1. I think I'm more discombobulated by the coronavirus than I have realized. Saturday I completely forgot to do something for work and even when I thought of it yesterday, I still wasn't sure if I'd done it or not. That's not like me. It's hard to focus. Are you all finding that?
2. In exciting news, my beloved brother in law, Dennis, contributed a 12 pack of toilet paper to the family. Woo-hooo!
3. I came across these two things the other day. I think the pin is my great aunt Jennie. My mother's aunt on her father's side. The key is from my grandparent's house in Maine. This was the key to the kitchen door. They eventually had a new lock put in after my grandfather had his silver stolen but this key was still there when my mother and I moved him out of that house so I took it. I can't tell you how strongly the sight of it brings back that tiny garage, the squeak of the screen door and their kitchen, which I thought was amazing because of its built-in flour bin and pull out cutting board.
4. I'm seeing all my friends' posts about cooking but I must admit I haven't been cooking as much. Part of it's because Ernie's not eating a lot, or wanting much besides his gruel and the boys kind of eat on their own a lot. Last night, though, I had some pork chops that I had to use. I don't cook pork chops all that often…usually when I do I make salt and pepper pork chops which I do with thin chops and just sear in a pan (here's that recipe, and here's another that I LOVED back when I could eat garlic). Owen's on a pork chop kick thought so I had bought a package of chops…somewhere between thin and thick. I ended up making a quick dry rub of dry mustard, smoked paprika and kosher salt. I rubbed all the chops with it then seared one side of each chop in a cast iron skillet just enough to give it color. Then I laid them all on a sheet pan and put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. They were stunning. I boiled some little gold potatoes from Farmer Greg and served it with mixed greens. Ernie ate his entire dinner!!! They really were stupidly good as well as simple. It made me feel like I'd cooked though. Owen was impressed so I was happy.
Onward.
That does look like a delicious dinner!