Thirds?

Thirds.

I've had a portion. It was good enough that I had another. But wait - it is good enough that I need to go back and have one more portion. 

Despite girth-like evidence to the contrary, this doesn't happen to me very often - but it did the other night when we had the Moroccan Chickpea Stew. It was so delicious and wonderfully spiced and so ... approachable... I simply couldn't resist it. 

As I slowly cleaned up my last bowlful, I was reminded of Teresa Lust's wonderful book Pass the Polenta where she describes the phenomenon of "thirds" while relating her grandmother observing her father learn about polenta: 

In her experience, if a guest ate only seconds, he had done so merely to be polite. The meal was not so bad that he would refuse a second taste, but perhaps not so well prepared that he would lose sight of manners. The genuine culinary triumph came when a guest succumbed to the flavorful temptations on the table before him and dove in with abandon for a third helping.  

I succumbed BIG TIME!!