Day 8: Food, drink, cocktail recipes
On Wednesday, I asked you what food and drink habits you’ve developed during quarantine and got so many great responses. Thanks to everyone who wrote in.
A new prompt for Monday, otherwise known as Day 5: Have you witnessed a little moment or artifact or interaction in all this that made you smile? What was it? Hit reply or send your story to hi@lauraolin.com.
For me, it’s the homemade drawings of rainbows kids around Brooklyn have been putting in their windows to show their friends and classmates they’re all still connected even while apart. The two kids who live below us made a giant chalk rainbow in the courtyard downstairs and we can still see it, if faded a bit, after some rain.
Read on for lots of food inspiration, starting with Kate A.’s prairie food:
My partner is high risk due to cancer surgery in January so we have not left our apartment in a month. The food delivery slots with Fresh Direct etc are impossible to obtain, but thankfully we managed to get a delivery from a local farmer at the greenmarket. Now we are eating what the farm brings us---carrots, potatoes, onions, green garlic, and buffalo meat. We feel very "Little House on the Prairie." We made buffalo stew next weekend; next up is buffalo meatballs.
Grace Y. has started a weekly baking challenge with two friends:
We call it #fuckitletsbake and each week has a theme. So far we've done fruit (blueberry graham cracker galette - a reminder that if you fall apart as this crust does, just pinch yourself back together), chocolate (Ina Garten's Beatty's chocolate cake), and caramel (Caramel apple clafoutis). I think next week is cheesecake.
Claire R.:
There is a bar on my block (The Double Windsor on the border of Windsor Terrace and South Slope in Brooklyn) that is still serving canned beer out of their window. They also have food to order, will fill growlers with what’s left of their draft beer, and they’ve started selling a cocktail of the day! Last Sunday the drink was a margarita. My friend was working the window all day and said they were sold out of the first batch by 1:30pm (they open at noon), and by the time I stopped by at 7pm the second batch (which used the remainder of the tequila) had also been gone for a few hours. We decided that we were proud of the neighborhood for unapologetically drinking so many margaritas. Drink on, Windsor Terrace!
I’ll add my own Brooklyn tip: Gold Star, on Sterling in Prospect Heights, has been doing this too!
Raf N.:
Before The Quarantine™, I couldn’t really cook…which for a man in his 40s, is really quite embarrassing. Basically, it boiled down to fear and anxiety; but when I started quarantining at the beginning of March, I realized I had no choice: I had to teach myself, and this was as good a chance as I’d ever get. It’s been a month, and I’ve cooked every single meal I’ve eaten this month. The latest was a chili I made with turkey, ham, beef, field peas, snaps, tomatoes, and mushrooms.
Yvie J.:
This week I'm doing a meal exchange with friends who are also sick of their own quarantine cooking, our version of 'eating out." And tonight I'm making beef stew for the first time ever and I don't even know who I am anymore. :)
Samantha D.:
My friends and I were talking about this yesterday--for a few reasons, we've found ourselves reverting to food from our childhoods. I think partially because I haven't had to provide lunch for myself in many years (thank you, working at a school that provides lunch for faculty and staff) so I'm falling back on old habits and also because all I want these days is comfort food. Comfort in the blandest sense of the word--usually spicy, bitter, salty things are my jam, but today all I want is peanut butter on bananas and to run olives and mozzarella on bread through the toaster oven. As we were talking I found this article; I live in Brazil now so I don't have access to Velveeta mac and cheese or Gushers, but if I did bet your bottom dollar I would be eating both with a shovel. Also, right before this all went down my boyfriend and I were in Buenos Aires, where I fell in love with the refreshing and low-alcohol combination of Cynar and tonic. Drop a lemon peel or castelvetrano olive in there and ::chef's kiss::
T.:
One of my kids rediscovered Nilla wafers a few months ago; I got a couple of boxes in my last pre-isolation shop a few weeks ago, but they ran out quickly. I finally had to go into a grocery store again over the weekend, and they had Nilla wafers! I bought three boxes. I can’t think of any other food that is as simple and satisfying. Maybe this is a transparent return-to-childhood thing, but they make me (and my dog, who thinks he should get at least half of every cookie) very happy.
