The blog has been quiet this past week. Work has not been.
Next week should be better, and tomorrow is Presidents’ Day, which in our house means a long weekend and a chance to get some end-of-winter things taken care of. Today it’s rainy and cold and I have big batch cooking plans for this afternoon and tomorrow. More posts are coming – I promise.
- Valentine’s Day – Y’all. I almost forgot Valentine’s Day. In my defense, February has been a lot. But February 14th snuck up on me like a cat stealing a black-eyed pea. So I did what any reasonable person does when they’ve almost forgotten a holiday: I stopped at Dunkin’ on the way to work and bought two of every single Valentine’s Day special donut they had. Every. Single. One. Pink frosted, chocolate heart-shaped, white glaze with pink hearts – all of it. My intern was thrilled. I told him to take them home to his partner. Except for the Boston Cremes. Those I saved for Zach. Because that’s love.
- Garden Update – My Burpee seed order arrived! All 31 packs are here and I’m very excited about them. Planting will probably start next weekend. Which means spring is theoretically possible, even with today’s rain and cold. I choose to believe it.
- Kids Don’t Have to Be Picky Eaters – I don’t have kids, so I don’t feel especially qualified to weigh in on the parenting side of this. But the article is genuinely interesting, and it ties directly into the way my mom raised my brother and me – and into my own food philosophy. Whole, real foods. The 80/20 approach. Not assigning moral value to food, but also not defaulting to chicken nuggets as the path of least resistance. Worth a read.
- Winter Olympics – The Olympics have been a wild ride.
- Ilia Malinin – the self-proclaimed “Quad God” – went into Milan-Cortina as the favorite. His first jump in the long program was absolutely beautiful. And then it fell apart. He fell. Twice. The quads didn’t happen. He came in 8th overall. It was heartbreaking to watch. I felt terrible for him. Whatever you think about the “Quad God” thing (and I have thoughts), watching someone’s dream fall apart in real time is never easy.
- And then there was Lindsey Vonn. Airlifted off the mountain after 18 seconds. Compound fracture of the tibia. Just devastating. She came out of retirement for this. It’s been a tough year for US athletes.
- But then – Mikhail Shaidorov from Kazakhstan won the gold in men’s figure skating. Completely unexpected. His long program was skated so perfectly and so beautifully that I actually teared up a little. One of those Olympic moments that reminds you why you watch.
- The rest of the Olympics has been a little flat for me this year. Seems like every time I turn it on, it’s curling. I’m sure curling fans are delighted. Me? Meh.
- You can watch all the events and replays streaming on Peacock.
- What I’m Reading: The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner – A fun, light romp from Kindle Unlimited. Sadie has been given the chance to relive the last year and make different, hopefully better, decisions. But is that actually getting her what she wants? It turns out, no. Which, honestly, is kind of the point. Sometimes the path you’re on is the right one even when it’s hard. Enjoyable read for a cold winter weekend.
- What I’m Eating: Nothing exciting this week. Survival food while working long hours. (Valentine’s Day donuts notwithstanding.) This afternoon I’m planning to batch cook – clean out the fridge and freezer and make use of what’s there. Nothing specific yet, just whatever needs to be used. I’ll report back on what actually happened.
What are you reading/watching/cooking/dealing with this week? Let me know in the comments.
P.S. The “Quad God” thing was always going to be either the best story of the Olympics or the worst. It turned out to be the worst, and I genuinely feel bad about that.
P.P.S. Mikhail Shaidorov though. That long program. Stunning.
P.P.P.S. Batch cooking report coming this week. Probably.
