Items

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  2020-04-14

  Sweetness At Home During the 2020 Covid Pandemic

  I had just quit my job on February 28, 2020 since my military spouse and I were about to PCS (Permanent Change of Station) from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to New Orleans, Louisiana in late March. Mid-March the DOD issued a Stop Movement order for all troops so we ended up not moving until it was lifted on July 1. During the wait, we were in limbo not knowing what would happen with our moving situation, but fortunately we still had our house and stuff. My spouse picked up Covid on our house-hunting trip to New Orleans the first week of March before the Stop Movement was issued, but was never diagnosed since there were not enough tests to go around in North Carolina. For about two months we stayed home together, enjoyed each other's company, and made the best of it. I spent a lot more time in the kitchen than was previously normal, and loved every minute of it. Two years previously, my spouse gave me an ice cream maker for Christmas, but I never took it out of the box and it ended up in one of my difficult-to-reach upper cabinets. When I was organizing my pantry and kitchen cabinets one day to prepare for the time we would actually get to pack up and move, I spied it and thought I would finally give it a try. I have wonderful childhood memories of sitting around with my family and grandparents outdoors while the homemade ice cream my mom and grandmother made, churned in the electric ice cream maker on a hot summers day. I called my mom for her recipe and found a similar one online to reference (published by the Taste of Home test kitchen). The military commissary was out of a lot of groceries, so I made an online order at Sams since they had still had milk and heavy cream, and picked it up. I already had plenty of sugar and vanilla in my pantry. Before Covid, I rarely had time (because of work and school) to make desserts, so this dish was a real treat, a simple recipe, and was super fun to make. The taste of homemade ice cream was so lovely and smooth, with texture velvety, eating it right from the churn. It brought back all the wonderful memories eating homemade ice cream with my family as a childhood, to comfort me during a time I could not travel to see them. Food memories like this can transport one to a time when the world was full of closeness with one's family, when forced to separate due to a world-wide pandemic.
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  2020-10-27

  Times of a Bitter Sweet Pandemic

  During this pandemic, I have been feeling a wave of emotions. Loneliness, solidarity, confusion, boredom. These past few months have not been easy for anyone, to say the absolute least. Being isolated has taught me a lot about myself; a lot of things that have been hard to cope with. However, there was one thing that brought me joy during these times: baking. Baking ties in with so many things I like. Art, food, TV, and designing. On July 1st, it was my little sister Melia’s 9th birthday. For this important day, I decided to do something extravagant and make Oreo cupcakes. I’ve never made Oreo cupcakes because my family isn’t much of a sweet tooth, (and are kind of obsessed with richer tastes like strawberry) but my little sister LOVES Oreos. Because of that, I spent an entire night baking her cupcakes- making sure they were up to perfection. Knowing that she wasn’t able to get a proper celebration or party made me sad, but also motivated me to make the best out of that day just for her. The fumes of the sweet vanilla filled my kitchen as I spent the next few hours baking batches and batches of cupcakes. I would take occasional tastes of the batter just to make sure it was mixed evenly, of course. The cupcakes were left to bake for an hour, and that was the time I spent to make sure the decorations would be perfect. The next day, I surprised her with the cupcakes and she was ecstatic. I was worried that it the cupcakes weren’t enough for a 9 year old because the pandemic limited me from getting her a physical present, like a toy. Nobody’s ever went out of their way to make such cool cupcakes, she said. I even went with to one of Melia’s friends houses with her so we could share our sweet surprise with them. Not only did I make my sister’s day, but I even made some other little kids’ day too! Although this story may seem like any regular birthday surprise, it showed me how much the littlest things could bring someone so much joy, and there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it may be a dim one.
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  2020-03-15

  A letter from Mickey

  A letter from Mickey Mouse / Disney to kids as to why it has had to shut down Disney World/ Disney Land