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| Cooking Through a Crisis With Grandma, Virtually | Cooking Through a Crisis With Grandma, Virtually |
| (2 months later) | |
| When my grandmother turned 91 two weeks ago, I called to wish her a happy birthday and we made plans to celebrate over dinner later in the month. But in a matter of days, like everyone else, we saw the world change around us and our plans evaporated. Now I’m self-quarantined in Brooklyn and my grandmother is in Florida. We won’t be seeing each other in person any time soon. | When my grandmother turned 91 two weeks ago, I called to wish her a happy birthday and we made plans to celebrate over dinner later in the month. But in a matter of days, like everyone else, we saw the world change around us and our plans evaporated. Now I’m self-quarantined in Brooklyn and my grandmother is in Florida. We won’t be seeing each other in person any time soon. |
| The 1,200 miles between us are made smaller by technology. We talk on the phone and see each other on FaceTime, although my grandmother is still learning the fundamentals of video chatting and sometimes I end up looking up close at her ear for a bit. | The 1,200 miles between us are made smaller by technology. We talk on the phone and see each other on FaceTime, although my grandmother is still learning the fundamentals of video chatting and sometimes I end up looking up close at her ear for a bit. |
| Our phone calls have been more frequent since I’ve been stuck at home. I like talking to my grandmother in times of crisis. She was a baby of the Great Depression and lived through World War II and 9/11. She typically meets my fears with the same dry reassurance: “Life goes on.” But she doesn’t have any reassurances about coronavirus, especially since people over 80 are the most vulnerable, like herself and my grandfather, who is 93. | Our phone calls have been more frequent since I’ve been stuck at home. I like talking to my grandmother in times of crisis. She was a baby of the Great Depression and lived through World War II and 9/11. She typically meets my fears with the same dry reassurance: “Life goes on.” But she doesn’t have any reassurances about coronavirus, especially since people over 80 are the most vulnerable, like herself and my grandfather, who is 93. |
| So, we came up with a project that would give us something to talk about other than the virus and make the best of both being stuck at home. Over FaceTime, my grandmother is teaching me how to make the recipes that she used to cook for my dad in the 1960s. At a moment when the present is terrifying and the future is uncertain, we’re returning to the past. | So, we came up with a project that would give us something to talk about other than the virus and make the best of both being stuck at home. Over FaceTime, my grandmother is teaching me how to make the recipes that she used to cook for my dad in the 1960s. At a moment when the present is terrifying and the future is uncertain, we’re returning to the past. |
| I am not much of a cook. I work long hours in TV production and never felt like I had enough time to learn the basics in the kitchen. Also, I happen to live with a man who worked in a restaurant and is an exceptional home cook so I’m usually on cleanup duty. But being self-quarantined at home means that in addition to calling up my grandmother more often, I am also out of excuses not to learn how to cook for myself. | I am not much of a cook. I work long hours in TV production and never felt like I had enough time to learn the basics in the kitchen. Also, I happen to live with a man who worked in a restaurant and is an exceptional home cook so I’m usually on cleanup duty. But being self-quarantined at home means that in addition to calling up my grandmother more often, I am also out of excuses not to learn how to cook for myself. |
| When we came up with our project, I expected to learn how to make some of her classic recipes. I didn’t expect to learn so much about my family in the process. | When we came up with our project, I expected to learn how to make some of her classic recipes. I didn’t expect to learn so much about my family in the process. |
| The first one we did was tuna casserole. As I opened the cans of tuna fish and condensed cream of mushroom soup, my grandmother told me over FaceTime that this is what she used to make for her three young kids before leaving for work. The casserole was easy for the kids to heat up if she wasn’t home in time for dinner. | The first one we did was tuna casserole. As I opened the cans of tuna fish and condensed cream of mushroom soup, my grandmother told me over FaceTime that this is what she used to make for her three young kids before leaving for work. The casserole was easy for the kids to heat up if she wasn’t home in time for dinner. |
| My grandmother was a rare entrepreneurial working mom in the early 1960s. She had three children by the time she was 30. At 33, she returned to work full time, opening the clothing store that she and my grandfather had dreamed of, while my grandfather kept his job at Macy’s to pay the bills. | My grandmother was a rare entrepreneurial working mom in the early 1960s. She had three children by the time she was 30. At 33, she returned to work full time, opening the clothing store that she and my grandfather had dreamed of, while my grandfather kept his job at Macy’s to pay the bills. |
| Tuna casserole was a common meal at their house in those years while my grandparents got a discount clothing company off the ground. So common, she said, that my dad can’t go near a fishy casserole to this day. Then she told me to keep stirring and to add a little more cream of mushroom soup. | Tuna casserole was a common meal at their house in those years while my grandparents got a discount clothing company off the ground. So common, she said, that my dad can’t go near a fishy casserole to this day. Then she told me to keep stirring and to add a little more cream of mushroom soup. |
