Bread pudding, Tiger Balm and other favorite smells

The other day I got up early and felt inspired to bake. (I think I was having a tough week.) So I rounded up the ingredients to make one of my favorite desserts, bread pudding.

Here’s the thing: I actually like smelling bread pudding baking in the oven more than I like eating it. The combination of bread, butter and cinnamon baking is one of my favorites smells in the world. It’s comforting, it’s homey, it’s calorie-free.

And it got me thinking about how connected we are — at least emotionally — to scents.

There are smells that conjure up memories for me: Tokuhon patches, Tiger Balm, Christmas trees, mock orange blossoms, the ink from ditto machines (remember those?), carnation flowers, bread baking in the oven, Irish Spring soap, Drakkar and that smell in the air at Liberty House.

Then there are smells I just love: lemon, roasted garlic, coffee (even though I don’t drink it), toasted marshmallows, sheets right out of the dryer and puppy breath. (Oh, I can’t tell you how much I love that!)

Try as companies might, but you just can’t bottle up these nostalgic smells. Some — like philosophy’s Cinnamon Buns 3-in-1 body wash — come close. But you just can’t perfectly recreate these olfactory sensations.

So what are your favorite smells? Share them here!

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To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at cat@nonstophonolulu.com.