Build your comfort reserves
One thing we learned from the pandemic is how to cope by turning to our creature comforts, often food. And now, we need to lean into them once again.
I woke up Sunday morning to the rhythmic chopping of a knife against a wooden cutting board. Moments later, a sharp clank of metal hitting hard granite and the soft scrape of a wooden spoon stirring in a pot. Soon after, a quick whirr of a food processor.
By 7 a.m., the kitchen was already humming to the sounds of Mark cooking to an audience of one, our cat perched patiently on the counter stool waiting to make a calculated move to steal any scraps left unattended.
It’s not unusual that I find him up early, meal prepping for the week. That day, however, Mark didn’t stop cooking until the sun went down. Every few hours, the smells coming from the kitchen would come in waves depending on what was bubbling on the stove or baking in the oven. In the morning, the subtle scent of earl grey from layers of a birthday cake mingling with the maple-infused sweetness of granola, fresh out of the oven and cooling on three baking pans. In the afternoon, pork belly simmering in a broth of star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and cooking wine. Later, the savory richness of lamb stew wrapped in curry spices.
