Feasting Together, Hard. And Appreciating It.

Below are photos of a Kamayan feast for 7 in October 2023 at Kulinarya Filipino Eatery, Commercial Drive location. I say seven, but we each also took a massive take-out box of food home afterward too. To me, this is the epitome of post-pandemic eating and a sign of the times - we were able to do this style of meal, diving in with our hands in as large a group as we wanted. Now a lot of people wouldn't want to eat without (many) utensils, and it was fun because it was different for us. But it was messy and I basically couldn't do much else but eat (put off looking things up on my phone, pressing any buttons, etc.).

Originally we would have had 9 people but the restaurant could have handled a single table three times that size on one side of the room. It was so much fun, especially since we were not that familiar with the cuisine and had lots to learn about Filipino food. And it was just a really nice friendly place to have a celebration with a group. Had to book things and pay at least 50% ahead of time but worth it.

Post-pandemic Nancyland 2.0

The switch to Nancyland2.blogspot.com was due to changes from the platform, but for Nancyland, this transition will mark the palpable boundary between two "eras" - life before and after the pandemic. I'm enjoying running a food club and visiting events and restaurants with the members. People have generally stopped wearing masks in my city except for specific reasons (for example, if you have been sick, visiting a doctor's office, getting a vaccine in a pharmacy, or generally being more cautious as an individual). The previous pandemic pantry posts were written in a time of great uncertainty with no vaccine on the horizon and very little clarity about how the virus operated. 

Announcements of an effective vaccine, its approval for use, and imminent availability came in December 2020. Since then we've had multiple boosters, death rates and severe hospitalization cases came down, the concern about the health care system collapsing under the burden of the effects has been lifted, and being in public is very similar to what it looked like before the pandemic. Personal space is a bit wider (already a bigger radius in Canada than some other countries before. Would be interesting to see if personal space rankings swapped around at all). For example, you can see people lining up at coffee shops with a bit more space, almost at 1.5m apart if there's room. But we have returned to comfortable hugging and shaking hands. My eating includes a good chunk of going out to restaurants. But the pandemic has ignited the home restaurant delivery service industry. Which is very appealing to a single introvert who loves eating in pajamas and slippers while keeping the cat company (rather than abandoning her to go out). Patio spaces and street "park" areas that replaced car parking spaces with seating for businesses increased here. And everyone learned how to wash their hands better. My posts will focus now on my very best eating experiences in the Vancouver, BC area. I do cook and have a new appliance that inspires me to try cooking things that I normally didn't before. 

Take good care of yourselves, like this special cardboard xiao long bao carrier, from Shanghai Wonderful in Richmond, takes care of these precious pork dumplings filled with soup. The little compartments prevented any ruptures and tiny flooding catastrophes. We'll "clink" dumplings soon. 

The Pandemic Pantry: Cooking Covid-19 Style, Days 62 - 84

At this point, the "lockdown" was lasting much longer than everyone expected initially.  We were lucky compared to other countries so calling it a lockdown is a bit silly.  We were always able to go out for walks, but at the beginning, we were urged to stay at home as much as possible, and if walking, to stay close by. I was working remotely and public spaces and restaurants were closed (or only doing take-out and delivery).  

Day 62: Fri May 15 - Sat Jun 6, 2020

The Pandemic Pantry: Cooking Covid-19 Style, Days 48 - 61

Day 48: Fri May 1

Japanese curry, jasmine rice, George Forman-grilled chicken.

At  this point, my meals were getting more repetitive, and I was working through my frozen leftover portions.  Here is my Japanese curry revitalized with more vegetables that I cooked, served on top of jasmine rice since I ran out of Japanese shorter-grained rice, and some grilled chicken.  My little George Forman grill is still going strong after decades.

Day 49: Sat May 2

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on toasted bread ends served with coffee. 

Gotta appreciate the butts of the loaf when you are running out of bread and don't always get the bread you ordered in your delivery.  I wound up getting gifted a friend's breadmaker later on, and I'm never really going to run out of bread again. 

Day 50: Sun May 3

Paella-style rice with sausage (I know, not authentic), chicken, black olives, and chickpeas.

I'm now writing these notes months later and things have faded in my memory, but I think this was quite tasty. 

Day 51: Mon May 4

Roast beef, gravy, roasted vegetables and new potatoes served with a hefty California pinot noir. Strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. 

This was the height of my pandemic cooking, I think. Maybe only my second time making a roast beef even though it's one of my all time favourite dishes.  It turned out spectacularly well. It was tender and juicy and perfectly medium rare.  In my research, I actually found Jamie Oliver's video extremely helpful.  There was more gravy in the pitcher.  And this roast fed me (plus treats for my cat) for days (probably froze some as well).

 

Day 52: Tue May 5

Toasted hot cross bun with black forest ham for breakfast. 

I loved those Save-On Foods hot cross buns.  Such a good deal - I bought the big pack and separated them and froze them so that I could toast them up in the oven anytime.

Day 52 and 53: Tue May 5 and Wed May 6

Sandwich of leftover roast beef on toasted rye with roasted veg on the side.  Some sort of whipped cream topped dessert...probably a makeshift version of banana cream pie or maybe tapioca pudding.

Sharpened my knife and shaved some of my roast for some excellent sandwiches. Probably put some horseradish mixed with mayo in there. 

Day 54: Thu May 7

Avocado, ham, and Japanese Mayo on Rye. 

Hey, I was doing avocado toast before some of you were born.  It's a great breakfast. Roast beef tacos later that day. 

Day 55: Fri May 8

No photo.  I assume I was still happily eating leftover roast beef. 

Day 56: Sat May 9

Nachos; pickled daikon - an unsuccessful attempt at  "chicken mu"; open-faced egg salad sandwiches.

Day 57: Sun May 10

Full egg breakfast with sausage, pan-fried grape tomatoes, rye toast, cucumber, and mandarin.

I did tend to buy a sausage because it keeps in the fridge well and its easy to toss into different dishes.

  

Day 57 and 58: Sun May 10 and Mon May 11

Dark roast Jif creamy peanut butter.  I'm guessing I had it on toast but also had some spoonfuls straight.

The old  dark roasted coffee trend has reached peanut butter.  I feel the same way about this peanut butter as I do the coffee and the previous French press coffee. Yes, it's a stronger, roasted flavour but it's not really better than the smoother flavour of the lighter roast, just different.  I went back to original roast after this jar.  But it was fun to have some Jif as I was using other brands before this.  I also had some jars of more "natural" peanut butters and I've got to say, I really like the over-processed, high sugar, high salt creamy smooth ones.  I even wound up "fixing" a jar of natural peanut butter by adding salt and sugar. 

Day 59: Tue May 12

Mac 'n Cheese with sausage and peas, raw veggies on the side, maybe potato salad.

As I look back on my cooking, I know that my lockdown cooking was very comfort food-oriented and let's face it, childish.  This particular photo of my meal on a pink divided plate really says it all. 

Day 60: Wed May 13

Happy face chef's salad.

I made a lot of big salads and it was easier to get in a lot of fibre and veggies when cooking all the time in the summer season with good produce, instead of going out to eat.  I think I lost a little tiny bit of weight over those months. 

Day 61: Thu May 14

Cabbage (sui chow) and sausage soup with potatoes, and carrots.  Topped with greek yoghurt and parsley and served with crackers and tortilla chips. 

This mostly veggie soup was very buttery.  I discovered how long sui choy lasts in the fridge, so it's a good pandemic vegetable for minimizing number of grocery trips or deliveries.