I feel that I owe an apology to an entire culture. I exaggerated in an earlier post, giving the impression that Belgians eat a huge amount of fried foods, and that just isn't true. In fact, were I to generalize, I'd see they eat better than we do. One example is their soups--they eat a lot of good soups made from scratch. They rely a lot less on prepackaged foods and make most of their meals from scratch. Also, they have fewer preservatives in things that Americans cram them into, like breads. They still use the local bread store that makes its breads from healthy, fresh ingredients.

So please forgive me for misrepresenting Belgians. My weight gain had more to do with portions (it was my choice to stuff my face with that fresh bread), not with the way Belgians prepare their food.

Speaking of soups, it's lunchtime right now, and homemade soup sounds just about right.