Clearing up

Yesterday was chain saw day.  It was a good time to examine the yard and cut away the dead wood and useless understory - at least until the blade was too dull and needs sharpening.  My trouble with all gardening is that when you are done and the debris is neatly cleared away, the area looks as if it always looked that way and nothing has been done.

I've been doing some of the same in the house.  Looking at the pantry, I wonder what anardana (dried pomegranate seeds), mace, star anise, and cardamom pods were ever used for?  Will I ever use brown rice flour or 1/2 a pack of old ladyfingers again?  I'd hate to throw them away and then have to buy them again.  So the cooking and baking is getting a little more inspired, in an attempt to use these old odd ingredients in various recipes over the last month - red wine vinegar (marinated pork roast), bay leaves (creamy chicken potato soup which didn't call for bay leaf but I used it anyway), smoked paprika (patatas bravas), pickled okra (cuban chicken rice bake).  Baking now seems to use up common ingredients which you can no longer find in the stores - raisins, chocolate chips, flour, sugar.  So I've tried to make more unusual (if less successful) desserts like Carrot Banana Ginger cake with yogurt and honey frosting.  I think the frosting was worth it.
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tbsp honey
2 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup of hazelnuts (optional)
cinnamon to taste

Have you been using any unusual ingredients lately?  What has coronavirus lockdown caused you to uncover in your house or yard?

Losing focus

Mechanisms for coping with social isolation depend on personality.  This morning, I joined my first coronavirus zoom conference.  Strangely, it was a sing along with everyone but the guitarist on mute.  It made sense but still seemed somehow even more remote.  I've also joined a 75+ member mask sewing brigade.  It's good to feel useful and imagine that I'm part of something larger.  Perhaps we'll all get together for a group photo at some time in the future.  So far, I feel like an international spy - picking up my materials and instructions at a designated drop spot, wearing gloves to ward off polonium poisoning and a mask to hide my identity from surveillance.

A friend of mine has a teenage son, who wanted to connect with his friends so much that he wrote out several riddles, put one each in plastic easter eggs, and had his mom drive him around to his friends' houses so he could hide one in their lawn for a customized egg hunt.  The friends were supposed to solve the riddle and send him the answer in email.  So creative.

Another friend has started a series of facebook videos, in which she dresses up in a costume and presents a one minute message of the day.  These are everything from political jokes, to a new food pyramid featuring Oreos and snacks, to destroying a dollhouse with her crinoline skirt.  Crazy.  Oh, and a matzoh headband - I don't know what it was either, you had to see it.

Continuing on to our topic of food - I tried a seldom used scone recipe this morning.  They turned out edible, luckily, after I had to rescue the dough from 2 major baking mistakes.  I think I'm starting to lose focus.

How has your cooking been going lately?  Any disasters or successes?

Another Wednesday with no potluck

As I found myself standing over my dresser organizing my earrings yesterday, I decided that lack of social activity is really taking its toll.  You'd think with all this cleaning, gardening, hiking, and mask sewing I've been doing to stay busy I'd feel like I'm getting in better shape but it doesn't seem that way.  Also I'm trying to resist the urge to comment excessively on social media.  Put the computer down - people still don't need everyone's 2 cents on everything.  A lot of social media is just to vent.

Which leads me to today's post.  I hadn't realized how much I enjoy eating anywhere but home.  It's fun to see somewhere else, try something else, be with someone elses.  Of late our version of changing it up for dinner is to eat leftovers, Bill reading a book (biography of DeGaulle) and me continuing to binge watch whichever series I'm on now (season 2 of Star Trek Discovery).  Perhaps it's time to arrange a picnic lunch out of the house.

What have you been doing to mix up your mealtimes?

Where have you ordered take out?

During social distancing, the kitchen seem to become the hub of activity.  There's no more meals packed to go, after hiking.  No more eating out sometimes.  Even those strange places where you order at a window and then eat at a table outside - the tables are packed up.  I'm guessing food trucks are also a thing of the past - too risky.

To help keep the local restaurants open, Bill and I are going to order take out sometimes.  Yesterday's pickup shows the real advantage of this.  Bill likes spicy Asian food but as you know, I'm not a fan. So we each ordered what we wanted from 2 restaurants across the parking lot from each other, to be done at 6pm.  It was great - curbside service from each.  I had shrimp provencal and vegetable tamale from Venable and Bill had spring roll, papaya salad, and curry from Thai Station.

Gotten any good take out lately?

Are you trying any new recipes this week?

Due to the quarantine, Bill and I are having to plan out our meals rather than be spontaneous each evening, deciding what to make or to go out in the afternoon.  Probably planning out the week is a better way to go on a regular basis, a good habit to start up.

This week, in addition to some of our usual fare, we're trying a new recipe for meatless lasagna.  I know someone made this as main course for at least one potluck but it's the first time either of us has tried it.  We'll freeze half the batch for later.  Here's a link to the recipe we're using.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/meatless-lasagna/

In other news, I'm glad to have found a way to be useful (besides weeding the garden).  Friends of ours have just been able to return from Europe and are in self-quarantine - the kind where the county health department calls them to make sure they are at home.  So we (or more likely I) am going to do their grocery shopping for them and drop it on their step.  I tried to set up shopping online (where you drive up and pick up your stuff) but all the slots for that with local stores is already full.  We wear gloves whenever we go anywhere now, which isn't much of anywhere at all anymore.

Hope all of you are well!

What was your last dining out experience before social distancing or self-quarantine?

Governor Cooper has closed all North Carolina dine-in restaurants as of Tuesday March 17 (St. Patrick's Day), 2020 at 5pm. Describe your last adventure eating out.

The last time Bill and I ate out was the previous evening - dinner at Elements. We closed it out in style. My kids were in town. You may have heard that my ex-husband died on Friday. Bill and I had just cancelled our wedding dance - and the kids had cancelled their tickets and plans to visit us in April. Suddenly, they had to travel and I was glad to get a visit. After helping Sky and Kevin clear David's apartment in Raleigh and attend to other details over the weekend, everyone was physically or mentally exhausted or both. The kids really wanted to take Bill and I out for dinner to celebrate our marriage before they left on Tuesday morning. It turned out to be excellent timing.

When we got to Elements, I apologized to the waiter for breathing their air.  It seemed we were very underdressed but were we so tired and the place was so empty, it didn't matter.  The waiter was just glad we came out to eat.  We were the only customers until later a couple sat at the bar area and 2 women at a table far away. We had the best table - the one surrounded by windows with dozens of orchids, and we got lots of attention. The waiter even told us it was ok for us to be loud. For some reason, we had been speaking quietly. So we started taking group photos, which didn't turn out too well - very amusing. As usual the food was terrific. I had the halibut special with mushroom risotto, asparagus, and some indescribable sauce. Bill and Sky both had bun cha - Bill's was pork and Sky's vegetarian with tofu. Kevin had the hot and sour soup - quite spicy. Sky ordered bread pudding dessert for the table. I think we couldn't have planned it better.
 
 To finish the story, both Sky and Kevin were able to return home on Tuesday morning. Trudeau's order closing the borders of Canada exempted US citizens for now. Kevin's flight had only 5 passengers and he said customs was a breeze.