The Isolation Cafe : 10 months later

Not trying to brag or anything,  but I've been successfully creating, plating and serving an array of delicious dishes at the Isolation Cafe for 10+ months now. 

In a covid pandemic, 10 months in the restaurant business is an achievement. 

Ok, ok... so maybe if you give away all the food and don't pay employees (me) it's less admirable and can hardly be defined as a restaurant.

But here's the thing; I'm still meeting expectations and achieving goals so IMHO a little self congratulations is warranted anyway. 

 

What were the goals?

Eat well. Healthy,  varied and interesting. 

Use this time to try new recipes,  perfect older ones.

Learn more about myself, food and kitchen appliances. (Yes,  you heard me correctly. Don't tell me you are familiar and use, all the bells and whistles on your appliances.)

Avoid the temptation to luxuriate with in-restaurant dining despite the risk - because it is one of our little pleasures.

Thai sticky rice: I'm on the right track but it's gonna need some tweaking to increase the stickiness. This dessert, like many Thai recipes, appears to improve overnight. Perhaps the challenge is less recipe-based and more about learning patience? (Oh boy...)

Banana cake/bread: A recipe I've been using and fussing with for 20 years.  I hold dear the belief that because it contains whole wheat and fruit, I can justify the addition of chocolate chips by the handful. In this case, a little online grocery purchasing error meant we were in possession of a crazy quantity of bananas - and 6 of them were dark brown in the fruit bowl at the end of the week. That's mandatory banana bread baking, right there!

Bread pudding with a twist: 

The day I found chocolate cranberry bread in the supermarket was the day I new bread pudding could be WAY elevated!

This version features increased amounts of cranberries and chocolate, by my own hand. The whole deal is drowned in a sweetened egg mix and baked till the edges are golden and crisp.

It was served with a measure of heavy cream... while the pudding was still slightly warm. 

I could live off this. 

Flaxseed Muffins: Little bites of something that tastes like carrot cake, but in fact is better for you and therefore can be eaten for breakfast, without guilt! I took many of the cues for recipe altering from taste-testing over YEARS in Aspen. One of the cafe's there has something called "kitchen sink muffins" and I think I'm getting close to replicating them. 

Scones - the real kind.... how they are made in England and New Zealand. You'll think they are more like an American biscuit, than the US version of a scone. Not sweet. Just buttery good and then you plonk on some lemon curd or jam, and a dollop of heavy whipped cream or clotted cream. 

Uh-huh... the freezing and thawing of mini-pies was an experimental success. We defrosted slowly and warmed them again in a muffin tin. Seriously though, they are 99% as good as when fresh. 

Lattes are also improving.  While I'm proud of my milk foaming skills now,  I'll be the first to admit that you're unlikely to see hearts, ferns or swans gracing the top of any drink I make you. Your choices are: Blob of foam. Or no foam.  The end. 

The Isolation Farm is harvest-ready!

Remember back when I had nothing better to do than watch seeds sprout and sprouts grow? Real Estate was super slow and distancing all but thwarted any efforts I made to connect with clients and show houses. 

So... real estate is huge again but I haven't forgotten my little green babies in the back yard. A month ago they were spindly and pasty, barely able to tolerate the swings in day and night temps, torrential downpours and random hail storms. Today that 4' x 4' raised bed is a jungle. Veggies are shading each other with their leafy goodness and I'm picking them for dinner, for space creation... to give the remaining ones the best chance possible to reach their full and delicious potential.

So far we are going gangbusters with the swiss chard, mesclun lettuce collection, radishes and hot peppers. The strawberries have mostly met their end in squirrel mouths, the zucchinis are only 2" long and the yellow squash and bush beans are just getting going. Tomatoes that were pasty, got some Miracle Grow and now blossom. Green onions, found hidden beneath neighbors appear to be doing ok and the herbs - well they've gone crazy!!!

 I feel invigorated and satisfied when I make my early morning rounds in the garden. Our Isolation Farm (boredom project, grand experiment) is in no uncertain terms, a success!

Who loves pizza? WE love pizza!

Once in a while, Mark and I order pizza. It's a guilty pleasure for sure and on top of that, I feel the need to apologize that it's generally Domino's. Why? I dunno. We live in a foodie town and gourmet pizza abounds. Plus who doesnt have a friend or two from NYC or NJ... someone who delights in scolding you for eating chain restaurant pizza, non-authentic pizza. Pizza that just isnt "the real thing".

