Two silver linings of the pandemic

 First a bit of catch up. I normally do a Food Friday post. I wasn't able to because I had a bit extra scheduled into my Friday. So for those of you who expect to see what we ate, here goes...

All long Broadway there are fruit push cards every few blocks. During non-pandemic times the pushcarts had a small often quirky selection of produce. The owners usually buy what is left over at the big wholesale produce markets. The gorgeous blackberries might not last until tomorrow but are a great price. 

I was always a frequent customer of the Turkish man who ran the cart at Broadway and 96th street. Since the pandemic began, buying from an outdoor vendor has felt like a much safer shopping option than going inside a  crowded supermarket. Clearly, I am not the only person who feels this way. All of the pushcarts in the neighborhood have expanded over the past few months growing beyond the original pushcart. Our Turkish vendor has deeded several stacks of produce cartons to the south of his cart and a few to the north.  Perhaps, because restaurants are not as bus,y the quality and variety of produce available at the pushcarts has expanded. For the past couple of weeks, he has been selling beautiful leeks-- the likes of which I have never seen in a supermarket. We had eaten two different batches of leek soup.

Last week I was buying two big gorgeous leeks for a dollar and a half.  The leek stock must be getting tired. The leeks on Thursday were selling for a dollar for three large but more exhausted-looking leeks. 

I carefully washed the leeks, cut them up, and then did several soaks in cold water to be sure to get rid of every bit of grit.

I piled the sliced and washed leeks into my big roasting pan. I added a big handful of dried mushrooms and then added the chicken.

My youngest who used to not care at all about food quizzed me about what spices I would be adding to the chicken. The whole chicken leek and mushroom combination seemed kind of French to me so I suggested herb de Provence, black pepper, and the juice of a couple of lemons. My son approved of my flavoring thoughts.

I put the pan into the oven and went to do my workout.

When I was done the chicken looked like this.

I served the leeks and mushrooms on a separate platter from the chicken. 

This dish is like adding 1+2 and getting 17 as the answer.  The whole meal tasted really fancy but wasn't difficult at all to do. The house smelled heavenly all day. This is a meal to impress people you love.

Today I went on a long walk/visit with my dear friend S. 

The two of us are well-matched walk partners. We love looking at the same things.

As we walked together we talked and talked.

The conversation wandered as we walked north and then south.

We each pointed out stuff worth looking at.

I dropped my friend off at her house and walked home and noticed things that I knew she would take note of.

We hope to walk together every Sunday. As we head into this pandemic winter, we need to figure out ways to make use of some of the gifts created by this hard time. Walking with my friend weekly is one of those pandemic gifts.