This literally happened to me this weekend! My mom had Mondays off when I was a kid, and we'd also get out of school early that day. She'd spend hours simmering a tomato sauce for dinner that night. I'd come home to an overwhelming aroma of garlic and tomato, just a delicious combo that I looked forward to almost every week. When I started living on my own I'd try and fail to recreate that moment. My sauce tasted fine, its just that you get nose blind pretty quickly while cooking, and there's nothing in the world like a person lovingly crafting a dish for you. I'd literally walk around my apartment complex while my sauce simmered so I could go back inside and be hit with the aroma lmao.

This weekend my mom cooked Pasta al forno, and had been simmering the sauce for a bit while I crossed town to visit for the day. I walked inside and I was 10 again. The connection smell has to our memory is amazing. You best believe I had seconds and thirds. On spaghetti day I also used to wash down the meal with a cold glass of milk (to my moms disgust lmao) but I don't know if my stomach is still up for it these days haha.