It Feels Like We’ve Met Before
For the first time I well over a month, I saw my sister Bec yesterday. I mean like, IN PERSON. Face to face. It’s true that we never were closer than six feet, and were outside on her patio all of the time. But we had the opportunity to talk without aid of a screen. It was awesome. We took advantage of the new pandemic drinking rules and enjoyed a martini at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. We talked about friends and food and the fun we used to have in the olden days before there was a quarantine to keep us apart. The new normal.

Eating Irish
Every year, I prepare corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, and invite Bec and my brother Dave to share the meal with us. This year we were in Denver on March 17 because Bill had a doctor’s appointment. My plan was to have dinner the following Sunday after we returned to AZ. Except between buying the two corned beef briskets and March 22, coronavirus changed our lives. So I put the briskets in the freezer to be served another day. My freezer is very small, however, and since I’m trying to limit the number of trips to the grocery store I make, my freezer quickly filled up with meat, etc. So, yesterday I put the smaller of the corned beef briskets into the crock pot with some carrots and potatoes and, of course, cabbage, and Bill and I were Irish for an hour…..

Cookie Bar
I will admit that I’m getting tired of cooking three meals a day, even if “cooking” one of the meals only involves pouring cereal into a bowl and throwing in a few blueberries. In addition to preparing meals, I need to keep Bill supplied with cookies. A day or so after eating the last cinnamon biscotti, I would see him peer hopefully into the cookie jar, only to once more be disappointed. But I didn’t really feel like scooping cookie dough onto tray after tray and run the oven for an hour. Suddenly I thought Eurika! I could make chocolate chip bars. The dough would fit in a sheet pan, and in 20 minutes I would have two dozen or more chocolate chip bars. Much easier, and just as tasty…..

Paint Me Satisfied
Bill finished his project of painting our patio, and it came out great. We love the color. We are very happy that the weather cooperated until the paint dried. Now what’s Bill going to do to keep busy?……

Ciao.