8 November 2020

With the exception of changing out Friday’s red curry to green (I didn’t check to see if we actually had any red curry paste when I put it on the list) our work week meals went exactly to plan. The surprise side grain ended up being Alton Brown’s cheese grits. We’ve been making it with polenta style ground corn for years and had wondered about the extensive cooking time in the recipe. I recently finally located the coarser ground type and they definitely take longer to cook, but were well worth it. Both versions are excellent in my book. Today’s roast moose plans are being swapped out (probably pizza) due to the fact that we didn’t start the defrosting until Saturday afternoon and it is still rock hard. Whoops.

Saturday’s date night oysters got challenging when the delivery arrived without the shucking knife needed to get them open. Thanks to some you-tube videos I improvised with a paring knife and short phillips flat-head screwdriver and successfully shucked 24 oysters (my first time!) without any associated medical emergencies. Fresh oysters are literally half the price if you buy them unshucked so I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do in the future with the correct tools for the job! We went for a full theme with 3 types of Prince Edward Island oysters (Malpeques weren’t available, but PEI clearly has lots of excellent oyster beds), potato oven fries (made in the factory I was working at), chipotle mayo and sparkling wine from Prince Edward County (close as we could get to theme since Prince Edward Island doesn’t make wine as far as I know).

Safety notes:

  1. Shuck at your own risk! Oysters are tough little things to open. Simon didn’t trust himself to even try opening them this way.
  2. Definitely enjoy any alcoholic beverages AFTER completing all activities involving knives, screwdrivers and damp slippery bivalves.

Hardest part of returning to the ‘real world’ after any vacation or big work trip for me is getting back into my exercise routine. Overall participation in the pandemic zoom workout group I’ve belonged to since March has been eroding over the last 3 months and for the last while it has mostly just been me and one other woman. Between work getting more demanding, Covid fatigue and my 2 weeks away it seems that the final nail in that coffin has been sunk. It was a great thing while it lasted, but everything ends eventually.

This week has been about trying out new options. After taking 2 zoom classes with an ex-Cirque du Soleil artist I think paying to have someone else lead is exactly what I need for a while. It also felt good to be paying a professional circus artist when so many have been out of work since this pandemic began and Cirque du Soleil is literally now out of business. I also managed to find the activation energy through 2 self-led workout lists. The Thursday leg day one still has my butt sore 2 days later so I’ll be keeping that. So 2 zoom classes, plus 2 self classes equals 4 workouts this week which is good, but not great. Plan is to add more stretching and skills (handstands and slackline) into this week coming up.

And here is what’s on the chalkboard for this week:

  • Sunday: pizza (formerly roast moose with veg)
  • Monday: roast moose with turnips and carrots (should be defrosted by now)
  • Tuesday: pasta with butter, lemon, dandelion greens and sausage
  • Wednesday/Thursday: clam chowder with leeks, potatoes, carrots served and cornbread
  • Friday: grilled eggplant with chicken thighs and cheese grits
  • Saturday: red curry tofu with kale (going to try again for red)

About Renee

Fiftysomething biomechanical engineer, parent, partner, and recreational acrobat.
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