So it’s mid-January 2021 and we’re now well into our third lockdown here in Lancashire, England. The weather is wet, windy, and cold (although not cold enough for snow, unfortunately) and it’s full dark by 4:00pm. In COVID-land, as one day bleeds unremarkably into the next, it seems as though time has almost lost all meaning. And I may be guilty (yep, VERY guilty) of querying to my partner across our flat, “Hey, what day is it today?” “What month are we in again?” “Where the heck did the [insert season] go?!” But then I glance at my last grocery list and I seem to find my rhythm again.
“It’s freezing out! Let’s use that fresh rosemary for pasta fagioli tonight”
“Babe, want those buffalo cauliflower wings for dinner tomorrow?”
“Mmm, can’t wait for sourdough pizza with all the fixins this weekend!”
After just under a year of COVID, of wearing masks to the supermarket and religiously disinfecting every item brought home from the store, I realized that I have saved almost every single shopping list I’ve written (that’s pen + paper, folks, ’cause I’m old school). I’ve also managed to squirrel away nearly a year’s worth of our weekly meal plans. All those groceries, all those meals, all that planning… it feels like a journal of sorts. And I think it has actually helped me (well, us, to be honest) get through. And tonight is Tuesday and we’re having ma po tofu and rice for supper.
Wishing you a very good shop!