But this is good. Not sure if anyone here follows social media like the young kids. Lars does follow Brad. BA test kitchen. This isn't the new normal but just new content and how to deal with this troubled time.

I follow them and even know most of their names. Much better than FoodNetwork.

I'll post some of my cooking here maybe...(but not video)

I removed my pantry wall tiny tv out of my kitchen last year. I used to turn it on without volume so I could randomly turn up the volume when maybe Julia or Jacque or, or, not so many. I do like that Carla said that they will more understand home cooking without big test kitchens and all their usual high end devices.

Should be fun with new fresh 'real time' content. Re-runs will no doubt get old.

I've never heard of any of those people and usually avoid videos and social media like a plague, but this should give me something new to watch, so thanks!

Of course, it's spring, so I spent the day repairing fences so the cattle can go out onto pasture soon, they get bored cooped up in the barnyard and would rather walk around and "scrounge" for every little bit of green than stand at a full hay feeder. Next week it's chicken coops and after that it's time to prepare the strawberry bed, do some spring pruning and mulch the rhubarb, which is just starting to come up. Oh, and plant my tomatoes and eggplant, get the peppers into bigger pots, set up the brooders for this year's chicks and plant some cold tolerant greens like spinach and lettuce in the raised beds, I'm hoping to put "hoop houses" over them but they might just get covered with old windows and be cold frames this year. I also have a gate to repair and and the door on the pole barn needs a new roller. All those things are "two person" jobs, so they keep Elery and I both busy.

At night, though, we're tired and full of fresh air and do not have satellite television, so something new to watch will be very welcome.

Annie

You remind me that I was going to try Linda's rhubarb pie. Sigh. I doubt we'll see any rhubarb at all. Your chore list sounds so tempting. I have paperwork...

Still not cooking much. I was using up some shaved beef and the two tortillas that survived. Made some good, large tacos using up some other bits and pieces before they croaked.

I decided last night that since DS is home, he and I are going to cook together, he’ll go back to college (when?) with more cooking chops (he already has some).

I think most schools will finally declare that there will be no on site classes for the rest of the school year. So, John, you will have a great opportunity to teach your son how to survive in the kitchen.

Yes, good time for life lessons John. He might like Brad Leone. He makes all sorts of fermentations.

This is timely, because next year DS will be living with three other guys in a rental house, with a tiny kitchen (boo) and one small bathroom (none of the boys seem to think this is an issue). So he will have to cook for himself.

He has some dishes that he does already, so he’s not starting from zero - but they are mostly breakfast things and variations on ramen.

I think tonight we’ll do spaghetti and meatballs, your basic Lady and the Tramp dish.

I have two one pot dishes involving pork shoulder and chicken. Cheap.

Making Momofuku's Bo Ssam today. (sad article in the times with David Chang interviewed about the future of the restaurant business today).

Pic of what I made last month. Sauces and sides will be what I have. Steaming cabbage, chard, and beet greens instead of lettuce. Iced after steaming so we can wrap.

Mmmm.

I showed him the simplest possible meatball process. Ground meat (Italian sausage from freezer), chopped onion-garlic-scallions, S&P, form into largish meatballs, arrange in pan, then pour enough tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to cover, lid and simmer 1 hr. Trying for a super easy thing that a college kid with a tiny kitchen can do in one pot while generating minimal mess, grease, smoke, dirty cookware. It turned out good, actually.

The cast is still on his right hand so he can’t hold a chefs knife, either I did the knife work or we used the mini food processor. He gets that off soon, I think.

I do follow Brad Leone, and I absolutely love his sauerkraut recipe as well as his mustard recipe. I did post his videos a couple of months ago, and I've made the sauerkraut three times already.

I'm not a fan of Christina Chaey, as she has that annoying voice rise inflection, and that makes it difficult for me to listen to her. I like the rest of the crew, and it was interesting to see the New York kitchens. My kitchen in Cathedral City is also tiny, even though the house here is 1550 square feet. I don't mind working in a tiny kitchen, but I do need a certain amount of storage space. I did find more storage in the pantry here than I thought I had, and so I'm okay.

