Corona Thoughts and Musings
Well, Gentle Readers, these are hard times.
Last week was my official Spring Break. It started breaking down after Monday, what with college visits needing to be cancelled and restaurants closing. And now, like many of you, I am home.
Until I go to the grocery store. And stare at the empty shelves where flour and yeast used to be. Has everyone decided that in Hard Times, they must now bake their own bread??? "It's stress baking," said my friend Shelli. Which leads me to my next concern: The Coronoa 15. Some of us are walking our dogs for 2 hours a day, and some of us are eating like Hobbits and enjoying First Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevenses, etc.
Can I confess to you that one of my worries is that a year from now, two years from now, I'll be chatting with someone, and that someone will, with good, self-deprecating humor, tell me that she totally bought ALL the flour and ALL the toilet paper, and that I will then physically strike that person, maybe even near her face?
I said as much to Friend Shelli, and her considered opinion is that that won't happen: "No one will confess to the Hoard Shopping; it will be a private shame."
Here's an interesting food item I cannot find, not for love nor money. Tahini Paste. My cousin had given me a recipe to try,* and I wandered the aisles at Kroger for a good 10 minutes before the Kroger lady said, "Honey, we are probably sold out. People are buying all kinds of stuff they've never bought before."
Is that what's going on? Everyone is gathering 'round the stove top, exclaiming over Cooks Illustrated, and deciding it would be fun to finally, FINALLY, make their own hummus?**
So, in addition to Exotic Cooking*** and Stress Baking, there is reading. Gentle Reader, I am reading so much! However, this is also Lent, so I'm not buying myself anything new AND the libraries have closed, so I'm not reading anything new either. Rather, I'm reading books that have been gathering dust on my shelves for lo these many years. I mean, I'm glad to have something new-to-me to read, but I wonder why I bought a new book, in hardback, only to read it 9 years after publication.****
Also, Lesson Plans. Surely you have heard of Remote Learning. It's all the rage this week. Well, I'm doing it for my pre-schoolers. I know - it sounds a little ridiculous, like I'm trying to classify myself as Essential. But remember back to when you had a 3 year old. Imagine being trapped in the house with said 3 year old. I'm not suggesting my emailed curriculum will keep my 3 year olds "on track"; I'm really just trying to help my parents.
What else during this Home in the Time of Corona? Oh, right! Tea. I'm drinking copious amounts of tea.
And dunking digestive biscuits. Because those are still available on the shelves.
Take care,
* Here's the recipe, just in case you have Tahini Paste in your pantry at the ready: 1/2 cup of Tahini, juice of half a lemon, 1 Tbl of Maple Syrup. Mix it up. If it's too thick, add a little hot water. Pour it over a baked sweet potato, or a Buddha Bowl.
**Actually, that would be my husband. He found the last can of Tahini at a Randall's, paid a Randall's ridiculous sum for it, and now we have homemade hummus. It's soupy. We will purchase ready made hummus, hereafter.
***How's this for Exotic? Younger Son found a recipe for Meringue made from Chick Pea juice! Yes, for my vegan readers, that is a thing. Try it and let me know.
****ReaMdE by Neal Stephenson and A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
