Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Sunday, May 3rd, 2020

Cooking

Sunday, waking up to grey skies, but initially rain free, until about 11am, when a slight drizzle starts. For all of five minutes I contemplate whether or not it merits my taking the patio cushions inside and decide, no. Good choice as the drizzle abates and the day turns out to be beautiful and sunny for the afternoon. Enough to play lizard on the love seat in the garden; maybe my legs will get a tan.

I find the Japanese rose behaves like the Hydrangea – it has dead ends which need pruning. I also check on the bulbs I planted yesterday. Those where the voles lived are all doing well. The Hyacinthian I planted are partially upended. Maybe I do get deer visiting from the neighbor’s garden after all. I imagine to be seeing hoofprints. Any bulbs I find are duly buried again. Making a note to check on them again tomorrow. My garden is a great joy. I so love pottering around it. Anxiously waiting for the herbs and other plants I ordered to arrive - maybe next weekend.

Today is generally an uneventful, unexciting day. Mum is well, but still goes out somewhere every day. Unlike us. Our last outing was yesterday seeing after nine days the milk was finished. Yesterday we opted for Giant. Not a good choice. The veg and fruit section was well stocked, unlike the aisles with pasta, rice, cans, oil, sugar, flour and of course cleaning products. Almost no eggs and the meat section were about two thirds cleared out. Frozen vegetables, fruit and pastry have disappeared completely, making me wonder what the hell is going on? Seriously people, if you buy what you need for a week there will be enough for everyone.

Nonetheless, we got enough to last us for another ten or so days and given the discussion about a meat crisis a little extra for the freezer (that is like 4 steaks, not 50 pounds). I feel that at the end of this we will spend weeks eating frozen products…. So yes, a little bit of hoarding going on here too; albeit within limits. The ten cans of whatever will probably end up in some food bank as I enjoy not only cooking, but believe in fresh produce, which I will use as long as I can access it. I admit though the scaremongering does have an effect on me too as evidenced by my freezer.

Cooking is not only for nourishment (I have found that I have put on two kilos), but also entertainment. I will need to be more careful about ingredients though to abate the weight gain. Tried a new recipe today – veggie patties. Grated carrot and zucchini mixed with an egg, a little sour cream and parmesan baked for twenty minutes. Turned out to be a great accompaniment to the rainbow trout we grilled. So glad I still have plenty of Nar Eskili which I brought from Istanbul when we moved.

Seems like many Americans are rediscovering home cooked meals which seems to positively impact their diets. Research suggested people cooking their own meals tend to eat healthier. One of the reasons I cook everyday, even in none COVID times as I am reasonably anal about what I eat. While not a full keto / carb free diet, we do cut carbs out of our daily meals.

Over the years I have enjoyed Bannaluc’s novels. A common theme throughout (other than the crimes Commissaire Dupin solves) is the love for food. Well, now there is a cook book with the best recipes from Brittany. Given the hardcover comes at a hefty USD 79.99 I downloaded the kindle version. So, over the coming weeks I will try my hand on French cuisine. For all I know there will be enough time for elaborate dishes. If only I could do more by way of exercise.

Morning crunches are up from ten to forty. Same with squats. I still struggle with push-ups and planks though and knuckle push-ups are a real struggle, I do not seem to be able to move beyond ten. While I do continue to practice weight shifts and Ikkiyo, my sword work is sadly lacking. Also, I have given up on bike rides with EM, she is just too fast. I may just have to get over my inhibitions though as there is no way I will tolerate more weight gains.

The news today is a mixed bag. I continue to be amazed at what is considered acceptable in the greatest democracy of the world. Anyone bringing news the supreme leader dislikes seems to be fired. How can this be legal? What happened to checks and balances and accountability? How I wish….

Infections today are at 3.5 million worldwide, a significant part of new infections coming from the USA, where the death toll has exceeded 65k.

I just want to go to sleep and wake up to find all of this behind us.