Near the end of "shelter in place" my adorable lender, Susie Kiesling (Elevations Credit Union) mailed me a gift. It was one of those fancy pizza cutters. A half moon shaped board that you rock back and forth to cut the pizza. It was compelling. I had to make pizza in order to cut pizza.

A new hobby was born. The Isolation Cafe was expanding its menu!

Check it out:

Fig and Pig pizza.
Thin crust, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, figs and arugula. Then a wee drizzle of a balsamic glaze to finish. Mmmmm.... delish.

Then a more traditional pepperoni with peppers, onions and mushrooms. I loaded the tomato sauce with garlic and after a hearty helping of grated mozzarella, added parmigiano-reggiano sprinkles.

In case you were wondering, the dough I used was a traditional olive oil bread dough. Basically just water, oil, salt, sugar and yeast, then few cups of flour and ... done! It proofs for 2 hours in the oven, then is chilled for a couple of hours in the fridge to make it easier to work. 

I roll about 2/3 lb of the dough into a round thats 1/4" thick and put that on a pizza shovel that is covered in corn meal. Quickly load it with sauce and toppings before sliding it onto a super hot pizza stone and cooking the heck out of it for just 12 mins.

* Dont leave it too long on the pizza shovel and dont load it with toppings until ready to shove into the oven. It gets challenging to work with fairly quickly, IMHO and darn that pizza stone is hard to clean once burned with cheese!  LOL

Italian night.... with a twist

Facebook. I have a love-hate relationship with it. When it's not bombarding me with ads or winding me up with fake news, ignorant and discriminatory re-posts and commentaries,  I find myself grateful for connection to loved ones far away, new recipes or life hacks. <sigh>

This week I was inspired and motivated by a lady who turned her focaccia's into beautiful works of art. All edible!  I tried my hand at one and out of it was born Italian date night with Mark.

Fresh homemade bread and spaghetti al dente. (Raise your hand if you DON'T think you were Italian in a past life?!)

Im sure there was an Italian desert that I could have whipped up, but the truth is, there was a small bunch of browning bananas on the counter. If they didn't end their lives as banana bread tonight, they would have been fruit fly utopia by tomorrow! 

One of the positive outcomes of COVID quarantine is small changes in behavior, don't you think? Like not wasting food.

And then the Pandemic Tears came

Monday morning. I made the mistake of starting my day, my week off by rolling over in bed and reaching for my cellphone. A "what's new with the world?" type check-in, while sipping coffee.

I've been slowly working up to a resilience toward Facebook posts that are divisive, negative, political or even COVID-19 newsy. That in itself took 6+ weeks.

Today I turned attention to an eclectic array of articles. News, public interest, Youtube travel vlogs and viral tidbits.

Then I realized I had not worked up a resilience to the changes in our world since a pandemic was unleashed, but rather I had compartmentalized it along with all the associated emotions.

All of a sudden, watching sweet and inspiring clips, I cried. Large tears of grief, sadness, fear, loss. Deep and soulful. Longing for life as it used to be.

Prepare yourself. The following videos bring it home, fast.

Hugs. Social contact and physical contact in general. GONE. If they're not in your bubble, it is frowned upon to hug a friend, grandparent, neighbor, mentor, kid with a booboo... anyone.

Handshakes are gone too.  Smiles are hidden under masks. In essence, gone because what is a smile if you can't see it, share it, catch it?

Eye contact, while not forbidden, seems to be missing in a big way when people are afraid of people.

COVID-19 has stolen contact with others from me and nothing makes that more obvious than watching a movie/documentary made not that long ago, that is filled with contact. Humans have always shown care to another by holding a hand, giving a hug, placing a hand on a shoulder.

With every interaction, Michelle Obama reaches out to touch a person. It's a beautiful, comforting, connecting thing... that I'm sorry to say, makes me cringe right now. I have (sadly) been reprogrammed!

Have you met Kara and Nate?
Mark and I have been Kara and Nate vlog followers since early 2018. This young Tennessee couple set the audacious goal of visiting 100 countries in a year of travel and began that journey in 2016.

One year morphed into 4 years and until 2 months ago, they were uploading 5 minute videos to Youtube about their traveling and destination adventures on a regular basis. 100+ countries and 7 continents later... I was hooked. (Me and a million other people!)

