Just my buddy Jake saying hi to all of you 🙂
Hello, world!
I was meaning to start writing this post in the end of February when I decided to go off all Social Media channels, but my personal life decided to get extremely busy. Just as I managed to get myself together whilst offering support to my ailing mother (she underwent Spinal surgery in February) and the numerous hospital visits, my career decided to get a little more demanding than usual. When I thought I was doing okay juggling between the two, I realized that I also had a wedding ceremony to attend, and there was no option of missing it since it was the wedding of my oldest friend (22 years and counting) which also meant trying to find time to finalize my outfits and actually making the time to attend all the wedding festivities. Soon after, my own health decided to take a toll and just when I got back to flying, BAM! The COVID-19 situation started to get alarming. So, you know, this post has been a long time coming.
I have been home for close to a month now. Mom is back home too and is recuperating. My health is fine as well. Everything seems to have slowed down. The air feels better, yet tense. It is 2:35 in the AM and I can hear birds chirping outside. I guess they’re confused too. I decided to go off SM just over a month ago, and in hindsight I feel like I made a really good decision for myself. I don’t miss it, I am not curious, I am not stressed and on-the-edge by consuming too much news and I am not wasting many hours during the day just browsing through people’s Instagram stories. I have finished reading 3 books, taken up learning French (again) on Udemy, watched all the series I had missed out on, cooked a lot, ate a lot, got tired of it and have actually started working out again. I’ve been finding the time to journal regularly and I’ve been catching up on my beauty sleep too. I don’t remember the last time that I diligently oiled my hair and I am doing so regularly ‘coz I have nowhere to go (let’s not even begin to talk about salon appointments at all).
When the Prime Minister announced a 21-day Lockdown, there was so much panic that people started flooding the grocery stores and even now, two weeks later, though the supplies are sufficient, there are not enough delivery personnel out there to deliver stuff to our doorstep. It’s amazing how we’ve been forced to go back to basics. Basics like practising good hygiene, not littering around us and more than anything, respecting our food. I feel like we’ve all become so accustomed to getting everything done quickly that we’ve forgotten to take a step back and enjoy the process of cooking and eating food. Let’s admit it, we’ve started phoning it in. We don’t eat freshly cooked meals all day long anymore. Everyone’s so busy that they end up cooking big batches of everything so they can use it for a couple days more. Worse yet, we are too tired to cook, so we order in.
On one hand I’m talking about freshly cooked meals but during these difficult times there is also some produce that we should consider preserving. More than anything, it will help us cook a fresh meal whenever we want. Just the other day, while cleaning out my book closet I found a book I had bought from a raddhiwala (used books vendor) years ago, hiding at the bottom of the pile. The book is called Cooking for the Freezer written by Jill McWilliam. Now, this book is older than me. It was published in 1985. But it does have the basic tips and tricks for freezing all kinds of food – Fruits, Vegetables, Meats, you name it. Preserving food in the form of canning, pickling and freezing has been widely used since many decades. You know how they say canned Tomatoes are better for Pizza sauce as opposed to fresh Tomatoes? It’s because they’re the right variety of Tomatoes, picked at their prime, and they do not take away from the original flavor or nutrition. While we do have our regular frozen vegetables ready to go at all times, I took this as a sign and got an extra small batch of emergency food cut, portioned, packed and frozen. Canned tomatoes are all sold out, so Tomato Purée has been made. Spinach has been blanched and and puréed away too. Onions are being peeled more carefully (I am guilty of throwing away the outermost peel, just for aesthetic purposes (and also because lazy), Broccoli stems are being used for stir fries, seeds are being planted into the window garden for chilies and curry leaves, and portion control is being exercised. Leftovers are being utilized in fun ways. Here’s a picture of Vada Pav that was made with leftover Potato sabzi because I love my readers so much and wouldn’t rob them off the pleasure of a good food picture that makes them want to run back to their own respective kitchens and be innovative.
Well, now that you’ve all heard about my pity party from the beginning of this post, you should also know that I decided to take this time in my stride and use it to better myself as a cook. This is the best time to try out new recipes and do fun things in the kitchen. I also love me a challenge when I don’t have all ingredients readily available around me. Let’s not forget that I have 3 guinea pigs at home to try all those dishes, good or bad, with no option to run away. They’ve only ordered in food once from outside during this period, so I will take that as a compliment. I will be posting these recipes along with links as a series. If you have any interesting recipes that I should make, do let me know in the comments section and I would be happy to try!
Last but not the least, I hope everyone is staying safe during this outbreak. Sending lots of love and healing vibes to everyone!
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