Covid Cafe: A Little Bit of This, A little Bit of That

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Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.

Nature writer Edward Abbey

I think about that from time to time, chefs, and concur. Maybe it's cabin fever, but I can think of a few places I'd like to be walking. On the other hand, our gardens, which have made me joyful every day since the pandemic started, are now delivering extraordinary bounty. Here's part of this morning's pick...

What do you make every day to eat? Most of us aren't preparing elaborate repasts. Let's take a peek...

Jon writes: I've had a strong craving for a BLT with good a tomato. My bread, not homemade but Private Selection; lettuce not from my garden, but Kroger; bacon not from the butcher, but Costco; mayo not homemade, but Hellman's. And finally, a wonderful tomato from an Eastern Indiana farm near a friend's mother's house.  Perfection!

Rob wrote to tell us he made one of his summer staples, a good chilled vichyssoise.

And finally, in the wake of last night's extreme Chicago weather, Gwen managed to concoct a delectable shelf-stable feast...

Gwen writes: We are having serious weather tonight, and now the lights for our building have blown. But for all the poo-pooing of battery operated candles, they're lighting our feast: tins of dolmas, kalamata olive spread complements of Alex and Peter, a real tomato--grown in the yard of friends Clare and Ed--and pita chips! 

It was a massive derecho--a powerful straight-line storm--that remarkably didn't leave a single branch on the ground here, but did knock a beehive out of a tree and into the back of Art's pickup. Hmm.