The Forbidden Foods

(I thought I had set this to post yesterday, but apparently I set it for mid-November... Oops. We'll consider this a bonus, and I'll be back to my every-other-day postings tomorrow.)

Christopher is travelling at the moment, which means that I have the house to myself. (Well, the pup and I have the house to ourselves, technically.) It's kind of weird, if I'm being honest. And it's not just because every evening the pooch sits and stares toward the kitchen door, sure that he should be coming in at any moment.

Based on past experience, I know that we both take a little while to adjust when he's not here. The first few days are the ones when you do kind of expect him to be showing up at any moment. Then there are the days when you're kind of used to it. Then, in the final few days, the countdown begins in earnest.

I'm not going to lie, though. There are also some perks. I get to watch whatever I want whenever I want. I can be as tidy or as messy as I feel like being. And - the big one - I can eat things that Christopher would never ever ever eat.

Let's face it: We all have foods that turn our stomachs. Things that taste, smell, or even just look so nasty to us that we won't touch them. I can't do any of he raw sushis, because of the texture. I like smoked sausage (the "ring bologna" kind), but really can't deal with the way the house smells after it has been cooked, so Christopher makes that when I'm not here - and uses the kitchen fan on high. And Christopher can't stomach the smell of any kind of canned meat - especially canned tuna.

Of course, the smell of canned tuna is pretty pervasive. Since it's not something that I fry up, the kitchen fan doesn't really help get rid of it. It sort of lingers for a day most of the time. So I pretty much avoid it - unless he's gone for more than a day.

Which means - you guessed it - there are currently multiple cans of tuna in the house just waiting to be used. Tuna salad sandwiches. Tuna melts. And - my all-time favorite - pasta with tuna and Swiss cheese and Dijon mustard and mayo (something I started cooking myself for dinners when I lived in France and had no money).

I won't be having these every night while he's gone. (In fact, he's been gone for 3 dinners and I haven't had them at all, yet.) But while he's gone and I have to try to fill the void in the house, I'm definitely going to be filling some of it with tuna.