The Big Quarantine – Thursday, April 2, 2020
The Day in Go-To Meals: My eating is off. What I eat. When I eat. Epic cravings. Lack of interest in food. Starving. Longing to sit at a bar and eat with people. Food is an emotional centerpiece for me, for sure.
One of my favorite things to make is Asian inspired stir frys. Back when I first started this style of cooking, soy sauce was the only condiment I used. It was a very “Good Housekeeping,” Midwestern version of Asian food. I liked it, but it wasn’t even close to what I was getting at even the worst, cheapest, dirtiest Chinese restaurants. That’s what I wanted to cook.
That’s when I embraced Asian condiments. I should note I’m using the generic term Asian because I’m pulling Eastern influences from Thai to Chinese to Korean and applying them all to my Midwestern kitchen. The sauces that made the most difference were fish sauce (Thai) and oyster sauce (Chinese). Like soy sauce, they both add a umami flavor that adds richness to the dish.
My favorite thing about these and other eastern Asian condiments is that they are already aged and fermented. I used to ask the guy at the Asian market in Findlay Market how long X-sauce would last. He would just shrug and say, “It’s already rotten, so it lasts until it’s gone.” That’s a solid, honest answer.
I have two favorite stir frys. One is sliced pork and green beans. The other is chicken/peppers/onions. I use all my stir fry techniques: hot pan, everything cut about the same size, and each ingredient in individual containers laid out on the counter. Once the pan is hot, the meal comes together in less than 5 minutes.
When the last vegetable goes in and gets stirred around, I can turn down the heat and sauce the heck out the dish. I’m sure anyone’s Eastern Asian grandma would have a heart attack watching me pour in soy sauce, drizzle out drops of fish sauce, plop out a thick bit of oyster sauce, and then hit it with a squeeze of sriracha. Oh, and then I turn off the heat and drizzle on some sesame oil.
I don’t know what it is, but it is freakin’ great! And comforting.
The Day in Another Bell Curve: I’m not surprised that there are people who don’t get the serious potential of Covid 19. It’s so human. Look at the how early adopter versus laggards turn to technical innovations and you have a decent metaphor for how people are processing Covid.
When something new appears, there will always be “innovators” who jump in and start using new information immediately. They aren’t always right, of course, but history doesn’t move forward without them. These were scientists and epidemiologists who realized something was happening in China by the end of 2019.
Soon, a few more people start paying attention. These are the early adopters who are starting to make sense of what the innovators saw. Those people have been inside there homes for a while.
Then the late majority people show up(which I think is where we are now). They are starting to be swayed by the early data. Weirdly, for this example, instead of saying, “Oh, yeah, I get it” and simply embracing the concepts that we need to tackle and solve the Covid issue, the Covid deniers/the flatten the curve deniers/Trump’s base, appear to be angry at and suspicious of everyone who preceded their epiphany about what is happening. And, of course, rewriting their own prior dismisals.
Finally the laggards should show up. They should come around when people they personally know suffer physically or financially. The laggards will have to see it with their own eyes and even then the conspiracy/deep state/libs/fake news will be the problem. Humans!
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Covid 19 Info
If you want to help local bars and restaurant and their workers, please check out the links below:
Pleasantry OTR and Allez Bakery: Buy a meal for a healthcare worker
Restaurant Workers Relief Program: www.leeintiative.org
This organization needs funds and donations to keep feeding furloughed restaurant workers for the Restaurant Workers Relief Program. All donations go right back to the restaurants in your city that are feeding people in need.
We need supplies: diapers, baby food, tampons, toilet paper, canned food, and shelf stable food.
We can only buy in limited amounts so we need you to help us
Please order online at @amazon @target @walmart @instacart @meijerstores or any delivery service, buy supplies through your account and ship it to the local restaurant that is giving in your city.
𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗶𝘀𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲- @610magnolia 610 W Magnolia Ave, Louisville KY 40208
𝗗𝗖 – @succotashrestaurant 915 F St NW, Washington DC, 20004
𝗟𝗼𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀 – @chispacca 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 – @salareseattle 2404 NE 65th St, Seattle, WA 98115
𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗼 – @bigstarchicago 1531 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
𝗗𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿 – @eatwithsafta 3330 Brighton Blvd #201, Denver, CO 80216
𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗹𝘆𝗻 – @olmstednyc 659 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗹𝘆𝗻 – @gertienyc 357 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶 – @mitascincy 501 Race St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
𝗔𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 – @restauranteugeneatl 2277 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
𝗟𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗞𝗬 – @greatbagel’s 3650 Boston Rd #108, Lexington, KY 40514
𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗢𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 – @cochon_nola 930 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70130
CDC – Cases in the United States
Updated March 31, 2020
These numbers are updated regularly at noon Mondays through Fridays. Numbers close out at 4 p.m. the day before reporting.
- Total cases: 213,144 (Yesterday = 163,539)
- Total deaths: 4,513 (Yesterday = 2860)
- Jurisdictions reporting cases: 54 (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and US Virgin Islands)
* Data include both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 reported to CDC or tested at CDC since January 21, 2020, with the exception of testing results for persons repatriated to the United States from Wuhan, China and Japan. State and local public health departments are now testing and publicly reporting their cases. In the event of a discrepancy between CDC cases and cases reported by state and local public health officials, data reported by states should be considered the most up to date.
Nothing Ever Happens on My Street 