CABIN FEVER , FOOD & FRIGID TEMPS

 

With all the bad weather, and the pandemic bearing down on us. I have been spending more and more time here at home, probably like most of you. I have a million things I should be doing but I’m finding myself not doing much of anything.  Just watching TV, reading books, listening to music and the like. However, the big news is... I’m back in the kitchen cooking again. After years of eating out at restaurants more often than not, the pandemic, and now weather has grounded me. I haven’t eaten out in a restaurant since early in January 2020, over a year ago.  I really MISS it.  At first,  the novelty of not doing it, was kind of interesting. Something NEW to wrap my head around. We experimented with carryout from our favorite places. Long lines, and food that didn’t hold it’s heat by the time it got home, threw a wrench in our dining escapades. Frustrated,  I then opted, at my husband’s suggestion to buy frozen entrees. Not the cheap ones. But the more gourmet and healthy ones. It took gentle persuasion for me to cave to this pressure. But I did. And, at first I was delighted to enjoy a variety of different cuisines, with little if any effort. Unfortunately, the refrigerator is smaller than normal, which meant our freezer is too. Therefore, our inventory evaporated quickly and I found myself going to the grocery store every few days to restock the frozen dinners, at a time when I needed to stay home, to avoid germs and the virus. So, that gradually faded as our food option. For our 'milestone' anniversary, back at the beginning of July last year, my hubby bought lobsters, flown in from the East Coast. It was a major expense and being on Social Security alone, he shouldn’t have splurged. But there was an added bonus. Besides the 2 whole lobsters… part of the deal… was an additional 6 lobster tails. And a dozen soft shell crabs. Something to look forward to. So… I stuck them up in the freezer for future use, taking up valuable real estate, there. Then for the holidays… my mom sent us a box of frozen steaks, chicken, pork, potatoes and apple tarts from Omaha. I took everything out of the boxes, labeled them and put them up in the space now devoid of frozen entrees. The following week, I saw… Buy one, get one FREE… lamb chops, langostinos, mussels and frozen veggies. (usually we do fresh, but they were on sale)  Also there was raspberry sorbet and my hubby’s favorite, cookies & cream ice cream for a bargain too. The freezer was now overstuffed and the door needed coaxing to shut tight. With all the ingredients in place… I rediscovered my culinary roots… cooking up a storm for breakfast and dinner, weeks on end. And my hubby pitched in… with his spontaneous recipes too. It’s been FUN. But, it’s NOW getting old.  Silverware, dishes and cookware need cleaning. Stoves and ovens need scrubbing and quite frankly, after months of following the rules, and avoiding crowds as much as possible during ALL of 2020… I want to go out to dinner for Valentines Day, this year. My hubby has put his foot down and said absolutely not. He got his first dose of the vaccine about 3 weeks ago and goes for his 2^nd dose soon. I’m not eligible yet, for my 'Ouchie from Fauci'. So that’s that. No restaurant. The temps have plummeted. It was 9 degrees during the day, and damn near 3 at night. The ice was so thick on our windshield, we couldn’t melt it. And the driveway… full of more snow than we can shovel. When the roads are bad, we do not drive on them. So, STAYING put is the NEW going out. And I’m just going to have to make PEACE with it. (Even with a year of this, already behind us.)  Let’s hope we’ll be looking in the rearview mirror at this pandemic in 2022. How about you? Are you getting ANTSY? Or have you been coming and going like usual, despite, the pandemic and weather? CABIN FEVER is reeling it’s ugly head for me. And I might be forced by circumstance to EAT that entire container of sorbet before the day is through. But maybe I’ll settle for a cup of hot tea, instead,  and enjoy the view.