Kara and Nate fled the Philippines just before it locked down  all airports. They spent 3 weeks living in a hotel in Singapore before making the hard decision to come home. The video above documents the journey. Travel in times of COVID is sobering.

COVID-19 has stolen our freedom to roam. The ability to eat street food and investigate new places. But for me the tears rolled as I watched footage of airports - empty. Lifeless. There is a special place in my heart for airports and for me, this was like watching an old friend get sick and suffer.


For Kara and Nate the nomad life is on hold, indefinitely. I'm sad for them, but I'm sad for the rest of us, living vicariously through them too. If you, yourself can't travel, then watching someone else muddle through a border-crossing, make language and currency faux pas and simultaneously have their time of their life, is the next best thing.

The grief and anxiety of not knowing when it will be a possibility again and whether other countries will welcome us or shun is complex.

I am wondering whether we will know when travel is less (COVID-19) dangerous to ourselves or another country?  Will not traveling at all be just as damaging to the wanderlust of our souls and the struggling economies of our international friends.

Perhaps I also grieve because there are no answers, there are no solutions right now.  

Vacation inside a Pandemic Staycation

Who's on vacation? I am, in a way. Stay-cation is more appropriate, I guess... but none-the-less, work is slow, I get up later than normal each morning and I do more "me" projects than things that result in income. This is the kinda life I have on vacation!

After 8 weeks of this stay-cation though... I'm starting to lose my mind. I miss socializing with friends and clients, I miss meals out, I love my house but wish my life had wider boundaries. My wings need to be stretched!!!

So..... Mark and I took a road trip of sorts this weekend. A vacation from our stay-cation. We ventured into another county. We drove the highway and passed through a town that wasn't Boulder. Oh my!

Welcome to Red Feather Lakes. A quirky little part of northern Colorado, where the high plains meet the foothills and rolling ground is the base for beautiful, colorful granite formations, looming pine trees and groves of aspen trees. Pine cones litter the ground...and there are swamps - black and oily looking. Every open meadow features at least one seasonal stream, flowing melted snow downhill to somewhere else.

Birds were singing. Chipmunks dashing. Squirrels barking up high.

At the Lady Moon trailhead the parking lot was full, the toilets were closed until further notice and no-one was wearing a mask. Hello vacation from what has become normal COVID life!

Once out on the trail, there was barely a soul to be seen and we actually enjoyed running across two ladies, out for a horse ride together.


We stopped for not one, but two picnics and enjoyed 5.8 miles of bliss the Colorado great outdoors.

Self isolation lessons from my cat

Once upon a time, we came home to our pets. We marveled at how they were overjoyed to see us, dying to get outside for a quick walk, were grateful for a breath of fresh air or the chance to greet the neighbors with SUCH enthusiasm.

Then we became our pets. Trapped inside, day in and day out, little faces pressed against the window starring with wonderment at squirrels in the trees, the Amazon delivery vehicle and jumping at the chance to drive to the supermarket while wearing something akin to a muzzle.

Our pets are now teaching us how to find zen in a life of limited outings and few friends.

For me personally, lessons are being learned left and right, from Wrigley the Cat. Here is a chap who delights in chasing bugs, sniffing flowers, watching birds and daring to cross the street to meet a new person. He is a constant source of entertaining antics, a snuggly body when loneliness sets in and a grand (understated) teacher of life's little lessons.

Don't put your hands on others people's food. You'll get in trouble.

Stop to smell the flowers. They won't be here next week.

It's ok to pretend your life is more glam than it is. Imagination is important.

Nothing beats clean sheets!

Don't have PJs of your own? Borrow some. Get comfortable for the long haul.

It's ok to be be vulnerable.

Projects are the key to self isolation. Take frequent naps to stay focused and productive.

Human contact is vital for happiness. Reach out to someone who is also alone.

You don't have to explain all of your behavior in isolation. 

There will never be a better time to catch up on naps missed since 2018!

Cranky days happen. Embrace all of your emotions.

Relearn to play. It's good for mind health.

Even indoors, opportunity knocks. Be ready.

Vit D from sunshine is better than Vit D from milk.

No point in eating pizza if you are just gonna feel guilty about it.

Find new paths to friendship.

Snow days bring their own kind of beauty and challenge. Suck it up.

In self isolation, there are more opportunities for breakfast in bed!