Broccoli is a beautiful thing.
A week ago my husband did the grocery shopping. Up until then I had done most of the grocery shopping. He would venture into a grocery store to buy meat when he felt like smoking a pork loin or a pork butt. Yummm. He makes the best pulled pork. And his barbecue sauce, oh my.
"Why," I ask "do they call it a pork butt when it's actually a shoulder, while the ham comes from that portion of pig anatomy that I would think of as the butt."
Why was he doing the grocery shopping? Corona Virus. The Pandemic that has grounded us Senior Citizens and those of us who may be immunocompromised. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified my demographic as "People who need extra precautions." Thank goodness, I'm not immunocompromised just old. ("Immunocompromised" -- a word I had to add to my dictionary to get rid of the squiggly red line. Damn you, Covid-19. Which I also had to add to my dictionary.)
Why him and not me? Because he is much younger than I. Being a retired veterinarian, he can turn all doctory on you at a moment's notice. He decided I should not go into grocery stores until this pandemic has run its course. Now I don't like being told what to or not to do, but I thought it through and decided to trust science. I did point out that at 60, he is only just below the 65 the CDC marked for needing "extra precautions."
When I was a kid, we could only afford enough of whatever to last until it was gone, then Daddy would buy enough more. That meant one kind of cold cereal, one flavor of ice cream, you know. Since I've been financially able to, when we open the last of something, I replace it with two more before we run out. Except milk, bread, and fresh produce. And candy bars. I can't keep extras of them or I would just eat them until they were gone.
I had been doing my regular shopping which means three or so times a week to pick up this and that. I had made my once-a-month run to Costco on March 10th so we were pretty well-stocked on things from there. They were already out of toilet paper, but we didn't need any (and still don't) so I didn't think anything about that. Little did I know.
I didn't make him a written list. I requested milk, bread, and fresh produce. Especially citrus fruit, broccoli, and cauliflower. Generally speaking fruits and many vegetables are just not as good cooked. Frozen broccoli and cauliflower is just not as good as fresh.
He was shocked at the state of the produce section. No potatoes or onions. No green peppers. He cooks Cajun and you can't cook Cajun without onions, bell peppers, and celery. They did have celery. So I have been eating frozen broccoli that had been in the freezer so long, there was a bit of freezer burn to be trimmed away.
They also didn't have kitty litter and we were running low. I know, first world problems.
So yesterday he went again. Now I have broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, cuties, grapes, strawberries. And kitty litter. I am so happy.
And he's going to build me a raised bed in the back yard. I will garden for the first time in four years. I can't grow citrus or mangoes here. And probably won't grow broccoli, but all kinds of lettuce, green beans, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers. I can have fresh produce, at least in season.
Do you think I should stock up on kitty litter? Surely people won't hoard kitty litter.
