Feasting During COVID-19

I find my husband extremely delightful. He’s funny and warm, and he often buys me gifts. Sometimes they’re little, like lip balm or cream, and sometimes big, like new skis or the iPad I’m using to type this blog post. Funny story about this iPad. Karl actually bought it for himself, but that week when it was to arrive, he told me I was getting a surprise in the mail. Naturally, when the iPad showed up, I thought it was for me and Karl had no choice but to let me keep it. If I recall correctly, my actual gift was pizza-flavored Keto puffs. I loved both gifts equally. :-)

Whatever the gifts, they are always thoughtful and presented as a surprise. Sometimes I have to close my eyes and put out my hands and other times I have to look for it. A few days ago, my delight meter jumped a notch when Karl brought home a package of mini weiners from the grocery store. I love this man!

With being stuck at home so much, I’ve been trying out different Keto recipes as well as experimenting with different food combinations. Every day we look in the fridge and challenge ourselves to make something new with the ingredients on hand.

Karl and I have a tradition of making pancakes on the weekend. Today was blueberry pancake day. I couldn’t resist serving the mini weiners alongside the pancakes in place of bacon. We had leftovers, so that meant I’d have to do something with the weiners for dinner so they wouldn’t go to waste. I cut up some brussel sprouts and threw them in a baking dish and tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I then cut up the weiners and added them into the mix. I sprinkled some oregano on top and then baked it until the sprouts were crispy. We also had some crab in the fridge that needed to be used so I made Crab Rangoon, a hot crab dip made with cream cheese and pimientos. To accompany the dip, I made cheese tortillas. You simply put piles of grated cheese on a cookie sheet in the oven and they melt into circles that become stiff yet soft enough to fold. It’s a miracle, really.

We poured ourselves glasses of wine and devoured the food. What started as a hodgepodge of foods that aren’t usually served together, ended as our feast. Here’s to creativity and mixing it up during these stressful and uncertain times. And here’s to surprises that keep life interesting. Salud!