You're a genius, Alicia H.:
My partner is really the person who feeds me. But! My addition is not only doing the whipped coffee, but adding bourbon.
Erin T. shared some cocktail recipes, including a new recent favorite, the Boulevardier:
Recipe:
2 oz. bourbon or rye
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth, such as Carpano Antica
A strip of lemon or orange zest, for garnish
Fill a mixing glass with ice. Pour ingredients over ice and stir together. Strain into a martini glass or coupe, or into a rocks glass with ice. Twist the citrus zest over the drink, then drop it in.
Sara M:
I've been playing with sourdough since last Fall and so have been trying every sourdough recipe I can find. From discard crackers to sourdough banana bread to pizza crust, focaccia, and cinnamon muffins. Finding the ones I like, feeling OK about the flops. My family likes being the recipient of so many baking experiments. And I quit drinking in early March so this is a good way for me to keep myself occupied at night when I would usually decompress with a cocktail. Also, trying decaf teas at night for a treat if anyone has any recommendations for their faves!
Mica M.:
seemingly overnight I am a popcorn addict. I buy the natural, plain popcorn and coat it in olive oil, nutritional yeast, and a random spice mix a friend gave me before she moved. I'll eat a bag for dinner when I'm tired of all my other cooking and it is heaven. I'm also buying bags of sweet and salty popcorn to snack on after lunch. Not sure what's happened here, but viva the COVID popcorn!
Clare B.:
I made polenta for I think the second time in my life, using corn meal I'd had in my cabinet for literally years and a recipe from who knows where that I saved in my Gmail drafts in 2012. It came out great! I'm going to make it all the time now. The recipe is as follows: Four cups of water, a cup of polenta and a lump of butter. Boil over medium heat for 10 minutes as it bubbles like Satan’s private hot tub. Then bring down the flame as low as it goes. An hour later, stir in salt, a spoonful of olive oil and three-quarters of a cup of grated cheese. (I covered it when I brought down the flame because assumed that was called for.)
Deepa N.:
I knew what whipped coffee was even before I clicked the link! It was a staple of my college days in India in the 90s. There weren’t any trendy coffee shops back then, no Starbucks, no lattes, and this was a way to make cheap Nescafé seem glamorous.
I’d never had it before a college roommate introduced me to it. Growing up, my mom roasted and ground coffee beans at home, and brewed filter coffee in the traditional metal container to make a strong “decoction.” This was diluted with milk and sugar and served in a davara tumbler. My Tamil parents were coffee purists and sneered at instant coffee though they occasionally drank tea. I’m a tea purist too, chastising anyone who refers to a tisane as “tea.” To be tea, it must come from Camellia Sinensis, no exceptions.
Katy K.:
I've started growing trays of microgreens by the window downstairs. It's still cold in Maine, so we can't garden properly yet, but we can start seeds inside. I bought a cheap growlight and my husband put the seeds into a plastic spice container (I think it once held red chili flakes). We sprinkle the seeds over a huge plate full of wet soil, and they grow, miraculously, into edible tiny greens. They grow so fast; you can practically watch it happen. It creates this yellow-green mist on top of the potting dirt. We use kitchen sheers to harvest them (though I do wish I had a tiny scythe to mow my tiny field) and I put them on top of everything. Tacos, buttered peas, the viral Alison Roman Stew, sandwiches, mac n cheese, etc etc. I doubt they have any real nutritional value, but it feels good to grow a small thing and eat something green.
Remember to share your stories and thoughts to hi@lauraolin.com, and have a good weekend. Maybe eat some popcorn. 🌸