“Remoted” – Sunday Four (Easter!)

The morning had a leisurely start when Moose let us sleep close to 8:00. I mean no sacrilege, but it felt like a modern Easter miracle right here in Pawtucketville. It was much needed extra sleep due to the accidental finishing of the bottle of Merlot during and immediately after the Zoom cyber cocktail party with friends the previous night.

While enjoying coffee and a delightfully dry granola bar, there was a welcomed call from my Mom with Easter greetings, and various text messages from friends and colleagues with Easter wishes. There were no Easter decorations at the BungaLowell. It seems like a waste of effort for one person and the dogs don’t appreciate it. Plus, I gave most of the decorations away before moving back from Tennessee under project “less to pack.”

Early in the afternoon there was a knock on the door. It was two friends wearing masks and gloves and delivering a basket of cheer including fresh eggs from their chickens, bread, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper which was left on the “contact-free” table on the porch. The perfect isolation Easter Basket! Then, we chatted across the recommended safety span, they on the lawn and me on the porch with the window open. My friends really are thoughtful.

Later in the afternoon, the party-hardy neighbors across the street hosted another one of their open house gatherings that featured lots of people, double parked cars, and a couple hours of noisy dirt bike racing through the neighborhood. No helmets on the riders. No license plates on the bikes. No regard for rules or safety of any kind. But that could just be me being annoyed and judgey.

Greens and fettuccine.

Today’s menu lacked any and all of the traditional Easter fare. No ham or lamb, but those are things I generally wouldn’t cook any way. My meat repertoire is comically limited to hot Italian sausage, tube sausage, in-store roasted chicken, sliced Lebanon Sweet Bologna, and various brands of fake meat. There is no special reason, just easy to manage. 

Lunch was a mix of collard and carrot greens sauteed in olive oil with onion, garlic, sweet peppers, and carrot. This was tossed with jarred eggplant and red roasted pepper spread (sold at Big Lots, and so good!), and served over fettuccine. It was nothing like anything at previous years’ Easter dinners with family, but this is nothing like any Easter of the past. It was easy to make and quite yummy. 

Zucchini sushi.

Dinner was inspired by the helpful “Facebook Memories” feature and a recipe posted on my timeline in 2017. There was zucchini in the produce box that arrived the other day, and there was cream cheese, sriracha, carrots, canned tuna, and a vegetable peeler in the kitchen, so it was “zucchini sushi” for the win. The next time, the zucchini needs to be sliced a bit thinner, so it will be less tricky to roll. The combination of whipped cream cheese and sriracha sauce is very tasty.

Today’s indoor entertainment offerings included a movie with the stiffest acting by an entire cast that may have ever graced the screen (“The Killing of a Sacred Deer” with Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell), a nap on the couch with the dogs, and my new social distancing hobby of online grocery shopping. The stuff that caught my eye today and made its way into the cart is amusing. There was Spam in my cart. Yes, Spam, which has never been much more than a subject for mockery in my usual life, but there were faint childhood memories of sliced fried Spam frolicking around the edges of my mind. It was a temporary situation and was moved to “save for later.” It seems I’m not ready to commit either way yet.