No soggy bottom here Mary Berry – my first Banana Cake.
I am loathed to brag but…… it is delicious. I just want all the people who knew me pre- Coronavirus not to be shocked by the newly formed rotund Roma. As survival is paramount now, I am foregoing forbidden foods and just getting on with it.
In addition to the sumptuous cake — have I already mentioned how delicious it is ? I made carrot, chilli, sweet potato and coconut soup, and Shakshuka. All the ingredients were about to go off in my fridge. And ever mindful of waste-not-want-not they will be squeezed into my freezer for when Toby and Linda return from isolation in 2 weeks.
Yes, I should always be mindful of food waste and I am. But I guess it has all been reinforced by the fact that I cannot shop and trying to get a Waitrose delivery is impossible. Despite being loyal to Waitrose I waited on line for a slot to come up at Morrisons. Forgetting that I was logged on 6 hours later, I found I was still in the queue. So who is the wise one and has shares in one of the food supermarkets?
Before I leave the culinary section of this blog, I want to share with you a little utensil that I came across and used today. It was a sombre moment for me as it was Tod’s favourite kitchen gadget. I can still hear him saying, “I know you will probably think this is silly, but I absolutely love this egg slicer.” And I know what he means. It is such a perfect little gadget for slicing hard boiled eggs. Oh, how I miss that man. I even miss his smelly tobacco, his odd eating habits and his snoring. What would he have made of this?
So, Trump has now put Jared Kushner, his son-in-law in charge of Coronavirus – I am lost for words. This ninkompoop has no experience in this field, in fact little experience of anything. Apparently when Governor Andrew Cuomo said at the start of the epidemic that New York State would need 30,000 ventilators Kushner decided that Cuomo was being alarmist.
“I have all this data about I.C.U. capacity. I am doing my own projections and I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this. New York doesn’t need all the ventilators.” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Oh, you poor Americans. You have the dynamic duo – Trump and Jared in charge of this epidemic.
To make matters even worse The Trump administration failed to follow a comprehensive National Security Council “playbook” on pandemic response which was developed by Obama White House officials in 2016 after the Ebola outbreak. Obama had both the foresight and the intelligence to realise what was coming. But one of the first things that Trump did when he took office was to disband the unit which Obama had set up. Had this still been operational America would have been so much better prepared and fewer people would have died.
I think that Trump needs to be held up for war crimes because this is a war albeit an invisible one. And yet it would seem that there is still a large number of Americans that do not get it. Maybe they are the same kind of ignorant people who have today ignored our government’s request to stay indoors. My local park in London has been full of children and adults playing and picnicking. What don’t they get? 800 people died today in the UK!
Back to domesticity as I can’t control the virus or the the politicians but at least I can control what goes on in my house. Today I unleashed my inner goddess. A bit of a Stepford Wife but without the husband. Not only did I have this mammoth cook-in, but I have now washed every bit of clothing in my house, sheets, towels, blankets and for the first time ever tomorrow I am going to iron the sheets. This may not seem odd to all you ironers, but I don’t iron. In a moment of wifely domesticity, I did once try and iron one of Tod’s shirts. He politely suggested that perhaps it was time to use one of the local shirt ironing companies. Maybe my averse to ironing started when aged 16, I worked as an au pair. Recently I found a letter that I wrote to my mother from the job.
“Mum you wouldn’t believe it, but she makes me iron her bras.” No need for concern my inner goddess does have limitations!!!!
“Let’s be safe out there“
Serendipity Me 