Sequestration Meal #98

These days, one has to look for small joys. While much of the rest of the world seems to be getting coronavirus under control, the United States is doing...whatever it is doing. And I suspect we'll continue on in our petri dish for a while. So this means I am still getting my groceries from far and near but never in person.

On a recent Baldor Specialty Foods order I piggybacked on, I decided to try some imported vegan deli meat from Italy. The first one I wanted to try was the vegan carpaccio. (Fortunately, Baldor has adjusted somewhat to its new at-home customer base, and you can buy some things one at a time rather than 12 at a time--I do not want to risk trying something like this by the case!) The brand was Mia. I've never seen that in a grocery store.

I've also never eaten non-vegan carpaccio, so I can't tell you whether it's convincing as that or not. I can tell you, however, that it was amazing! I had it with sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, a makeshift cheesy spread I made out of odds and ends in the fridge, black olives, and some Wasa crackers.

You don't really need to see the Wasa crackers, but there they are.

This time around I only bought the carpaccio and the proscuitto, but based on this I would be tempted to buy everything they make! It's pricey--It cost me about $7 for two servings--but I don't get to eat out anymore and I'd definitely pay more for a meal like this if I were to get it out. (You have to rationalize where you can.) At this rate, Baldor may yet get me to place my own order.

It's also the season for golden cherries, which I splurged on.

I mean, one needs to have some golden cherries once a year. One just does.

I think this represents a shift in how I'm viewing my isolation. I used to say we were all basically at the airport occupying ourselves until the plane comes after a long delay. Now we've realized the plane is never coming and we have to decide whether to live in the airport, a la the infamous Mehran Karimi Nasseri, or try to catch a bus or something. In other words, it's time to accept that this will be, for an indefinite period of time, possibly years, the main way someone like me gets food in the U.S., because I am living in the airport. So sometimes, being a person never spending money dining out or having pizza delivered or anything, and being a person spending almost no money on gasoline and things, and all of that, and in the interests of my overall well being (which includes not going stark raving mad), I will sometimes need to pay a bit more for variety. And that's okay.

I hope to live my life with people again someday. I expect that I will, sooner than I would like, have to go out to work at the library at least a couple of times a month. But I will continue to work as hard as I can to minimize the risk as much as I can, for me and for everyone else.

So on the plus side, that means I get to have treats again! Even slightly pricey ones! And honestly, it does feel better, accepting it. I'll continue hoping for a vaccine and sensible elections, but in the end, I know there will be ways I can continue to take care of myself no matter what.

That was long; if you made it this far, thank you for reading!