hello! long time no see everyone! as you may have guessed – restaurant reviews are certainly not happening – but home cooking is. as if y’all need *yet another* think piece – I shared some thoughts in part 1 and some #sick pics in part 2. skip to part 2 for the fun stuff. also i’m doing my part to #revitalize the economy by spending my stimulus check on a domain name lol. i’m cool now!

part 1: #mushy – skip if you want!

the coronavirus pandemic has been devastating and deadly. i am so sad for all the people who have lost their lives due to this virus – for the families who cared for them and the first responders who fight to keep them alive. it has permeated every aspect of our daily life – and has personally made me so grateful for the health of my friends, family, colleagues, and community.

it has also had a massive impact on our view of food. the looming cloud of food scarcity has caused mass panic – disrupting our food supply chains, food availability, and our sense of security. when we can’t access the things that were once so reliably there for us – eggs, flour, toilet paper – we feel that our foundation is slipping away.

so many of us have vastly different personal relationships with food. there are fruits and vegetables we have aversions to, meals that bring us great comfort and fond memories, and plates that we have been conditioned to feel guilty for indulging in.

i am not here to preach at you about what you should be eating – healthy or unhealthy. i’m certainly will not tell you that you should work out every day to burn it off. i am not a “recipe developer” or a lifestyle influencer and i have no sponsored brands to tell you about. 1. i’m not cool enough for that and 2. screw that.

i just want you all to know: quarantine free time does not need to force you to be a ~gourmet~ chef or to make a sourdough starter – not if you don’t want to. only have 3/4 of the ingredients for a recipe? screw it! try it out! its never gonna look as perfect as the bon appetit picture anyways. take stock of things you do have and build a meal off of that – not off of what anyone else is doing. what i am trying to say – is do whatever you f*cking want to do! let food make you happy and keep you healthy.

a fun aside: on one of many zoom calls, my college friends did a #subtle roast of each one of our group, the types of people during quarantine, “choose your character” style. who was I? the “I’m going to get so many things done!” the very apt description was, “After food blog industry collapse, pivots to publishing recipes that include her entire life story before the actual recipe at the bottom of the page.” so, i’ll shut up now.

lets get on with it. 🙂

part 2: fun pics!

here are some fun recipes i’ve tried over weeks 1-5 (yikes!) of quarantine.

anyways. hope some of my quarantine cooking adventures can inspire you to feel empower to cook fun things! i’ll try to share some more of what i’ve been making. hope everyone stays home and safe!

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