Summer is almost over and yet…CoVid19 still rages!
I’m sorry it had taken me this long to write my next blog post. I have been quite inundated with To-Dos at work. Truthfully, I sort of forgot about writing until someone (you know who you are) mentioned that she missed my posts. Thank you for the encouragement!
Outside of the day-to-day pressures of balancing work-from-home and personal and volunteer stuff, life for me has been pretty ordinary. I have not gone anywhere except to play a round of golf. After hesitating for a bit, I finally found the mojo to go back to the fairways and I’m happy to report that my game has actually improved! Silver linings in a pandemic, for sure!
I mentioned in my last post that all our vacation plans have been scrapped. However, hubby and I had an AHA moment a few weeks ago. We can travel vicariously via the food we eat!
Some close friends and I have been exchanging recipes since the shelter-in-place started. I love kale and one of us shared a recipe of raw kale salad from www.acouplecooks.com. I paired it with pasta and while K and I were having dinner, simultaneously we bursted out – we missed Tuscany! The taste and the smell of the food in front of us transported us back in time when we visited the area. So we promised each other that when this pandemic is over, we’re definitely going back. It’s been more than a decade since our last trip to Italy.
Since then, I started looking out for recipes that would trigger some memories of our past adventures. I made Mayo-Marinated Chicken with Chimichurri, a recipe by Chef J. Kenji Lopez-Alt after reading about it at New York Times’ Cooking article written by Emily Art.
http://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/dining/the-most-delicious-chicken.html?
This one evoked memories of Argentina. The smell of the grilled meat took us back to Buenos Aires’ famous parillas (steak/grill restaurants) and of course, the chimichurri (Argentinian salsa) sauce rounded out the experience. I partnered this with a Farro Salad recipe that I found again at http://www.acouplecooks.com.
Another great discovery I made is Lao Gan Ma spicy chili crisp. The garlicky, chili goodness of this wonderful concoction brings life to any Asian dish and even, an ice cream. Brought me back to Chengdu, the gourmet capital of Sichuan province in China. Yummm!
So I may not have been racking up miles visiting places, but I have been busy re-discovering places via food that I get to prepare at home. I’m back being a foodie! You can do the same. In fact, I would love to hear back about your own favorite recipe(s) from where you are or from your travels.
Bon appetit!