We are in week two our 14-day self isolation and I am sad to say that on day two we had to start over again. Why? Basically, food. Pâté to be specific.
A Kiwi couple arrived at our little aire to spend their last night in Europe before putting their motorhome in storage and heading home to New Zealand. With our usual meerkat curiosity, we had our binoculars focused intently so we could keep an eye on them. Once they settled in, we settled down.
“OMG, she’s coming here!!”, Steven hissed. He does that when he’s on high alert. Then we heard, “Hello? Hello?” She speaks English!! Oh, happy days! The door flies open, Steven shakes her hand (!!) and when she offers us a few items from their fridge, a bit of lunch meat and pâté, cream and milk, we take it! All of it!
We enjoyed a nice chat (me, at least, from a distance) and after they left we sterilized everything as best we could, including ourselves. Then we enjoyed that pâté with our Happy Hour. Every single morsel of it. We are a bit starved for company, but clearly we need to work a little more on our boundaries. I don’t regret that pâté though, it was freaking delicious. (Thanks, Russ & Jane!)
It’s not like we have no food, we do. Preparedness is my middle name and I get it from my Mom. When I was growing up in Libya we had a store room for food and pantry staples, which we would ship over from the states once a year. Needless to say, there was a ton of stuff in those shipments and my mom always had the shelves stocked in our spare room. In the BAH, our house on Pine Lake in Washington state, we had what we called a Costco Room with a full-size refrigerator and plenty of shelving. After a good shop it was like a mini 7-11 with everything from toothpaste to huge boxes of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. It was awesome.
So, even in our teeny tiny Bijou, we are well stocked. And not just with food, but household goods, too. Steven accuses me of having a replicator, like in Star Trek, because I seem to pull stuff out of nowhere. For instance, yesterday he asked me to put dish washing liquid on our shopping list. He is an amateur when it comes to being prepared. I already have a giant bottle tucked away, obvs. I don’t usually like using my stash, but we seriously have to during this lockdown because Bijou is so overweight she might not get very far if we were allowed to start traveling again soon. I know it’s going to be a long while until that happens, but it’s my goal to put her on a reducing plan so she is in tippy top shape and ready to go when things calm down.
I am reading Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. It is an excellent book, but I find myself getting a little depressed because I cannot make any of the recipes offered. I’d love to make her Buttermilk Roasted Chicken. I can make my own buttermilk but I have no chicken. You might recall there was none available to buy when we did our last shop at Lidl before hunkering down. Also, so that we can conserve propane, we are not using our oven. I feel like I’m back in Morocco! We use propane only to heat water for showers and that’s it!
We really do not want to run out of propane because that means we would have to leave the campground to refill and we don’t want to leave. We fear we might not get back in, but even more importantly, if we get stopped by police, we’ll have a lot of explaining to do. That might be a totally irrational fear, but it’s a fear nonetheless. So I’m gonna have to get crafty in the kitchen. A friend did suggest that we contact the city and let them know we are here so that we can relax a little and we may do that one day, but right now, we are still a little reluctant to call attention to ourselves.
Anyway, what have I been cooking? Well, nothing exciting, I can tell you that. I started off with four packages of ground beef, along with some leeks, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes. I froze two packages of beef and cooked the other two. The first batch was taco rice with diced tomatoes and crème fraiche. With the second package I made the most delicious concoction of sautéed onion and ground beef spiced with the ras el hanout that we got in Morocco. It was very tasty, but it was even better the next day when I reheated it in the skillet and let it get crispy. Which I learned about from the book I’m reading.
One night we had fried potatoes and leeks, then with the leftovers I added some Gruyere cheese and eggs and made a frittata. I knew that Gruyere we got last minute at Lidl would come in handy! The frittata was wonderful and there was plenty left for breakfast the next day and I only used up four eggs! I used two more for dinner last night which was Shakshuka. I have six left, so I am being careful.
Steven made up some rice pudding the other day, which he loves and I never make. I suspect I will start making it though because we have a ton of rice on board. Oh, and I made some almond pancakes, too. Yummy. I used my replicator to conjure up some jam and syrup, too. 🙂
So, all in all, pretty basic but tasty stuff. We are a week away, maybe a little more, from a trip to the grocery store. I’m not very enthusiastic about going but, as part of the lockdown rules, we can’t go together. We will each have to make a trip on our own.
Finally, does it feel like we’re cranking out more blog posts than usual? We are, in fact, on a mission to beat our all time high, which is nine posts in one month. Mostly because we need something to do. This one is number nine. One to go.
NEXT UP: Number Ten!
