Day Thirty

I think it's important to have things to look forward to, so of course I preordered donuts and planned for a latte from Anchor & Anvil this past weekend. Support local, yinz, and make sure your rare trips out into the wild are very worthwhile.

Donuts and lattes are DEFINITELY very worthwhile.

That little pre-orchestrated trip was how I happened to find myself in the car, headed home just in time for lunch. I had a latte at my side and a giant box of donuts, so I was in no hurry. Everyone who has been locked at home with their kids for the past month knows exactly what I'm talking about. Speed limits? I used to think they were minimum recommendations of speed. Now? Now I think my car will explode if I get within 10mph of the posted limit. I better slow down. More. Just in case. It's never a bad idea to spend a few more minutes in the car all alone with the peace and quiet.

It really was a pretty great morning.

But then my preference for going it slow was tested. I came across a train of fire trucks and they were in no hurry at all. It was obvious why and that was because I had stumbled onto the Easter bunny.

Like basically every local township, we had an Easter Bunny riding around on a fire truck Saturday morning. He arrived with much fanfare at our house hours earlier, much to the delight of Mila, but it's a big township. He had lots of places to drive by. And apparently he needed to drive right where I was headed.

Slowly.

So slowly.

Which is why I had time to process the bigger situation as it was happening.

There's a trailer park along that road. It's a small, rundown trailer park that often gives me pause. There are holes in roofs and sheets of plastic covering gaps where weather has beaten through the protection of a wall. A casual glance would make you think every trailer is inhabitable, but look closer. There's a carefully tended vegetable garden at the end of the road. Toys are piled up in one yard. Cars come and go. Not only are people living in those homes, families are living in those homes.

It's unconscionable. I have many times thought about how just $1000 could dramatically change the path those people are on. Fixing a roof, for example, or providing a reliable car or any number of things could turn the tide. For what it's worth, the trailer park is less than 1/2 mile from a neighborhood filled with homes that cost upwards of $700,000. The inequality in our society is grotesque.

Go ahead. Try and convince me that a single resident of that trailer park works less than someone who lives in one those big houses. You know some just say poor people are lazy so they can sleep at night. It's not true at all.

Anyway, as the fire trucks crawled closer to the trailer park, I saw them. A boy and a girl, probably 3 and 5, clutching a woman's hands as they stood at the edge of the driveway that leads to the trailer park. It was a sudden and stark reminder that there are kids living in awful conditions through no fault of their own and -oh- how I wish I could do something to improve their world. I just want them to be safe with a reliable roof over their heads, y'know?

As my eyes focused on the kids standing eagerly at the side of the road, movement caught my attention. THE EASTER BUNNY TOOK HIS DAMN HEAD OFF. Right there. Maybe 100 yards from some kids.

I mentally froze. The whole thing couldn't possibly be happening. I started to try to use sheer willpower to convince the Easter Bunny to put his head back on. He apparently couldn't sense my powers, though, because he totally didn't. So I yelled out the car window, "Put your head on!" Funny thing, that, the fire trucks had their sirens on. The Bunny couldn't hear a damn thing I was saying, so I was just a crazy lady yelling weird things out her car window.

That moment stretched on and on. I glanced back and forth between the headless Bunny and the kids, just hoping they wouldn't see what they shouldn't see. Hoping. Wishing. Hoping. Wishing.

Fortunately, the Headless Bunny was near the back fo the fire truck. He was easy to see from behind, but that probably wasn't as true from the front. There was a ladder in the way, for sure, but it wouldn't be for long.

Hoping. Wishing. Hoping. Wishing.

And then he put his head back on. We were then no more than 30 yards from the kids, but PHEW.

As I drove by, I got a close look at the kids' faces and it was pretty clear they had seen nothing but magic and joy in the form of a giant fuzzy bunny riding atop a firetruck.

But, man, THAT was close. So, if you ever find yourself dress as a bunny riding atop a fire truck, KEEP YOUR DAMN HEAD ON, PLEASE. I can't handle the stress if you don't.

Day Twenty-Nine

It's a REAL good thing Mila has never thought a thought quietly in her head. Every word that passes her conscious falls out of her face. While there are days that I would like to crawl under the bed and hide from all of her words, there are also days when she pieces together words that catch my attention.

