Today is Thursday, April 2nd 2020

Wow!  What should I do with myself today?... let's see it's a week today, actually last Thursday, since I'd gone anywhere in my car....for some fresh veggies and my favorite sugarless coffee creamer.  I had watched Rachael Ray while getting ready to shower and she'd prepared " Pasta alla Norma with Lamb" which looked sooo interesting!  It incorporated all the ingredients I loved - eggplant, ground lamb and then, some other novelties for me and I was salivating.  I figured what the hell?!  Why not go for it????

Off to Safeway in Capitola at a non-prime time;  I walked in with my Sierra Club small cold bag over one arm and a reusable bag on the other and gloves, ignoring the shopping carts and any shoppers from a distance.  I desperately needed my Lucerne sugarless French Vanilla and Hazelnut creamers for morning coffee and some fresh veggies and other items for the sauce.  I perused any aisle with no one in it.  Lo and behold, organic eggplant, organic grass fed lamb and salad makings were available but not dried Fusilli con Buco, sweet vermouth, organic cherry tomatoes, tomato passata, or Calabrian chili paste. So, after unloading all my items on the counter and repacking my own bags;  I was off in pursuit of my missing items.... next stop, Deluxe market in my hood... the purveyor of all things Italian...  there I found everything BUT Calabrian chili paste... thankfully, Rachael had suggested substitutions.  I got home about 3:30 and decided to get to it!

Cooking has always been solace for me... only, I'm always wanting to have company so that, the food prepared with love is shared with family and friends....  Covid 19 had reared its ugly head and that wouldn't be possible the normal way.  No, not now... so, I ate my delicious dinner accompanied by a fine Zin and the TV in my bar and planned.  There was way too much sauce and no way would it freeze and besides, I really wanted to share it.  What to do?  I called my neighbors and said I had made their dinner for Friday evening ... turns out both homes ended up with several dinners... per usual, I had made a lot of food and most peeps love leftovers.  How to share?  Well, each party brought a container and I filled it with pasta and this fabulous sauce and I was able to share, albeit awkwardly... I revelled in the praise the next day for my 'shared' gourmet meal.  We'll all get better at it as we proceed in this new world and its many constraints.

This past week has been very interesting... I'm learning that escape doesn't always do it for me.  I've read 4 books in the past few days and finally, figured out who to contact for help with my blog.  You see, that's the stuff my honey always took care of.  Turns out, GoDaddy was able to redirect my domain names to my blog and I've spent a little time editing my profile and now, finally I'm up and writing...

Stay tuned....