don't like the smell of bacon either.. but coffee? mmmmm yes!

I think the smell of a roasting chicken is one of my favorites.. also the smell of curry!

Sauteed brussel sprouts w/garlic!

Making spaghetti sauce now...

OMG!!!. This thread is sooooo dangerous to read, now I'm hungry too!.

Have to agree, roast chicken is wonderful to smell especially with baking potatoes. Roast and brown potatoes with onion soup mix, any harvest smell like apple cinnamon, hot bread, meatloaf, popcorn and sugar cookies. I also love the smell of puppies breath, my mother's tabu perfume and Jergen's hand lotion; Bath and Body Satsuma orange.

Coming home to:

Fresh bread in the bread machine and Stew in the crockpot. The aroma enhanced by my not having to make it NOW (already did) or clean up much (already did).

The holy trinity: simmering onions. bell pepper, and celery. Something good is always going to result.

Rose - Yes, is it. The humidity was about suffocating today, but roast chicken was calling my name. It was very good. We're grilling tomorrow night!

I like chocolate, but would probably stop eating it if I lived right in Hershey. I like bacon but not so much the smell. I don't drink coffee. Sometimes I find the smell homey/nostalgic and other times not so much. I don't know what the deal is there.

The smell of a roast is high up on my list too. Popcorn, baked goods, someone else cooking - ha! I could really eat a chocolate mug cake now and I'm out of cocoa. Boo. I love baked breads, rolls, etc. So much that it's rare I'll make them as I allow my self control to jump out the window.

I think the only candles I own are ones that smell like baked goods or fall into that 'autumn scent' category.

sauerbraten! :)

LisaD, grapefruit has a fragrance? I've never really noticed...I've noticed oranges and limes and lemons, but never grapefruit...I'll have to pay attention next time....

Like Lisad, I'm the cook so I don't always notice the cooking smells but my husband will walk in and says wow the house smells so good.

I'll second her that grapefruit aroma is very nice. I use a grapefruit dish soap. I love fresh, squeezed lemon but anything with an added lemon scent (dish soap, lotions) smells cheap and institutional to me.

Basil. Vanilla. Cinnamon. Love coffee aroma but don't drink it. I forbid the cooking of bacon in either of my homes because I detest the lingering stench. My favorite Sicilian pizza. Watermelon (again, only the real thing not the gross fake smell). A glass of Sauvignon blanc.

I would probably have to go with apple pie. I make a dutch apple pie.

Coffee brewing, roast beef and pot roast, my homemade spaghetti sauce simmering, baking bread, onions and peppers frying, and meat on the grill.

Oh yeah, there's something special about the smell on my hands after kneading a yeast dough...it's a very cozy smell.

All of the above? ;) I like to cook, but baking is my favorite food related past-time. It would be hard to choose one aroma, because I love herbs and spices (except for cilantro--blecch), but nutmeg is one of my favorites, and an ingredient in one of my favorite cookies, Zimsterne. Vanilla is way up there, too.

For savory aromas--sauteed onions, celery, and carrots, which are the basis of almost all the soups I make. Oh, and potato chips--there is nothing about potato chips that I don't like, even though I sometimes go for months without eating them.

Banana bread - reminds me of my grandmother's home.

Oh, Annie, I was responding to Grapefruit1_ar's post above about pork and sauerkraut! Apologize for the confusion.

But like Hhireno, I do like the scent of grapefruit. Someone posted a thread a week or so ago about a Florida company that makes lotions and sea salts and one of the scents was grapefruit... I keep meaning to order some.

ETA link to thread mentioned above.

Bacon

Lynn, I had to go find that recipe for the Winter Cakes. It sounds scrumptious!

Anything Italian

Bread

Fresh coffee when I wake up! That is the best. I usually make it so it is a huge treat to wake up to someone else already having made it! It is the little things...

Errant: you won't be disappointed. And it's easy to make. Don't forget the ice cream they recommend making with it. Perfection, and again, simple to make.

Freshly ground coffee. I love when someone grinds their beans in the store. As mentioned, vanilla extract. Peach Schnapps -- well, I love the aroma of peaches.

An orange.

The aroma of garlic browning in olive oil is one of my favorites and leads to browning meatballs and simmering meat sauce.

Baking

Apple pie

Pastry

Brownies

Cookies

Breads

Anything with vanilla or lemon or cinnamon.

I made a pot of beans the other day, full of bacon and onions. I had forgotten how amazing they smell. They fill the entire house and make my mouth water!

Reminds me of when I was young and my mom had a pot of beans on the stove all day long. Heavenly!