Due to the upheaval, and because I’m in a job that has the flexibility required, I’ve been working from home for the past three weeks (or close to it). I thought, honestly, that I’d be able to do a bunch more around the house, try new recipes every night, and in general, use my freed up commute time to do other things.

Not so much, unfortunately – since everyone is in the same boat, typical working hours have expanded.

But the great part of all of this is the fact that people are sincerely checking up on those around them, even if that means taking the first few minutes of a conference call to ask how family is, how they’re handling working from home, if they’ve read any good books or listened to podcasts. It’s amazing how the physical disconnection that has been forced on all of us has lead to a feeling of camaraderie.

I’m talking with colleagues way more often these days, reaching out, and being reached out to, not only to talk about work and the current situation, but also to discuss books and food recipes and pets and pretty much anything under the sun. Which has the bonus effect of motivating me to read when I’m not in front of my monitors, or find and try new recipes when I’m asked if I have anything for a tomato sauce or bread, or sweets.

And so, while I haven’t really been experimenting during the week days (using those, instead, for the long marinating or day long simmering that would normally be done on the weekend), I have been pouring through my Italian cookbooks and SeriousEats.com to find things to try with the ingredients I have on hand. So far, I’ve made a Tomato sauce with Onion and Butter, and a Detroit Style Pizza, both of which have gone really well. I’ll get the Tomato Sauce written up soon, and add it at as a post. Meanwhile, the Detroit-Style pizza can be found through Serious Eats, and is pretty easy to put together. (I used a 9×13 cake pan instead of the one defined – cooked the pizza for the full 15 minutes, and it did just fine. Also, follow the directions for the amount of sauce to add to it – MM wanted more sauce, but regretted it in the end.)

It may be dinner tonight again. 🙂

Last night, however, was the Red-Wine Marinated Beef Tenderloin recipe, with a side of Dijon roasted potatoes. I meant to take a picture of the potatoes, but we ate them way too fast. I’ll write something about those as well… but you may have to do without a picture for the time being.

Stay safe, everyone!