Items

• 2020-04-20

  Cherry wood and the smoker

  My submission to the Covid-19 sensory archive was about the smell and texture of cherry wood chips. During the first month of the Covid19 pandemic my father quarantined with my husband, daughters, and I. After a week or so of organizing, deep cleaning, and binge watching we decided we should find something else to do. My husband had been gifted a small wood smoker a few years ago and my father decided he was going to figure out how to smoke different types of foods. The first few attempts were less than stellar, with large flames, boiled water overflowing out of the bottom of this smoker but after another week he was doing quite well. He had ordered several different types of woods, chunks, and chips, almond and orange etc. I had not been a huge fan of anything he had done but it was keeping him, my husband, and my three-year-old entertained so it was fine. Finally, after his many attempts he came to me with mozzarella cheese he had smoked with cherry wood from our own trees. It tasted so good! I was thoroughly impressed with what he had accomplished. After that I helped him chop the wood and do various other things as he tried different recipes. Now anytime I move those wood chips around my pantry or smell the residual cherry wood smoke on the smoker in our side yard I think of that first month in quarantine. All the memories and recipes and the time in the middle of a pandemic where we got to slow down stay home and figure out how to use a smoker. I think that was a recurring event for a lot of people that were fortunate to get to quarantine with family. My family and I are typically terribly busy with various activities and jobs that we must run from one to the other and never get to have time to slow down and enjoy time with each other.