Garden plot, really coming along

Jonathan’s and my plot in a local community garden is really coming along! We’ve been getting vegetables planted, a few plants at a time, and it’s great to see our crops getting bigger with each visit to the garden. (Face masks are an omnipresent requirement due to COVID-19 shelter-in-place, but tending our garden is a productive opportunity to get out in fresh air.)

SRCS to serve meals on Mondays and Wednesdays

Effective Wednesday, April 15, Santa Rosa City Schools (SRCS) will serve meals on Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m at all nine meal distribution sites. A total of five breakfasts and five lunches will be served each week with fewer pickups. “Fewer pickups with more meals keeps families and staff safer. See you soon!”

Community garden plot

While Jonathan and I shelter-in-place to help avoid spread of COVID-19, we’ve been using that some of that time to work in a community garden.

During the past couple of days, we’ve worked to clear weeds from our garden-plot. We’re looking forward to planting crops that will give us fresh vegetables.

We’ve also met other people involved in the community garden.

Making connections with other people doesn’t come easily to me, so I greatly value the chance to build greater community involvement.

You can read more about COVID-19 by visiting my main blog (Cynthia Parkhill : Library Technician, Volunteer, and Advocate).

Grab and go meals during suspension of classes

Santa Rosa City Schools is working with community partners, under the guidance of the state, to provide meals to students during this unprecedented crisis. The following sites will provide, for all children under the age of 18, a drive-thru/carry-out lunch service from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm Monday through Friday, beginning Monday, March 23 (after Spring Break).

Essential tools for bread-cutting

I love artisan bread, so it made sense to purchase kitchen-products that aid in bread consumption. (Sawing into hearty, robust loaves of bread took a lot of effort, but whenever the stores sliced it, they always threw in an extra plastic bag to wrap around the now-cut bread. And no, the stores wouldn’t accept bags brought in from home; believe me, I tried.) So, we set out to assemble what we needed to duplicate sliced-bread convenience but without the extra waste: the Cuisinart electric bread knife, CEK-30; the Bambusi Bread Slicer with built-in-cutting guide; and Dowellife Cut-Resistant Gloves. The items work great: the electric bread knife works effortlessly to saw through the bread, and cutting guides along the sides of the bread board help me line up my cuts. As for the gloves, I’m purposely trying to avoid cutting them in the first place, so I’m not able to relate how they work when cut with an electric knife. So far, one glove has sustained one cut (with a manual knife) and, while the knife-blade cut into the glove, the cut did not reach my skin.

Sauerkraut and jalapeño on vegetarian burger

For years, I restricted myself to eating burgers that are “plain and dry,” so I thought I’d share news of notable progress via the food-chaining route. Here’s a vegetarian burger patty, paired with Dave’s Killer Bread. To it, I added sauerkraut and slices of jalapeño. These added items are cold (a long-standing problem texture for me), but the warmth of the heated vegetable patty and the toasted bread enfold them and reduce their intensity. I trace this progression from being able to select ingredients at a build-your-own sandwich franchise. I would ask that wait-staff heat those toppings along with the bread and the protein.

Round Table’s ‘Gourmet Veggie’ without cheese

Aaah ... pizza! We love Round Table’s Gourmet Veggie: artichoke hearts, zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and red and green onions on a Creamy Garlic Sauce. We leave-off tomatoes on my half, and add Jalapeños to the entire pizza. But the most important modification we make is to completely omit cheese. I really cannot emphasize this enough, which is why it bears repeating: We love pizza, but eating so much cheese always made us feel horrible afterward. And without the cheese, we find all the other flavors so much richer and more fully enjoyable.