Friday, August 7, 2020

There's No Place Like Home for the Covid Days: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 5 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

Secret Subject Swap, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics



My subject is: What is your favorite restaurant and why?
It was submitted by Rena of Wandering Web Designer.


Everything, every single thing, minuscule or consequential, seems to break down into two camps for me: pre-covid and everything after that. Pre-covid I could have answered this question many different ways. Now? I really don't know what to say.

With no unified federal response before or during this medical catastrophe, it's been a free-for-all, resulting in an unnecessarily unchecked spread. Like Cuomo or hate him, he did the right thing. The proof is in the pudding (yeah, food reference). He shut that state down tight, kept a daily flow of encouragement and verifiable factual information, procured the medical equipment without the federal back-up we all deserve, broke the back of the pandemic in his state and only then did he plan a careful reopening. Residents of New York have been slowly and safely returning to restaurants. 

I would love to be living in a state where logic and science combine to prioritize health and life, but I don't. Quite the opposite. Our covid numbers were low because we weren't testing. And NO, our cases weren't low. Following rational logic I can tell you that not testing only provided a false sense of security, a stick-your-head-in-the-sand dangerous lack of knowledge, and the inevitable spike in the spread of this disease that we are now seeing. And NO, not just in older people in nursing homes (who are NOT, to my thinking, an inconsequential or expendable group of people anyway), but 62% of the cases we currently know about (as we FINALLY start testing more, thanks to private clinics) are under the age of 30. The governor being the moron who is responsible for the lack of testing to start with, never initiated a close down or stay at home order of any kind, nor a mask mandate. Ditto the mayor (gee, I wonder why cases are so high . . . hmmm . . .). In fact, the CDC just named us specifically as "not getting the message," the White House task force mentioned us as a city on an alarming rise, and our Director of Public Health just refused to issue a mask mandate this week stating that it was because the governor and attorney general were threatening to sue her if she did.

So yeah, restaurants, I'm getting there . . .

Needless to say, those of us who understand that we need to be lead by science have not been eating out. Not even take out. It's not safe. Mostly because every restaurant has had the option of remaining fully open, have been able to set their own standards and implement their own safety practices (or lack thereof). And I have no way of knowing what that is from one place to another.

Here's where it stands right now for me:

I grew up eating some pretty fresh seafood and shellfish and it remains a love of mine. Back home in Boston I'd say that my favorite restaurant is one that served a weekly twin lobster special. No such thing here in the Midwest. In fact, fresh seafood of any kind is a rarity so pre-covid my favorite restaurant was one that served a planked salmon that warmed this New Englander's heart. I don't even know if that restaurant has survived, whether it'll still be there when it's safe to eat out again.

Two weeks ago a grocery store in another town west of here got some fresh lobsters in. They had a very limited supply, were only allowing 4 per customer and it was on a first come, first served basis. They were taking precautions and social distancing (you even had to wait in line with six feet between customers), so Hubs went down there. He arrived about an hour before the sale started and stood on his little assigned "X" on the floor awaiting his turn. Ends up the store was short shipped, but Hubs brought home the bacon (so to speak) and I made lobster that night. It was heaven.

So right now, at this very moment, my favorite place to eat (not really a restaurant, if you want to be literal) is my home. It's comfortable, it's safe, and the food's not half bad. Best of all, I know the chef, and she takes requests.

Grilled Sweet Chili Chicken is a little sweet and a little spicy. Serve right off the grill, or over a salad either hot or cold. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner

Grilled Sweet Chili Chicken
Grilled Sweet Chili Chicken is a little sweet and a little spicy. Serve right off the grill, or over a salad either hot or cold. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner


I hope you are all safe. I hope your loved ones are healthy. And whether you live in a state that is closed, closed again, open, or opening, that you take the time to assess your personal situation and realize that you alone are your best advocate. As much as we all want to follow our hearts, do the things we love and see the people we love, now is the time to put that aside and let our heads take the lead. 


Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:


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Grilled Sweet Chili Chicken
                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com



Printable Recipe


NOTE: This chicken can be served for dinner, or topping a salad, either hot or cold, utilizing the leftovers.