Oh, hang on! We have an update! This evening we had unexpected visitors at the campground! Three people arrived on bikes and of course we had our bins focused on them. (It dawned on us that we might be getting slightly paranoid.) They came closer and closer until one lady was right outside! Turns out it was Hannah and Phill and a friend, out getting some exercise and grocery shopping. Hannah and Phill are the folks who helped us purchase Bijou. They stopped by to drop off our mail, how nice is that? We got two things, one was a discount card we had ordered for travel on Norwegian ferries and the other was a UV sanitizing contraption that we can use to clean our phones, credit cards, money, and so on. Ironically, we cannot use one of those for the same reason we need the other!
P.S. – Our lifetime supply of Snickers bars was depleted on day six 🙁
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Replicator! That’s funny! I’m jealous about all the cheese. Our Belgian chef does have house-made pâté, but I haven’t tried it yet. Glad to know you are doing well! Miss you guys!!
We miss you guys, too! How the world has changed since we wandered around Portugal, eating, drinking and having fun. I long for the olden days. 🙂
I was looking at a UV light the other day. I was leaning towards a wand type so I could carry it with me and to be able to run it across larger items. Unfortunately shipping is a problem for us right now. We’re headed out to do laundry and shopping today. Fingers crossed!
We are completely shocked that this UV thing was actually shipped and delivered! We ordered it from Amazon Germany and it took a while, but it arrived! I think they are worth having, particularly for phones and money. No doubt we’ll find other uses, too. If you get a wand, you can use it on others like the Men In Black! 🙂
I will check out the book. I got hooked on the Idaho potatoes after I saw your stash. I need to see your pantry. You have such good things to cook. Keep blogging.
I love those potatoes! They were one of the first thing my kids learned to make and they made them a lot! I like them most to put on top of things like Shephard’s Pie. Next time I do a food-related blog post I will try to put photos of my pantries, plural because I have things stashed everywhere!
I would like that.
You should check out Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, it’s an online series that was very interesting. I forget what site, but you shouldn’t have any trouble finding it. Stay safe!
I think it’s her Netflix series? We watched a few episodes when we were with our friends on Whidbey Island a while back. They were so well shot and I love Samin, she is so positive and full of joy. It’s infectious! Have you made her Buttermilk Chicken?
Doing good! Gotta love a good Frittata!
I’ve been making that frittata since one of my kid’s christening party (I can’t remember which one!!). Usually it goes in the oven, but I had to improvise. Hope you guys are doing well, we’re waiting for news of the arrival of your grandbaby! This is a stressful time and we wish love and safety to all of your family.
Keep up your blog posts. It’s interesting to hear how you are going in parked-up solo m/h self-isolation.
Thanks so much, we appreciate your kind words!
First time posting but I’ve been reading your blog for a long time. You’re doing a great job self isolating and I love how sly you get when someone comes near, lol! I hope you are able to get back to your park when you have to get groceries. There’s a security guard at our local grocery store who questions whether you have arrived in the province in the last 14 days or have any symptoms. Yes to any of those and he won’t let you in. Stay safe and hope you can get on your way soon. Cheers, Judi
That’s interesting about the security guard! Are you in Canada? We should be fine to go to the grocery store as it is just across the street, so we don’t have to drive there. (Thank goodness, right?!) Thanks for taking the time to comment, we really appreciate it!
Oh, you guys. You’re doing such a great job of staying positive in this time of such uncertainty. I love how creative you are with your cooking with limited resources. And you’re not complaining at all about what you don’t have! Sending hugs from Apalachicola, FL…
Awwww, hugs back atcha! We’re taking it all as a big challenge, but I do get a little twitchy when I see my stash dwindling. I am still not ready to break into our Norway stash, that’ll be the last things we touch! Stay safe!
Obvs! Steven must never doubt that there’s another one in “the cupboard” :-)) You’ll be able to publish your own cookbook with recipes made during your hidden weeks in France! I can only imagine how weird it is to see people entering your sanctuary – and I’d be keeping my distance too. I really have to get back to blogging, I must be keeping busy and just not know it :-))
I guess you guys are pretty happy with your home purchase now! A cool place to hunker down without the worry of it closing. Happy you are safe, but are you stocked up or do you need some lessons from the master? 🙂
Ha! A lifetime supply of Snickers. Pat would argue that there is no such thing. And he’s taken to reaching into our “replicator”, that void under the counter that seems to swallow lots of stuff, to find that one thing we need. You guys are maintaining your sense of humor at that’s a good thing. We hope you continue to be safe and well.
What I love most is reaching in and finding something we didn’t know we had, like a big bag of M&Ms! YAY! (They are all gone now. Boo. Probs for the best.)
Me! I am your replicator!!! :)))) I have exactly the same squirreling tendencies and while in the peaceful times Brad makes fun of me, now he’s quite happy 🙂