| A few days later we made split pea soup. When I asked for her recipe, my grandmother started reciting ingredients and then paused and said, “I think it’s on the back of the bag of beans.” Of course, there’s a secret ingredient: a hock of ham, stuffed with cloves. | A few days later we made split pea soup. When I asked for her recipe, my grandmother started reciting ingredients and then paused and said, “I think it’s on the back of the bag of beans.” Of course, there’s a secret ingredient: a hock of ham, stuffed with cloves. |
| I asked my grandmother when she learned how to cook. She said, “I never did!” When she moved to New York City in 1952, her first apartment didn’t even have an oven. She lived with two other women, and the three of them managed by eating out or making simple things like hamburgers on the stove. It was only when my grandmother moved out to the suburbs a few years later with a husband and a baby in tow that she began to cook by necessity. Mostly easy recipes that she could make her own with small additions. | I asked my grandmother when she learned how to cook. She said, “I never did!” When she moved to New York City in 1952, her first apartment didn’t even have an oven. She lived with two other women, and the three of them managed by eating out or making simple things like hamburgers on the stove. It was only when my grandmother moved out to the suburbs a few years later with a husband and a baby in tow that she began to cook by necessity. Mostly easy recipes that she could make her own with small additions. |
| The trick to make split pea soup look fancy, she told me, is to slice up a few carrots because they add a nice color. “You know it is done when you stick in a spoon and it stands up.” | The trick to make split pea soup look fancy, she told me, is to slice up a few carrots because they add a nice color. “You know it is done when you stick in a spoon and it stands up.” |
| I am nearly 30 years old myself. It’s hard to picture my parents at my age, let alone my grandparents. But standing at the stove over my yellow pot, actually over my grandmother’s pot, a classic Dansk design from the 1950s that she gave me from her own kitchen when I moved to New York City, I imagine what her life was like when she made these recipes for her family. | I am nearly 30 years old myself. It’s hard to picture my parents at my age, let alone my grandparents. But standing at the stove over my yellow pot, actually over my grandmother’s pot, a classic Dansk design from the 1950s that she gave me from her own kitchen when I moved to New York City, I imagine what her life was like when she made these recipes for her family. |
| Updated June 5, 2020 | |
| The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April. | |
| Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission. | |
| Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home. | |
| States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people. | |
| Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks. | |
| Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. | |
| If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) | |
| Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications. | |
| The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing. | |
| If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. | |
| If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested. | |
| She had three kids under 7 and a fledgling company that she and my grandfather were staking their life savings on, and yet every night she still managed to make meals, with love, for her family. If I was hoping to learn heirloom recipes from my grandmother, full of complicated steps and fancy ingredients, I would have been disappointed. Her recipes are simple, basic, and sometimes found on the back of a bag of beans. | She had three kids under 7 and a fledgling company that she and my grandfather were staking their life savings on, and yet every night she still managed to make meals, with love, for her family. If I was hoping to learn heirloom recipes from my grandmother, full of complicated steps and fancy ingredients, I would have been disappointed. Her recipes are simple, basic, and sometimes found on the back of a bag of beans. |
| But I learned something better. My grandmother made it work through all the challenges that her life brought. She didn’t cook because it was a hobby. She cooked because she had to and these were the things that she had time to make. Her recipes are all the more precious to me because of that. | But I learned something better. My grandmother made it work through all the challenges that her life brought. She didn’t cook because it was a hobby. She cooked because she had to and these were the things that she had time to make. Her recipes are all the more precious to me because of that. |
| When I ask her over FaceTime whether it was difficult to balance her children, her husband, her career, especially at a time when mothers weren’t common in the work force, and the everyday task of keeping her family happily fed, she shrugs and says: “Sure, but life goes on.” | When I ask her over FaceTime whether it was difficult to balance her children, her husband, her career, especially at a time when mothers weren’t common in the work force, and the everyday task of keeping her family happily fed, she shrugs and says: “Sure, but life goes on.” |
| Ali Jaffe is a segment producer at “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” | Ali Jaffe is a segment producer at “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” |