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Day 7: Tucking In

Awhile back, we Netflix'ed a really fun Australian cooking show: The Chef's Line.  The idea is that home cooks go up against restaurant staff from famous Australian restaurants.  Highly recommended if you've not seen it!  One of the charming things I learned is the Australian colloquialism "tucking in" for starting to eat. 

And, today, it really started hitting me that we could be tucking in for quite a while here in social distance.  I found myself bouncing back and forth between a kind of overwhelming mix of sadness and disbelief that this is life for now, combined with an immense gratitude for all of the wonderful people who are and have been in my typical orbit.  Lives are so mobile in our modern world that some of those who matter most are never physically near.  I'm feeling that particularly acutely today, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Food memories are one of the powerful ways to reconnect.  So here we are-- connecting from physical distance.

Dinner: Beef Soft Tacos
Dinner was beef soft tacos.  I leaned on a taco seasoning mix, as usual, but took some time for a few twists, inspired by people I care about.  My friend Carla, a Texan to the core, has strong feelings about the proper texture of beef for a ground beef taco.  This package of ground beef was one of the vacuum-packed ones, and so it was a pretty coarse grind. After it browned, I pulsed it briefly in the chopper until it was a nice, fine mince.  Tomato paste, a dash of chipotle adobo (we always keep it in a jar in the fridge--lasts forever!), taco seasoning. And then taste to adjust.  Definitely needed more salt, and then... Jeff suggested some acid (Samin Nosrat is our goddess... Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat really supercharged our ability to riff in the kitchen).  My sister, Erin, taught us the magic trick of balsamic in a meat-based spaghetti sauce, so we went with a splash of that here.  Perfect choice!  It really helped highlight the smokey chipotle and delicious, salty beef.

The baby greens are obviously not traditional, but worked just fine. It was a very good dinner.
AvoToast, and a Reminder
These Calamityware mugs are a house favorite.  They look like nice China, but have random monsters, robots, and zombie poodles woven in.  From the product page:

"No matter how bad your day is going, these beautiful porcelain mugs graciously remind you things could be much worse. You could also be chased by UFOs, pestered by pirates, or plagued by giant frogs."  They always make me smile.

Bagged Salad and Beans
We have bagged salad kits probably once a week in normal life.  Here, I opted for Chipotle Ranch from Whole Foods, I think.  Plop in a few spoons of flavored black beans, the final bit of avocado, a few leaves of cilantro, and lunch was ready and delicious.


Take care of yourselves and remember that you're loved, friends.  Tomorrow is another day.



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