Welcome to the continuing quarantine saga.
One of the few positives to come out of a nationwide lock down is discovering new ways to connect remotely. My congregation has been using Zoom to hold gatherings. One of our major fundraising events, Night of Many Dinners had to be pushed back into March and ran smack into the quarantine. Night of Many Dinners is where a few congregants volunteer to prepare a meal and then the rest of us pay to go their houses and schmooze and dine. Dinners range from simple to elaborate. I have done it in the past. I had a jazz duo in my living room and pulled out my best china. It was awesome. This year several wonderful people had volunteered to do a dinner on Saturday night or a brunch Sunday morning. Then covid-19 hit.
Ever resourceful, our leadership decided to do a virtual dinner. Everyone signed up to connect, cook and schmooze. We made donations online through the congregation’s website. I was a little dubious since I had not used Zoom. But let me tell you it was great. Ed and I moved the big computer down to the dining room so we could both see and be seen. We all talked about what we cooked, we had meaningful and silly conversations about many things, we got to meet people’s college kids, elderly parents who had moved in for the duration, and pets.
Some people decided to dress for dinner. After spending most of my time in yoga pants, I was glad to get dressed. I picked this dress that I made for my trip to England last year. It’s a vintage house dress pattern from 1950.
It was the easiest dinner party I have ever planned. I made a foray to the bakery and picked up a loaf of crusty bread. I went by a vegetable stand near our house and got some fresh produce (lettuce and a cabbage, a red pepper and some bananas). I am staying out of the super markets as much as possible since they tend to be more crowded. Our local food coop does a better job of crowd control, having people wait outside in lines where they have marked off 6 foot spaces and only letting a few people in the store at a time. That’s where I got the veggie broth I used for the soup. I managed to never be less than 6 feet from anyone other than the cashiers. The CDC has said that social distancing works if you limit closer contact (less than 6 feet) to no more than 15 minutes. I am really grateful to all the folks working in our grocery stores and other essential businesses for keeping us going through this. Our local bakeries are providing bread but no café service and limiting the number of people who can be in the store at one time.
For dinner I made a simple minestrone soup. This is one I do when there is no fresh zucchini. Try it if you have the ingredients.
Minestrone in a pinch
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped (If the garlic is very fresh, use less, if it’s a little long in the tooth, use more)
½ cup cooked beans (white, cannellini, or red kidney are best, canned is perfectly fine)
1 bag of mixed vegetables (I’m talking about the regular old mixed veggies with carrots, peas and green beans that your mom used to keep in the freezer. I know you have one hiding in the back of the freezer.)
1 large baking potato cut into 2 inch cubes
1 quart good vegetable broth (I used Imagine vegetarian no chicken broth but any light broth will do. If you are a meat eater, feel free to use canned or shelf stable chicken broth)
1 can diced tomatoes
A handful of broken spaghetti
Olive Oil
Salt
Red pepper flakes
Italian seasoning
This is so easy, just heat some olive oil (about 2 tbsp) in the bottom of your soup pot. Saute the onions and potatoes until the onions are transparent. Next, add the garlic and saute for a few seconds until you begin to smell the garlic. Don’t let it burn. Add the Italian seasoning and salt and stir for a second or two. Pour in the tomatoes and stir. Add the mixed vegetables a pinch of red pepper flakes and the broth. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Then throw in the spaghetti and simmer some more until the spaghetti is al dente. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
If you are interested, here is what a set up for a virtual dinner looks like.
It was delicious. Today I am going to make some broth to put in the freezer. Home made broth is like liquid gold. Stay tuned, I’ll tell you how it turns out.
Stay safe and keep cooking.
