Food food food

The sleeves are now attatched to the jacket, but I have not taken any pictures yet. More on this tomorrow!

In the meantime, food is today’s issue. This is partly inspired by Vox’s Question of the Day from a couple of days ago:
“What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?”
As some may know, I was the kind of child who couldn’t resist a dare. So, aside from various plants and bugs, my answer to that question would be one of the following:
1. A small stone
2. Pine bark
3. A raw fish heart
The pine bark was very dry and hard, but tasted somewhat interesting. I suspect the stone is still somewhere inside me – my appendix perhaps? The fish heart was truly disgusting, but luckily quite small.

The other part of today’s inspiration stems from Susan at Farmgirl Fare from some months ago:
How do you know you’re a foodie?
I am most definitely a foodie, as all my friends and family will testify to. This is my answer to that question:
I've had several "defining moments".
The first was when my friend pointed out that I hum while eating.
The next was when I discovered that, strangely, not all people sort their ingredients by what meal they belong to.
Most recently was a couple of days ago, when one of my colleagues (I work in a bookstore) told me excitedly that five gorgeous young men had arrived, wearing only aprons and tight boxer shorts, to promote a new cookbook. My response was: "Ooh, did they bring food?"
Everyone looked at me rather strangely.

Autumn makes me long for warm, hearty dishes like cassoulet, pasta carbonara, pea soup and meat pies. Mmmmmmmmm. I make a wicked cassoulet, if I say so myself, and I found a great recipe a couple of years ago (of course, I made a few changes). Unfortunately, it seems to have disappeared while I was moving house. I will try to dig it up and post it – it is really pretty easy. Naturally, there are some preparations to make, a lot of chopping and braising and peeling (orange zest), but once that is done, voila! The pan will simmer prettily for a couple of hours, and you can do something else. Like lay the table or take a bath or watch a movie. And it gets better if you make it a day in advance, cool it and reheat it. Great for dinner parties, or just for you. It freezes wonderfully as well.

If I can’t find it, I’ll have to try and reconstruct it. It really is good.

Hungry now? Then you are at least some kind of foodie…