Adapting to 2020

Aug 15

Written By Nim

Adapting Formulas a.k.a. Recipes

We’re a soup/stew kinda’ family especially when I want a few days off from cooking. On Friday I made a pot of red beans and rice as well as a pot of ham and bean soup. Two of my husband’s favorites. Mom made ham and bean soup for us when we were kids but it was a thick, almost pasty concoction she made in the pressure cooker. There was only a hint of ham now and again. Most of the time it was just navy bean soup. Dad was too frugal in those days so Mom made do with the groceries he brought home. Me? Pssh, J says he works hard so that we can enjoy meals. And while we’re not eating filet magnon and lobster, the meals I prepare are loaded with meat, veggies and flavor.

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The recipe I used for my first batch of red beans and rice back in February is from Damn Delicious. Unless it’s a baking recipe I view all recipes as a starting point waiting for me to adapt them for my family. This one is wonderful as it is but I’ve altered it to suit the family. I don’t use commercial Cajun spice, opting to make my own. My grand-niece made it for her boyfriend (who devours it each time I make it for family game night) and used the recipe. She said it wasn’t as good as mine. I vaguely remembered how my Mom made bean soup but didn’t use a pressure cooker. In the future I might make this in my Ninja Foodi but tossed everything in my Dutch oven and let it cook on the stove top. The holy trinity of cooking: carrots, onion and celery, a nice hunk of left over ham that I had in the freezer, chicken stock and spices. I’m more of a formula kinda’ gal and I’ve been tweaking formulas for family dishes for 45 years.

Adapting to the New Normal

Today I’m doing a bit more adapting in regard to where I blog, paint, sew and craft. J and I have been sharing the same office/creative space for five months. He’s logical, analytical and not spontaneous. Me? While I’m an intelligent person I’m very spontaneous when it comes to my creative endeavors. I can shift seamlessly between a sewing project to a painting project. In fact I’m happiest when I have three or more projects going at once. I like to listen to music when I’m creating things and I like that music loud. This doesn’t jive with his work. He’s on the phone or in virtual meetings all day, every day.

After five months of shared space, COVID-19 fears, social unrest and cable news grinding each and every story to death I thought I was going to lose my mind. My mental state deteriorated and I felt like I couldn’t escape. Like I’d never find peace again. But J and I are a perfect team and after I had a good cry, said a little prayer asking for guidance and got my shit together we talked. He remembered that we kept his old computer after he had a new one built by our oldest son’s friend.

I’ve always loved being able to retreat to the bedroom to read, knit or watch TV. I guess it goes back to my teenage years. I spent most of my time in my room. But that’s a story for another day. The master bedroom is tucked far enough away from the home office to provide a nice secluded spot. J never hangs out in the bedroom for the sake of hanging out so it works. He’s got his space and as soon as Amazon delivers the peripherals I need to get the old computer functional (mouse, keyboard, WiFi adapter and RAM) I’ll have my own space once again.

The start of my new little haven.

My main is still in the home office because we game together. We prefer being able to just talk to each other without using headphones, a microphone and Discord when we play World of Warcraft. My art and craft supplies will also stay in the office because uhm, I have A LOT of supplies especially since I took up candle making early in the quarantine.

We’re adapting to our new normal and staying strong. Even though our state has started to re-open we’re sticking to our social distancing routine. We have a small quarantine bubble that includes our sons along with our nephew and his family. It’s a group of 15. A couple months ago we started started shopping at BJ’s again but with the current spikes in COVID cases we’ve gone back to ordering things online and shopping locally only when needed. We’re fortunate that J can work from home and will continue to work from home for the rest of 2020. There’s a good chance he’ll continue to work from home in 2021. And if that’s the case I’ll continue to lean on this Bible verse and we’ll continue to adapt.

Nim

https://nimscozycorner.com

Adapting to 2020

Adapting Formulas a.k.a. Recipes

Adapting to the New Normal

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