I’VE suddenly realised we’ve been making lots more meals from scratch during lockdown. We’ve always liked to cook stuff using fresh ingredients where we can but we also got takeaways, grabbed ready meals or bought pizzas from the shop when we were too busy, tired – or just lazy.
At the start of lockdown – which, by the way, was an incredible four-and-a-half months or about 290 days ago – it was a necessity. Some random things like ham, rice and brown sugar are still scarce now but back then, once the rabid stockpilers got to work, so many things sold out so quickly and unexpectedly, that we had to raid the backs of cupboards and go on freezer exhibitions to find ingredients to make things.
It was good. It was something else to do when you couldn’t do much and now we’ve just got used to doing it. I can now get groceries delivered to the door but there are far fewer ready meals in the orders now and more fresh ingredients.
I also realised that when I say fresh, that doesn’t exactly mean healthy! Looking back through my photos and facebook, I see it’s mainly comfort food we’ve been making. And why not? In times of stress, worry or sadness, sometimes a gooey brownie or an unctuous moussaka works wonders.
So here is a round up of some of the things we made and a recipe for my decadent but ridiculously simple gingernut and brandy log. Simple if you can get gingernuts, brandy and fresh cream, that is.
Bon apetit!
COVID Diaries 2020/21 
2 thoughts on “Tuesday July 28 – COVID comfort food”