Our new normal isn’t quite like anything we were expecting when jumping into this new decade. We were all hoping 2020 was going to be our year. Life as we know it, however, has come to an abrupt halt. Along with every college kid in America, I left school in a rush, leaving most of my belongings behind to be retrieved at a later date. Nonetheless, we must take in what we have and enjoy life as its given. And in the meantime, we can enjoy strengthening our relationships over Zoom and spending a few extra minutes on the phone with friends and family.
At the end of the day, we’re all in this together.
My foolproof method for getting through any given day in quarantine is simple: wake up at noon, prepare a hefty brunch spread, get schoolwork done, explore something new on Netflix, and go to bed. It’s nothing too extreme, but I’m taking it one day at a time. As for my daily brunch spread, I hate to toot my own horn, but I’ve gotten really good at the whole egg game. From toasts to scrambles, I’ve used my newly found skills of preparing eggs to officially make 12 o’clock noon my favorite time of the day in quarantine.
With an abundance of tomatoes and avocados in the house, I would mash half of an avo and sprinkle kosher salt on slices of tomato to complement, you guessed it, eggs. This time around, I seasoned my eggs with the most versatile seasoning, Trader Joe’s Everything-But-The-Bagel seasoning. Of course, my egg-white scramble was perfectly well-done for a well-balanced breakfast. A light and fresh breakfast if I must say so myself.
My dad, the self-proclaimed “berry fairy”, arranges a bowl of berries every morning for me. He always jokes that it just *appears* in the fridge, like the work of a fairy.
This next breakfast is what I call “Simple but Elegant”. A plain egg-white omelet, well done, of course, with freshly cut berries courtesy of my father.
When it comes to omelets, I haven’t quite mastered the pan flip yet. That’s when my mom comes in to help.
More on the breakfast from the first photo, eggs and avocados are a personal favorite combination of mine. When it comes to eggs and avocados for brunch, there are endless yummy opportunities.
With challah as a weekend staple in my house as a result of Friday night Shabbat dinner leftovers, challah avocado toast has become an everyday thing. However, like snowflakes or mac and cheese, there is no challah avocado toast alike. Below are two different breakfasts using avocados from two different parts of the world and with different cooking times for the eggs resulting in contrasting runny-egg experiences. Though different, they were equally delish.
And more on that note, when I don’t want a thick hunk of overly delicious Jewish challah, I’ll opt for a thin tortilla for my egg and avocado toast/”pizza”.
These eggs were particularly runny, so naturally, this “pizza” was extremely messy.
For my last egg creation, I was inspired by an Instagram page that featured stuffed sweet potatoes with a wide range of fillings. I put my own brunch spin to stuffed sweet potatoes; I shoved scrambled egg whites inside the potato and topped my creation with fresh orange bell peppers and zucchini. A strange combination as it wasn’t melty or cheesy like how I saw other sweet potatoes online. Nonetheless, it was great.
As for other meals of the day beyond my brunch, I would like to mention that I do eat food beyond eggs. Also inspired by trendy Instagram food pages, I made homemade sweet potato chips, seasoned with kosher salt and drizzled with olive oil. Though the cooking time was extremely long as my hunger was uncontrollable, it was worth the wait; they were crunchy and sweet and salty with all the good flavors blended together. Here’s a snap of my creation:
At this point, it seems as if I only indulge in eggs and sweet potatoes, but I promise there’s more to me than that.
For my last happy creation from the past few weeks, I strongly believe that it’s always 5 o’clock down the shore (where I’m located for my quarantine), so naturally, I dove into the art that is cheese boards. Featuring double cream brie with crackers, berries, nuts and chocolate. This is the best combination to go with your drink of choice. Brb as I make a living off of assembling pretty cheese boards.
I could’ve added the whole meats thing but I’m not too besotted with that idea so I opted for this masterpiece instead.
And with all that being said and done, I certainly don’t know how much longer we’ll be stuck inside. But looking at the “sunny side” of things, I’m thankful for my health, my family and for my university announcing a Pass/Fail option for classes this semester.
I hate to use my blog as another reminder that we’re isolated inside for an indefinite amount of time, but I figured this could be the happiest thing you read today. It may be unfortunate that your epic spring break plans were canceled (I was supposed to go to South Korea and London, but that’s no more), but c’est la vie.
Use the extra free time you now have to call up a friend, complete a 1000 piece puzzle (or three, in my case) or find a fun recipe to whip up something new. Or in my kitchen, crack an egg and see where it’ll take you.
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