I've watch the BA channel as well as some of the other food-centric youtube videos. I enjoy it when they try to replicate some commercial product but also when they just stick to the food. I like how they are all adapting to the situation and providing content suitable to the existing situation. Some famous chefs have been posting recipes and showing off home cooking as well, which is interesting.

I've been cooking more, with zero takeout, but find that lunch time is a tough thing to work around, with working from home. Besides leftovers and salads, I find myself out of time to prep, cook, consume and clean within an hour. But weekday dinners are improving in quality and ambition.

I am throwing caution to the wind and making deviled eggs today. I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to get more of them soon. I'm on the waiting list at a local farm.

I drove to meet a friend at his boat slip this morning, to get a guitar that he is giving to DS. An Ovation Applause, nice step up from the cheapo guitar that DS has been learning on.

During the drive home, I stopped to get breakfast from McDonald’s drive through. Not something I usually do, but was hungry and wanted to do something that felt “normal”. Then I got to worry about if the food was safe, how it is prepared, if it was heated enough to kill any virus. I concluded that it was safe enough, but having to do the calculation sort of put me off trying that again.

I’m trying to support some local restaurants, especially Chinese ones, by ordering takeout sometimes. I bring the containers home and microwave them, so everything is heated to well over 140F (virus dies quickly at/above that temp). I’m not ordering burgers, sandwiches or anything that has a non-heated component - I’ll make that stuff at home.

I was amusing myself with some calculations.

Oregon has about 600 reported cases, suppose actual number is 6,000, and suppose they are all in Portland, that’s about 1% of city population. Assuming random distribution, for every person you encounter there is a 99% chance they are not ill. If you encounter 100 people a day, there is a 99% ^ 100 = 37% chance you have not encountered an ill person. Thus an 63% chance you do encounter an ill person. If there is a 1% chance you actually get exposed to virus each time you encounter an ill person, that’s 63% x 1% = 0.63% chance to be exposed to virus each day. Over a month, that’s ( 1 - 0.63% ) ^ 30 = 18% chance of being exposed to virus.

Oof. People working in grocery stores etc should have protection.

In one local grocery chain here, they are taking very, very good precautions. Only allow 20 people in at a time, you’re directed to avoid an aisle if someone else is in it, you must buy anything you touch, cashiers are behind acrylic shields, conveyor belts and PIN pads sanitized between customers, special hours reserved for elderly/vulnerable, etc.

The big national chains are taking few precautions.

I agree Lars. This is real life, real time. New content and refreshing they made the effort to help ride this disaster with us. (Brad is going to get stir crazy, lol)

I have enjoyed all of them as a group. Did take a while like any SoapOpra. At least it is about cooking. : )

DD says her favorite cooking media was / is Lucky Peach. I don’t know if they made videos.

As I've mentioned before, I take a photo each night of my dinner plate and text it to my kids.... so they know I'm alive and well enough to make dinner. I have to admit that I'm taking more time to make the plate photo worthy.

Also, some of the meats that have been available have been interesting and require extra prep. A week ago the only meat left in the case was lamb. I picked up a couple of one pound packages of 50% lamb / 50% beef thinking Lulu Bergers. I made a mint-garlic yogurt sauce to go on the bun with the burger. Turned out really good. That recipe is a keeper.

Tomorrow I will make an all-day stew out of the 2 packages of beef shank. There should be plenty for several meals.

I've also been thinking real hard about a chocolate pound cake. I have absolutely no reason and no recipe. I'll have to see what I can find.

Kate, the important part of a chocolate cake is the cocoa powder or chocolate. I like the lightness of cocoa powder, but there's something to be said for the richness of baking chocolate. OTOH, I use Valrhona cocoa powder which is very rich and dense, so it makes kind of the best of both worlds.

I like the recipe at Add A Pinch, which is a hot water recipe, like Hershey's, but also has espresso powder, which is the current vogue. This page seems different from when I first saw it, but the photo is the same.

Do you have the ingredients for a chocolate cake?

https://addapinch.com/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/

That recipe in Add A Pinch is the best recipe for chocolate cake that I've ever made. I found it a couple of years ago and it is just to die for. I often make it in a 9x13 inch sheet pan and then pour a chocolate glaze over it for quick and easy.