Christina's blog

For so many of us, it’s just another weekend in the same place we’ve been for months, living and working day to day; looking for work, dealing with school, struggling or just approximating living. Saturday, Sunday? Who cares? It might just as well be Tuesday or Thursday.

But it is, in fact Sunday so let’s make pizza.

I think a lot during these days. I was just talking to my oldest and closest friend about these past months and how, for the most part, I have been doing ok. I have had moments of being low, but overall, I was managing the isolation; being cut off from those I love best (outside of my glorious husband for whom I am so grateful). But as January and February laid their grey cloaks on us and the cold days drag on and on, I find myself in a bit of a funk. I WANT my people back. I WANT my travel life back; I WANT people and the world to be well and healthy and thriving again.

2020 was filled with painful challenges, from losing loved ones to losing jobs to losing ourselves in the chaos that filled the year. But no matter how dark, I believe there’s always the chance to let the light in.

While filled with sadness for the loss of so much, I think we have so much to be grateful for as we move into the new year. I think we are missing the boat if we aren’t counting our blessings.

We are one month into 2021 and the times are still challenging. Sure, there’s hope and optimism as there is with every new year. And this year, that hope feels more important to us than ever.

January is behind us, after months of Zoom meetings, pushing off decisions and treading water day to day in the still with us pandemic, the cesspool of unemployment or the desperation of working until the breaking point. Some days we feel like we get nothing done and there’s so much to do. It would be so easy to just let go, but we can’t.

It’s been months and months of the virus and even if the news around the vaccine is good, it’s not like we’ll be partying shoulder to shoulder in our favorite pizza joint anytime soon.

I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. The pandemic blues are finally getting to me. I’ve been relatively okay until now. I’m exhausted by so much: by the constant fear, the deep grief; the stress of business and work (or lack of work); family worries; mortgage and rent distress; hunger, illness and just an overall low buzz of anxiety about the state of the world and the future.

There are certain kitchen rhythms that I will always associate with these past months of the pandemic. Pot after pot of what we consider “comfort food”:

Here we are, in the run up to Thanksgiving and whether you’re alone, cooking for your immediate household or cooking for an intrepid crowd that decided to brave the airways and highways to get to your table, you’re thinking about this year’s feast of gratitude.

It might be the first time you have taken on the task of cooking this very special meal. It may be that in the past, you have dined with a group, each of whom brought a dish. And maybe that’s the only dish you know how to make. You realize that you do have to serve more than mashed potatoes, as lovely as they are.

I don’t know about you, but I was seriously hoping that Covid-19 would be on the downswing by the time the holiday season rolled in. But with cases still surging, it sure doesn’t look that way.

It’s the time of year when we traditionally gather with friends and loved ones to celebrate all the blessings of our lives. And while many of us have a lot to be grateful for, there are many among us grappling with exhaustion, trauma, loss of life, loss of livelihood and loss of life as we knew it.

There will be no traditional anything this year.

I have written about this topic before and I will write about it again, I am sure. I shouldn’t write when I am angry and exhausted from social media’s seemingly inherent meanness, but here I am. I write sometimes to vent. Bear with me or bail while you can.

Someone wrote to me on Facebook asking about acrylamides. I confess that my first response was acryl-a-who? There seems to be more and more “stuff” out there for us to worry about when it comes to our food. And while some of it is legit, some of it isn’t worth our stress.

For me, acrylamides falls into the latter category. But here is what I discovered. Now it’s up to you to decide of it’s worth your worry.