winter

For dinner tonight, consider the noodle bowl. Whether you go in delicately with chopsticks and loud slurping, as is tradition, or insist upon winding noodles onto a fork no matter how they protest — few meals are as comforting, filling and easy to pull off. While a couple of these dishes err on the side of "harder to make, but therefore more awesome," you're not going to turn your nose up at a Voltaggio-penned ramen recipe, are you? 

Food festivals have certainly come a long way in the past couple of years. No longer are they sparsely attended fringe events popping up in hotel ballrooms. Festivals have become star-studded affairs, complete with heady promises of once-in-a-lifetime meals and coveted VIP ticket packages. Food Republic is here to point you towards the most exciting upcoming festivals of the new calendar year — in the United States and overseas.

There's a time to eat healthy, to count calories and increase your vegetable intake and all that. That time is coming soon enough. Actually, next week, for many of us start-the-year-righters. But for now, we want Swedish meatballs,  enchiladas, fried chicken — truly savory dishes that hit the spot. Here are 32 recipes for uncomplicated, surefire comfort food that will get you through these last few days of 2012.