It’s as if the weather is mocking us. It’s gorgeous here. Cold, sunny and a luminous blue sky. And here we are, confined in our homes. Yesterday, I decided that I needed comfort food, so I whipped up a batch of peanut butter-oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. Normally I would share with neighbors and colleagues, but considering the current situation I’ll have to eat the whole batch myself. This confinement thing is not helping anyone’s diet and fitness program.

I had not been to the grocery store since last Wednesday when everything was more or less normal. Today, however, was quite different. There were no more spirits (hard liquor.) Luckily, there was wine and beer, so I stocked up on that. Somehow I can’t imagine France ever running out of wine. Then I wheeled my cart to the bread section: nothing but empty shelves. No problem. I bought flour and yeast. I will make naan (recipe below.) Super easy to make, it’s similar to making pizza dough. Other than that, there were lots of fresh eggs and dairy products, fruit and veg, bacon and meat. How depressing, though, to see my fellow shoppers wearing facemasks and no one looking or speaking to one another! One man coughed at the fish counter and everyone sprang away.

When will this end?

I applaud all the grocery store employees working on the front lines: the cashiers, especially. We said “bon courage!” to the young woman cashier in whose line I stood; all shoppers were spaced obediently several meters apart. I hope their employer, MONOPRIX, gives them all a generous bonus for working throughout these difficult times.

Tonight I’m going to make a gratin dauphinois (scalloped potatoes.) Super easy to make, and so good with a glass of red wine and any kind of grilled meat or sausage (or on its own or with a simple green salad.) The recipe below doesn’t call for cheese, but it sure looks good. For decades I’ve been making gratin with grated gruyere or emmental cheese.

Following that is the naan recipe, and following that is a link to comfort food cookies I made yesterday. So good! We need this, folks.

 

Oatmeal raisin cookies and oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate cookies (the trick is to not overcook them) –

https://thefoodcharlatan.com/best-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/