Consolation

Here’s the Moroccan-spice-crusted leg of lamb I cooked for Passover/Easter/Bunnyday, served with a saffron rice pilaf and fresh artichokes with a saffron dipping sauce.  (The Moroccan spices on the lamb had saffron too, so thanks to the wonderful Patricia Rogers for dropping that saffron on me.)

It is small consolation that in our Fortress of Solitude we get to cook this sort of thing for ourselves, but we’ll take what consolation we can.  Kathy made chicken cacciatore the other night, and right now I’m cooking beef brisket sous vide for 72 hours, to appear as BBQ on Saturday night.

We’ve had seafood quiche, spiral ham, pork tenderloin, omelettes made with fresh eggs bought from a neighbor, breakfast burritos, and Finnish pancakes.  We’re emptying out our garage freezer, and I don’t put cheap food in the freezer.

The weird thing is that I’m losing weight.  Even though our dishes aren’t all low in calories, they’re cooked properly and without all the butter and other fats slathered on food in restaurants, then served with high-carb sides.  Normally I eat in restaurants a lot.   Now I don’t.

I may have to get used to not eating in restaurants, because I doubt that many local restaurants will survive the epidemic.  The only places left will be chain restaurants, and most of those serve homogenized bland food I don’t care to eat.

I’m really missing New Mexican food.  I never learned to cook it because it was always cheap and available.   I’ll call around and see if anyone’s doing takeaway, and just hope for the best.

In the meantime I’ll take what gastric consolation I may.