The Big Quarantine – Good Friday, April 10, 2020
The Day in No Recipe Baking: I’m a pretty solid home cook. While I often refer to recipes for inspiration, I don’t always follow them to a tee. In fact, years of cooking has taught me that the recipe is just the outline of what the dish should look like. That has always been the case for me for cooking, but when I bake, I bake like a mad scientist using a sacred formula.
I faced off against one of my modern food hero’s Melissa Clark and her loosey-goosey instructions on making a one-bowl Pound Cake.* I read it several times over a couple days before I decided to give it a go.
I had to write it on a post-it for my brain to comprehend the steps, but I did it. It worked. It’s more loafy than cakey, but it worked. I’m a little surprised. I don’t think I’m going to stop my general approach to baking, but this was fun.
*NY Times and NY Times Cooking are usually behind a paywall. During the coronavirus outbreak they are providing free access to news and useful guidance. That has included a very helpful column on cooking with pantry staples, including this cake.
The Day in the Flour Situation: Measuring out the ingredients for the Pound Cake, I had to open my last bag of flour. First, I hate having to open a new bag because I’m about a tablespoon short on the recipe I’m working on. This happens every time! It’s never a cup short. It’s always a teeny bit short. I don’t even know why it bothers me. But it bothers me.
Second, I’m into my last bag of flour and I am having a pantry crisis.
The Day in the Supply Chain: I went to the grocery today. This regular errand is obviously, still not normal. From logistically planning out the trip, to the distancing precautions, to the product available, the errand is kind of a stressful event.
Maybe about half the people were wearing masks, more than last time I went. Aisles that were completely empty were showing signs of recovery. I saw some rice and beans, some not non-gluten free pasta, and I got toilet paper (more on that below). The cleaning aisle is still very empty. I haven’t seen bleach in weeks. They had paper plates today, but no paper napkins. The store was busy. The people were calm.
I’m usually a bargain shopper and these Covid trips are killing me. Sales and coupons are meaningless. Easter candy was half off though, so I took advantage of that! I’m buying brands I don’t normally buy and sizes I don’t normally buy. Since I usually shop with my Mom, we often split certain items. That’s obviously out for now. I actually looked at my cart a couple times thinking it wasn’t mine.
The Day in Branding: I’m not considering this an act of selflessness as much as self-preservation. My Mom is down to her last two rolls of Toilet Paper. Today was the first time I’ve seen TP in the store for over a month. Sure, it was store brand, but it was the fancy store brand Simple Truth featuring the hippie tagline of 100% recycled material. I bought a pack.
I took that store branded TP directly to my apartment where I will swap it out with an unopened pack of Northern (name brand) tissue. I will keep the Simple Truth brand and give my Mom the Northern. Yes, she would have taken the Simple Truth TP and she would even have said “it’s fine.” I have been down this road and I know I would never have heard the end of it. Where most of us will remember 2020 as the year of Covid, she just barely escaped remembering it as the year she had to use Kroger TP. Whew. Close call. (Now accepting my nomination for Daughter of the Year!)
The Day in Supporting Restaurants: As a treat for both me an my Mom this Good Friday, we got take out from the excellent Chinese restaurant Uncle Yip’s. They do Dim Sum table service on Sundays, and that is one of Cincinnati’s greatest eating adventures. They are making do through Covid. I told the guy who brought out my food I was going to take a picture of the front of the restaurant. He was incredulously like, “Why?” To him it was just a work thing. I told him it was for posterity (which it kind of is) and he liked that a lot.
The Day in Miniatures: Classic.
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: https://leeinitiative.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 April 10, 2020
These numbers are updated regularly at noon Mondays through Fridays. Numbers close out at 4 p.m. the day before reporting.
- Total cases: 459,165 (Yesterday = 427,460)
- Total deaths: 16,570 (Yesterday = 14,696)
- 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.