Ingredients:
3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
2 TBSP French salad dressing
2 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ginger paste 

Directions:
*Trim the chicken breast, cut them in half and place them in a shallow baking dish or resealable bag.
*Whisk together the sweet chili sauce, French salad dressing, soy sauce, minced garlic and ginger paste. Pour over the chicken. Cover the baking dish or seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, turning now and then.
*Preheat grill to medium high. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, place on the hot grill, cover the grill and lower the heat to medium. Grill for about 10 - 12 minutes per side, until the chicken is completely cooked through. 
 

21 comments:

  1. Under a safer at home order which I decided back in March. Some think they’re safer out living their life as they want, I hope so. Some are grudgingly half and half, I hope they make it.
    My favorite southern home style. This time of year I drool over fresh picked vegetables. I long for my long ago garden that I grumbled about tending. Be safe, be wise and eat your veggies.

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  2. I miss dining out SOOO BAD!!! We have been getting food delivered but that's about it. Florida is one of the COVID epicenters, so I see some of my Floridian friends going out to restaurants and not only does it anger me.....I'm also quite jealous. But in order to be able to see my grandkids, I have no choice but to steer clear of public places and stay home safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you're making good choices and staying safe. I wish more of us were.

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  3. My first husband was Thai and that was how I was first introduced to the magical sweet chili sauce. It is difficult for me eat chicken without it now!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it is so good. We all love it here, I keep working on more ways to use it.

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  4. I teared up when I read which is your favourite restaurant. How I wish I could go there!
    Don't know what I would request, but everything is bound to be good...

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  5. So we are trying to guess your state! Things are way different in New York State, to be sure but in my county, even with our stringent rules, several restaurants, both local and chains, have had to close for deep cleaning due to either patrons or employees testing positive. Speaking of testing, even New York is running at 2-3 weeks to get results (one of my husband's cousins, near NYC, had symptoms and it took 3 weeks for her to get her negative result. By then, she was feeling a lot better.) Personally, I would not eat inside in any restaurant. I've only eaten outdoors once and that was at an ice cream establishment where you ordered outside, grabbed your cone and ate at spaced tables. You had to wear a mask at all times except when actually eating. And there are people here that just don't care; they hold large parties way past the 50 person maximum allowed, or crowd streets which have been closed to allow outdoor dining and drink and party into the wee hours of the morning, practically nose to nose. Sigh...at least we can get OK seafood here, and I'm so fortunate to have a husband who loves to cook. We rarely ate out, even in the before times. I wouldn't mind you mailing me a dessert but I guess we'll wait...Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am hearing more and more, not only tests taking longer, but of people getting sick and testing negative for the first or even first and second time before the third test showed they actually DID have Covid. It's all just unbelievable.

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  6. Mine would be our local BJs Brewhouse. I miss it...

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  7. Yay for eat at home lobster!! Being on a fist name basis with the chef is always a good thing, too.

    I am so sorry for everybody who keeps doing the right thing and still gets punished by covidiots around them. I do hope things will improve.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope they improve too, but don't have much hope for those living in the Midwest. I do have to admit that a lobster dinner helps make staying at home a little more palatable (pun intended).

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  8. Our state did a bit better, although some people are refusing to comply. Restaurants in our town were allowed, if they took tons of precautions, to remain open for take out or delivery only, and are now allowed to seat people outdoors or at about a quarter capacity inside.

    My very favorite is a place that makes fabulous vegetable sushi (i'm vegetarian, although i will cook meat for others, for me it's dietary). They serve an all you care to eat menu, and if i go for lunch, i can actually eat enough of the cheaper veggie sushi to make it worth the money. They completely shut down when the stay-home was begun, and have reopened with limited seating like they are supposed to. My hope is to get to go soonish, depending on our budget and if i can take the break from work in the middle of the day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like businesses in your area are being reasonable and transparent. I hope you have a chance to get there soon.

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  9. Love me some chicken salad, although now I put a little halal turkey on my salad and it tastes great. It's good to change it up every now and again.

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    Replies
    1. Salads are a great vehicle for using up leftovers, and that definitely helps change up the salad now and then.

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  10. I wrote those prompts way before Covid, but you're right although, I have done take out trying to help some of these businesses stay afloat. We don't go out without a mask, but we have visited with loved ones. Guilty of that one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know you're doing everything you need to do to stay safe and I know that you will continue to.

      Delete

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