Louie has definitely been putting all of his swimming energy into cooking. Yesterday he thawed beautiful pieces of frozen Atlantic cod. My favorite cooking style for fish is stove top in a skillet with butter and lemon. Easy breezy. But the more steps in a recipe, the more Louie likes it. So, he checked YouTube and made gorgeous, flaky baked cod with lemon slices, cherry tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, bay leaves, and salt. Then he upped the ante and just had to make his own tartar sauce – but he had to buy the necessary ingredients first. In the end, it was a beautiful dinner. Never mind that we did not eat until 9:30 p.m.
The World Health Organization has determined that even though a person has recovered from Covid-19, it is still possible that he or she can contract it again. That’s not comforting at all. This is a reminder that we can’t let down our guard. In the words of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the novel coronavirus is different from the flu because “…it is both very contagious…and it appears to be more lethal than the flu.”
And it doesn’t hurt to be reminded how long the virus survives on various surfaces. According to Dr. Gupta: up to three days on stainless steel and plastic; 24 hours on cardboard and likely the same for clothing because like cardboard, clothing is absorbent. He added that the virus does not “stick well” on surfaces that move. And because of the way viruses move the through the air, “They don’t want to necessarily land on objects.” So, if you’re moving, it’s unlikely the virus will stick to your clothes.
This is why I’m grateful for the balancing act, “Cocktails with a Curator” at the Frick. Before the 7pm Cheer, I was finishing up the second installment, Rembrandt’s “Polish Rider.” Considered one of the great poems of the world, it was just as captivating as “St. Francis in the Desert.” But I was maybe more intrigued with the recommended cocktail: “Szarlotka,” a typically Polish drink with Polish vodka made with bison grass (grown in a primeval forest in Europe) mixed with a little cinnamon and chilled. The mocktail (no alcohol): Chilled apple cider with cinnamon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NotIFQRPnjo
I had neither of the main ingredients, so fresh coffee it was for me.