Shabbat- Lockdown edition

When I went out earlier to pick up fruits and vegetables for Shabbat about 1/3 of the people on the street were wearing face-masks. I was not. I wore red lipstick and a big smile because you need that too during worrying times.

As I took these photos by the Franciscan church on the north side of 96th Street a street person was losing it on the south side of the street, screaming and yelling as he ran into stores.

You could almost see the thought balloon above everyone else's heads " Listen Mr., all of us our stressed here and your mental illness does not give you permission to amp the tension up for the rest of us." Perhaps he heard our collective thought because after a few minutes he had calmed down.

We are having no guests and three or four virtual ones. The folks physically at our table will be eating chicken.

This is the marinade it was cooked in. In case you can't figure it out from the photo that's a mix of whole grained and finely grained mustard, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and coffee. If it is terrible combination I will let you know after Shabbat.

We are having two vegetables tonight.

We will also be eating cauliflower and parsnip puree because all of us, especially my husband (who manages our stock portfolio) need the sheer comfort of something so bland, so easy to eat.

Given how close we are to switching the house to Passover and the weird siege mentality...we both need to use up all the stuff we CAN'T eat on Passover as well as carefully husbanding those supplies because who knows when we can get them again-- I I made an apple cake using cornmeal and potato starch for the flour. I am not exactly sure if this will work.

The eggs were beaten with about 3/4 of a cup of coconut oil and a cup of brown sugar.

I had sliced about half a dozen Winesap apples.

I know that there are tons of kitchen gadgets available to help you core apples. A teaspoon is my tool of choice. You just push the to of the spook into the apple and twirl the spoon in a circle and the core pops out in a pretty half sphere.

The cake is baking as I type this. I decided to use a square baking pan my sister just gave me as a gift.

While the cake is baking This is going to be my view for the next who knows how long.

from the living room

Our view from the dining room is far less lovely

Some birds perhaps observing social distancing

This is our cake after baking. My big worry is getting it out of the pan.

Shabbat Shalom! Stay safe.

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