This blog post will contain links to a series of videos with tips and views on dealing with the coronavirus. I’ll update it when I record a new video.
Like many of us, I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the coronavirus crisis and not sure what I could do to help. I’ve come to the realisation that there is no magic answer and every little helps, so I’m going to post a series of short videos every day or so to give some tips and share some solidarity.
Stay home, stay safe.
Day 1: Be kind to yourself and others
Day 2: Breathe. And then do it again.
Day 3: How not to kill your husband!
If home is not a safe place for you, my Facebook post of 26/3 has some useful numbers and there are some numbers and links to other resources here: https://www.carpediemperth.com.au/stay-safe-statistics-res…/
If you are in physical danger please don’t hesitate to call 000.
Day 6: It’s OK to feel like crap
If you feel like you may be in danger of harming yourself, please see the emergency and crisis numbers under the Resources tab.
Take a look at these past posts aimed at students too:
This post is aimed at those with children around the age of 16-19.
This video is for those with young teens.
This video is all about getting through this in our own way. I talk about how I end up cocooning and cooking, so I thought I might as well share some recipes too.
Enjoy!
LEFTOVER CELERY SOUP
Like many of us, I end up buying a whole bunch of celery to use a little bit in a recipe and then have loads left over. In the new “spirit of the blitz” feeling that seems to have come over me in quarantine, I decided to make it into something, so here goes:
Fry your leftover chopped celery gently in some butter with sliced garlic. (Garlic apparently boosts your immune system so I’m using tons of it at the moment). Add a dessert spoon of each of pesto, mint sauce and signature tikka paste from Yellow Orange Kitchen. Add enough stock to just cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and simmer another few minutes. Blend, and you should end up with a thickish paste. Add cream or milk or stock if preferred until it reaches the preferred consistency and heat through. Season to taste.
Serve with fresh bread. I’m luckily enough to have a son who loves baking so we have freshly baked bread most days. (If you need flour/yeast etc, try my friends at Superstock.com.au who are now selling in bulk to the public.)
BACON AND EGG PIE
My mum was a wonderful person but a terrible cook. I can still remember the look of horror on my friend Debbie Parry’s face when I tried to feed her my mum’s spaghetti bolognaise recipe when we were students – the sauce was a tin of mince mixed with half a bottle of tomato ketchup and, if I recall correctly, was compared to dog food in appearance. In 2005 I took my mum to Italy to visit Anzio where my grandfather had won a medal in WW2 and she swore that her version was better than all the Italian food we ate. (I begged to differ.)
But I do seem to remember a nice bacon and egg pie from my childhood, although I may well be remembering that wrongly. I had a fancy to make one last week so here’s my version:
Defrost two sheets of puff pastry. Grease a pie dish and blind bake the bottom layer. In a jug mix 3 or 4 eggs, a couple of chopped rashers of bacon, a dollop of cream, salt and pepper. Add grated parmesan or other cheese until the consistency is quite thick, and a dollop of chilli jam. Tip into pie dish. There should be some space left in the dish, so crack a couple more eggs in (unmixed). Add the top layer of pastry. Brush the top with beaten egg. Bake at 180° for about 25 minutes until it’s nice and brown and risen on top.
This video is aimed at parents of primary school kids. Here are some links to useful resources:
Day 12: The certainty of uncertainty