March was supposed to be a great month. We started off with a calendar full of plans––I would be finishing one term of classes and starting another, Mitchell's first season as an assistant basketball coach would be wrapping up with a trip to the state tournament in Green Bay, and we would be spending a relaxing spring break in San Francisco with my in-laws, capping off the week with a performance of Hamilton.
With the exception of the first item on my itinerary, however, none of those plans came to pass. My eager anticipation turned to disappointment and anxiety as the COVID-19 pandemic that had seemed so far away at the end of February struck the US. Instead of working, traveling, and carrying on with our daily lives, we find ourselves isolated (though, thankfully, healthy and still technically employed) in our apartment until at least the end of next month, though the constantly updated restrictions don't give us much hope that the end is in sight.
While I'm incredibly frustrated to be trapped in quarantine for another thirty days, I have to admit that the present situation is giving me more than enough time to cook, read, and write. If you find yourself needing ways to fill your own quarantine routine, I hope you get some good ideas from this March monthly review (or January's! Or February's! Read everything in the archives! You've got time!).
What I Read
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, Malcolm Gladwell (★★★★)
The Accidental Feminist: Restoring Our Delight in God's Good Design, Courtney Reissig (★★★★)
Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys (★★★★★) –– reread
I'll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson (★★★★) –– reread
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer (★★)
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys (★★)
Coral, Sara Ella (★★)
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, Nabeel Qureshi (★★★★★)
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know, Malcolm Gladwell (★★★★★)
If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.
I picked up five books on my last trip to the library before it closed, and unfortunately, all three two-star reviews ended up being from that library run. If I hadn't been limited in my reading options to those books, the ones in my house, and any I can scavenge from my parents, I probably would not have finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but I figured I had nothing better to do anyway. Normally, however, I recommend setting aside books you dread reading––life is too short to waste on a bad book.
What I Cooked
Like everyone else on the Internet, I love a good taco recipe. And let me tell you, this is a good taco recipe. I've tried a few different taco seasonings over the years (this has been my go-to for the last several years), but this is easily the best homemade taco seasoning I've tried––provided you're okay with taco meat that has a little bit of a kick. I made the mistake of describing the ranch sauce as "zesty" to Mitchell, who thought "spicy" was a more accurate adjective, but it was excellent as well. The crispy corn tortillas did not turn out for me (they all split down the crease), and I'm not crazy about corn tortillas anyway, so I don't think I would do them again, but the other elements were certainly worthy of repetition.
In the early days of Pinterest, all you had to do to create a popular recipe was throw cheese and bacon into the title. And even now, years later, I still find it difficult to resist either ingredient––or caramelized onions, for that matter. And these pierogis (i.e. cheesy mashed potatoes inside a homemade dumpling) did not disappoint. They are definitely a special occasion recipe, preferably a special occasion that involves culinarily inclined guests who are willing to help with the many tedious steps, but wow. The pierogis were delicious, filling, and quite impressive.
I don't have a Holy Grail banana bread recipe yet (probably because I'm still figuring out how to make bread that is cooked all the way through but not borderline burnt on the bottom), but this is definitely one of the best recipes I've tried: only one bowl, no weird ingredients, and great flavor.
I ended up with a disproportionate amount of pierogi filling, and while I was initially planning to just make potato soup, twice baked potatoes seemed like a more enjoyable challenge. I didn't follow the recipe exactly (I omitted the melted butter and added the seasonings to the filling instead of sprinkling them on top), but it was helpful nonetheless, and I'm sure I'll pull it out in the future when I find myself in need of a good twice-baked potato.
What I Created
Article "Life on Hold"
Blackout poem "Social Despairing"
Unpublished original poem "When All of This Is Over"
Unpublished original poem "Love Your Neighbor"
March 2020 has been quite the month, and I anticipate April will be too. Though we find ourselves in unusual times, I hope you are staying well––physically, of course, but well in your soul above all. When you find yourself feeling restless or hopeless, take some time to recenter on Truth, get some Vitamin D, and reach out to your loved ones. And bake some banana bread too, for good measure. That always helps.