31st March 2020 – Tuesday
Ah yes, it’s the end of the month and that means payday for me! I am one of the fortunate ones who still gets a salary even though I am self-isolating.
I’m grateful for that.
Today we started off with some home-schooling. Skye wrote a spooky short story about a girl lost in the woods only to find a grave with her picture on it. Eeek! Devon also did some writing. He designed his own comic involving a vehicle called “Spider Car”. It was actually really cute … he complained that it was taking forever, but two hours later … he managed to finish it. After that they both spent the afternoon in the garden doing arts and crafts. They made little crate boxes, painted and decorated them. They were so adorable!
In the afternoon Skye and Devon’s Kumon teacher face-timed them to check on their work and make sure they are still keeping up with the workload. It gave the kids the opportunity to ask questions that we as parents couldn’t answer. I must say Skye’s work is getting harder and we are struggling to help her.
For dinner today, I experimented with a favourite recipe of mine. It’s something that I kind of made up myself and it doesn’t really have a name but I think I will call it “Sautéed Belly Pork with Mam Tom”. “Mam tom” is fermented shrimp paste and is one of my favourite ingredients ever! I love the stuff … but let me warn you it is not for the faint hearted. It stinks! It has a very pungent fishy smell that lingers in your mouth for ages. I remember when I was a kid and I use to eat the stuff, my mum always made me brush my teeth before I went out to play. It made my breath smell something awful, As an adult I’m not so anal about the smell (pardon the pun). I think only Vietnamese people love and appreciate the shrimp paste fascination.
I also made garlic chicken wings. This recipe is actually from my father-in-law. For years he use to make it and I thought it was such a complicated marinade he used. Skye and Devon love these wings so much, so when I asked my father-in-law for the recipe, it was literally only a couple of ingredients.
Dinner was also served with a side of pan fried vegetables – pak choi and green beans. Always got to eat them vegetables.
Update on the coronavirus … a 13 year old boy it is believed to be the youngest person to die from Covid-19 in the UK. The numbers are increasing and we are apparently reaching the peak of the virus. The new NHS Nightingale Hospital is opening up at the end of the week in the Excel Centre. It will have 500 beds but can house up to 4,000 beds if things get any worse.
It’s making me scared you know, like really scared. I think I need to practice some mindfulness and breathing exercises, all this coronoavirus talk is making me anxious. Stay safe everyone.
Head over to my Instagram page where you can see what we have been up to in the kitchen and daily updates in my life.
I hope you are all staying safe wherever you are. Stay safe and look after each other and remember this pandemic won’t last forever if we all do our bit!
~ The Cake Lady (and family) xxx