Holy smokes was that kid excited leading up to Easter. She had REAL high expectations. She mentioned it several times, even going so far as to detail her plan for finding as many eggs as possible. She also mentioned all of her hopes and dreams for a basket and HOOBOY there were a lot of them.

It's a REAL good thing she wouldn't stop talking about how excited she was for Easter because I was going to sort of skip it. I wasn't going to TOTALLY skip it, but I was thinking we could scale way back on candy and such because why bother? WHY BOTHER WITH ANYTHING?

Ahem.

Alexis is a little too old to care and Mila is small enough for me to scam her into whatever, but all that excitement led to me doing the usual 200+ eggs hidden all over the place plus obnoxious baskets. I'm not talking Peloton levels of obnoxious, which was apparently the Easter gift of choice for several of Alexis' friends, but still. Books and board games and candy, oh my. I plotted for baskets that contained lots of things to do, ranging from the Friends LEGO set for Alexis all the way to Mila's big packet of construction paper and boxes of new markers. It required a lot of scheming to pull all of the stuff together, but I managed.

And HOOBOY am I glad I did. Mila nearly tripped over her own smile as she dashed from egg to egg. She screamed and laughed and carried on, managing to maintain a super high level of happy for a solid two hours. It was pretty perfect.

And then there was Alexis.

I thought Alexis was too old for all of the shenanigans. I WAS WRONG. She was just as obnoxiously happy as her sister. She was also 100% to blame for the actual written plan that detailed how they would not miss any eggs.

They still missed some eggs.

But they were pretty darn happy as they walked right past piles of candy.

So, a big shout out to Mila for making it clear that she expected normalcy in the midst of a very not-normal situation. Little did I know, it was exactly what we all needed.

Day Twenty-Eight

I decided today that the best meal planning you can do is to find yourself a friend who is a chef and will do contactless directly. Seriously, dinner was THE BEST tonight, all because it magically showed up without any effort.

Tomorrow will be similarly satisfying because we're going with an old staple: Spinach and Artichoke pasta. I make this A LOT because it's fast, easy, and tastes like it's neither of those things. It just so happens that I know that half of Western PA has purchased pasta lately (it's all sold out ... EVERYWHERE), so here. Here's what you can do with that pasta you're hoarding.

BTW, this is one of those dishes that varies a bit each time I make it because I work with whatever I have on hand. No spinach? No problem. It's fine without it. Extra sun-dried tomatoes sitting around? Throw them in. They make things better. If I have a couple of red peppers that need used quickly before they spoil, I'll go for it. It's all good.

However, he base for this pasta is always the same. I start by sautéing a diced red pepper in a little bit of olive oil.

Then a diced white onion joins the party.

Some garlic, oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper kick things up a notch.

And then some chopped spinach and quartered artichoke hearts top things off.

Everything is better when artichoke hearts are involved. It's a true fact.

Once the veggies are done, toss in some cooked pasta. I like cavatappi because it's pretty and spiraly and just generally fantastic.

THAT'S IT. Done. Easy, right?

Of course, I belong to the Church of Cheese, so I serve the pasta with a bit of cheese on top. I like Feta the best with this pasta, but shredded parmesan has never disappointed me.

I know. I KNOW. There's no sauce involved in this pasta. True story: it doesn't need it. The little bit of olive oil at the beginning is plenty to keep the pasta from being dry. The vegetables are the star of this show, so sauce would just get in the way. 

Sometimes the simplest dishes really are the best.

Spinach and Artichoke Pasta

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped 
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained (you want the ones packaged in brine, NOT oil)
2 cups spinach, chopped
Crumbled feta or shredded parmesan cheese
8-10 oz. cavatappi
Salt and pepper to taste 

1. Prepare the cavatappi according to the instructions on the box. 

2. Place the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the red pepper. Sauté for about 3 minutes, or until the red pepper starts to soften.

3. Add the onion. Keep on sautéing until the onion turns clear.

4. Throw in the garlic, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir it all up.

5. Add the drained artichoke hearts and spinach. Keep heating the veggies over medium heat until the spinach wilts completely, about three minutes.

6. Once the veggies are done, add the drained pasta to your skillet. Stir until the pasta is evenly coated with the oil.

7. Serve with feta or shredded parmesan cheese.