Marie Antoinette is credited, perhaps erroneously, with suggesting that if the starving peasants had no bread they should eat cake instead. Since we’re trying to use up all of the remaining food in our house these days there’s neither bread nor cake left but there’s still plenty of meat. You can have steaks of many varieties and thicknesses, chops, a roast, ham slices, salmon fillets, chicken breasts, and even an 18-pound turkey. No carbs, just all protein ready for a quick weight loss diet. Bring on the bacon!

In the photo you can see the now-empty freezer where all of these and a couple hundred pounds more like it were stored. Everything’s been jammed into the fridge/freezer where pulling out each night’s delight has become a challenge. Actually this ability to binge fits in nicely with the big change that will come about next month. With the thrice-weekly market in Carcassonne’s main square being within walking distance of the house, we anticipate that most meals will revolve around fresh fruits and vegetables that are in-season and harvested from nearby farms. We’ll use meat more as a treat rather than the main attraction. No worries about feeding the carnivores. This morning I saw online a 44-page sale catalog from supermarket chain Lidl (similar to Aldi) entitled “Meat Fair”.

Even Heather is in for a change. Currently Bill grills chicken breasts, cuts them into tiny bite size pieces, and liberally sprinkles them on a pampered dog’s dinner. To give you an idea of price differences, that grocery store rotisserie chicken you might buy here for 5 or 6 dollars, is twice the price over there. Who’s ready to go vegan?