Stew in a Jar

I am currently experimenting with stews in jars from our nice local French deli. When I had horrible flu Alistair bought the cassoulet in a jar which was fantastic. Cassoulet has a bit of everything....duck, sausage, white beans in a yummy, gloopy and I fear fatty base. This week I got the Coq au Vin in a jar which I am currently heating on the hob. Should I progress to try tins? I have a fear of tins but perhaps worth it if I can find anything interesting in a tinned format? From my childhood I fondly remember tinned foods....Fray Bentos pies, ravioli, spaghetti rings, corned beef and condensed milk. Is the tin a victim of food snobbery perhaps?

French cookery bender

To try and expunge the horror of my gruesome First Aid Training from my head, this weekend is devoted to a French Cookery Bender. Sat dinner: lettuce with french dressing and walnuts, steak with bearnaise sauce and chips, pears in butterscotch sauce. Apart from spraying bearnaise sauce over myself as I stirred crazily on the hob and waking up in the night trying to remember how much butter I'd eaten in it, totally excellent. Today: pistachio macaroons, chocolate pots, chicken in cider. Chocolate pots is the easiest ever. Melt dark choc in same amount double cream, put in ramekins, put in fridge. This one had orange in and tastes (surprise?) like Terry's chocolate orange. Which is basically good. I don't know how the French stay thin though, it's not the healthiest food in the world......

Feed blokes and get them to cook...

This may seem a bit un-PC but seeing as I'm married and all that. The thorny question...what do blokes like to eat and how can you get them to make stuff? Answer 1: red meat. Steaks with frites and any French food seems to go down well. Any pudding involving custard, preferably the kind with real cream and eggs. A big no from my bloke to veggie food, vegetables generally and anything low-cal (unless stealthily presented). Answer 2: Buy him The Len Deighton Action Cookbook. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Action-Cook-Book-Len-Deighton/dp/0007305877 It's by a thriller writer, it has a gun on the cover (on my edition although the others are also seriously kitsch retro-cool), features top advice on wine, parties, cigars and how to make proper French food. I gained interest in it btw after seeing Michael Caine's famous shopping and cooking scene in The Ipcress File, by Len Deighton. You could also try the excellent Hairy Bikers cookbooks for the more adventurous...