500 Days

 Well. Here we are. It is 500 days since the first two posts went up in the Confined Kitchen. I can't say "We made it", because not all of us did, dammit. And perhaps we're not out of the woods yet. But I think and hope that we're on a pathway out of confinement. And I know it's been massively helpful to have this space, and the twitter community around it for all this time. We've done silly things, and sad things, postal support, social media idea swaps, we've been a conference paper and part of a web archive. We've talked about worries and fears, about being bored and frustrated, about cooking more and eating differently. 

My first post was about an M&S ready meal, and I have eaten almost none of them since - as if I'd guessed that one thing that was going out the window was the spur of the moment can't be bothered drop in. I have just started to pick that habit back up a smidge, and certainly this week's meals have had a random air. But the assumption that you can always go to the shops, which a *lot* of us had back in March 2020, has just vanished. It seems weirdly apposite that there are gaps on supermarket shelves again, 500 days on (and I need to buy loo roll, don't let me forget). 

But some things are coming back, and perhaps this time they will stick. I had dinner out last night - not between-exhibitions or before-a-play or even on-holiday. Only decided a couple of days back. I went into central London to meet a friend and eat and chat (and shout, because People Are Loud, and I'm out of practice). Indoors (right by the shopfront, which was completely open to the air, mind you). Like that's a thing you can do, without fretting too much. 

We fretted, of course. Scanned in, masks in the loos. No hugging, not quite yet. On the other hand, this place never used to take bookings, and now it does, so not every single thing about the last half-millennium of days has been awful. 

Meanwhile...

Goodness, going out for dinner messes up your carefully planned menus, doesn't it? Likewise, days in the office. I am out of practice.

I went to the office yesterday too. Like a normal. Except my lunch was leftover panzanella and chicken, which is fine but a strong Tupperware choice, even with social distancing. I must start to plan office food properly again.

Must take a knife back into work at some point. That would definitely help with office eating. All our desks and whatnot are going to be scrapped before too long, in favour of lockers, hotdesking and some kind of collaborative spaces we can't quite imagine yet. But hopefully I will be able to have enough locker for a knife...

Dinner tonight is a bastardised prawn saganaki, made for one night instead of my usual two, and with one big fresh tomato bought at the market last week, instead of a big tin. Oh, and some leftover panzanella mixed in too... With apologies to Ripe Figs, who do it properly.

Cook a chopped onion for 10 minutes (*3 sprunions for 5 minutes), add chopped garlic and fennel seeds. Add a tin of tomatoes (*just a tomato), 240ml boiling water (*some water, shrug, plus that spare panzanella), pinch of salt, pinch of sugar, dried orgegano and cook it out for 25 minutes (*10 minutes). Add a big splash of ouzo (*Pernod) and cook it out, then add basil, then raw prawns and cook 2-3 minutes. Then add feta and grill (...nah, prawns are plenty). Then eat.

Ugly, but really, really tasty. Oh, and there's a whole head of young garlic in there. Standards must be maintained.

Five. Hundred. Days. Lads, I can't quite process it. I hope some of you will join me tomorrow to try to do just that. #ConfinedSnackalong? #ConfinedCocktails? I shall be online intermittently from maybe 5pm to mess around with ice cream, crisps, and something fizzy.