Day 27

Thursday, April 16: My day is geared around watching the Prime Minister at 1pm as she steps through what Level 3 will look like, ahead of her Monday announcement on what happens next. Jacinda’s briefing is thorough, working through wide-ranging, complex details. On an entirely personal level I’m relieved to hear that there is some understanding around the social/mental health needs of “older New Zealanders” and those with underlying health conditions. The intention is not to keep us in lockdown for months. I’d certainly like to have the same carefully managed/cautious movement as everyone else, when the time comes.  I’m waiting for Monday to hear more. Today feels better than yesterday. There are lots of phonecalls and messages around my network; we’re still in this together. There is also a Zoom catch up with members of Foodwriters NZ; the common – and sobering – experience is of work is tailing off in the wake of the media meltdown.

Around lunch time, a tui feeds in the kanuka tree beside my deck. There’s just a beautiful bold bird and me enjoying the serenity of this tiny patch of urban bush. Small blessings.

Food matters: this morning I thaw an unlabelled bag that I think contains another chicken carcase, I have chicken and corn chowder in mind for dinner. The bag turns out to be gnarly scraps that make the rubbish bin go whiffy, frozen ahead of collection day and long forgotten.

I’m reminded of a comment I saw online from English foodwriter and TV presenter Nigel Slater:  “Found a jar of something in the cupboard during my ‘corona clear-out’. Homemade, no label. Been eating it on toast for breakfast. Not . . .  a . . . clue. Nice though.”

Damn. I put the scraps bag back in the freezer for the next rubbish day, examine the fridge contents and settle on chickpeas and carrots as the core of a savoury one-pot dinner. Amalgamating a couple of recipe ideas. Place chickpeas in an ovenproof dish with chopped carrots, red onion and garlic. Mix in a generous teaspoon of cumin seeds, freshly toasted and ground, a sprinkle of salt, a dash of olive oil, a handful of raisins or sultanas and some chicken stock. Cover with a lid or foil and cook at 180 deg C for 30 minutes, uncover for 10-15 minutes to let carrots and onions caramelise a little. Add a handful of chopped green beans at this point, and a few black olives if you have them. Check seasoning and serve over couscous – or rice, orzo etc – topped with chopped feta, lots of fresh herbs (mint is good) and a squeeze of lemon. A tasty shiraz on the side is warmly recommended.