I feel like it has been a long time coming. Thanks to good friends like Benedict, who challenged my bland food preferences through humiliation, friends like Phil and Daniel who would always go with me to the classy and expensive wine/cheese or vegan restaurants I wanted to try, and for being on a volleyball team where you really just had to eat what you were given, my palate began to expand to include tastes like spices and exotic types of cuisines. I literally only ate bread, hot dogs, burgers and ketchup for a good long time: it really is safe to say that including spice was a big move. Honestly, I think a lot of this had to do with becoming a vegetarian, too. To me, blindly trying a bunch of different vegetables and spices seemed a lot safer than meat. Can you blame me?

Now, I am finally at the point of trying EVERYTHING. Yes, everyone, I am no longer a vegetarian. I still don’t cook meat or fish for myself, but if I am being served a meal, I will not refuse to try the cuisine. I just love food too much. The people in France obviously support this decision—here, the meat is “good, fresh and healthy”, but they understand why I would be a vegetarian in the States. Since this decision (or even before my decision became official) I’ve had chicken, some delicious sort of fish in Toulouse, scallops (not scallions as previously posted), chicken, and duck. I’m soon to have foie gras, if my friends have their way—this still really weirds me out, though. Regardless, my self-identification as a foodie has grown to new levels, just as my ability to talk about food and wine. YUM.

The effort I have put into preparing my own meals has also increased. This is due partly to all the free time I have only working twelve/fifteen hour weeks, and because one of my goals for this year was to become competent in the kitchen. My focus right now is soups. I’ve begun to break in my immersion blender with a delicious mushroom soup I made last week, and a zucchini soup I’m eating throughout this week. I actually made a presentation for myself before I first ate it. New levels of awesome.

I still mainly stick with my go-to stew of veggies like eggplant, red pepper, onion, mushrooms and tomato with either beans, lentils or pasta; but now, I’m starting to experiment with spices and different combinations of ingredients. Who knows? By the time I return I may be able to whip up nearly anything…except for meat. Perhaps.