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    Third Lockdown
    Uncategorized

    Third Lockdown

    by admin February 3, 2021

    The Mad Dog Days are still here. And I think to myself I haven’t blogged in a long time. It’s difficult putting thought to the ether when so many suffer. So many die, more than that; so many are scared, so many are locked in their homes, behind their masks, because it is scary. I’m not going to get into the statistics, the politics, the fears. But I can share how hard it is to share joy online when so many suffer. 

    If you enjoy picking olives for instance, as I do. (There are still black ones on the trees, go pick some.) Or enjoy listening to the birds when standing still, when it’s quiet – phone off. It’s like joy spills off my fingertips when I’m peeling carrots, or typing words, reading a good, feeling poem. I’ve come to really appreciate what brings me joy and it makes me squirm with guilt because so many suffer and how can I be so blessed. And then I count all the things that make me unhappy, and there’s a good list of suffering. Good enough to assuage my guilt, but it does nothing to relieve the people who are hit hard by corona, by life. 

    Home-cured olives from the second lockdown. Enjoyed during the third lockdown. (Lockdowns are the new way of measuring time. Sigh!)

    I have a friend who goes to bed with a mix of pills and wine. I said to her, after listening to her litany of sorrows, “I’m so sorry I can’t help relieve your pain. I feel so useless that I can’t do anything.” 

    She said something that stuck with me, “It helps to know that I’m not alone. That I can share my pain and feel someone cares.” 

    I bring wine to my friend for the new year. Not to encourage but to support. Maybe if I joyfully hand it to her, she can stop the pills. Maybe she will know she’s not alone. Maybe my prayers will help in some energetic way that her year will be easier, more blessed with positive, happy energy. 

    What I’m trying to say is being joyous takes a lot more courage than people realize. It’s so easy to wallow in the negative energy (and there’s a nuclear minefield of negativity at the moment). It’s so easy to treat each other like human germs at the moment, rather than human beings. We’re all under an enormous amount of stress, with kids at home, and corona at large, and so much unknown. 

    We all carry our stories, some hide them better than others. I think it’s a reason we all need to be extra sensitive to one another. Think before we tell someone off harshly for not wearing their mask over their nose, say it kindly, share how scared you are, share how wearing the mask will help you feel safe.

    I’m trying to work within what I can share and control – a jar of freshly brined olives, a walk in the sun, I’m learning I can’t be there for everyone all of the time. I can be there for myself, collect my joy one bit at a time and feed that inside of me, and hopefully, it will spill over, hopefully, I can make someone out there feel less alone. 

    Shared Joy – My friends send me photos of their joy.

    February 3, 2021 0 comment
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About Sarah

About Sarah

Writer, Thinker, Explorer

This is my website where I share my thoughts, experiences, writing, and recipes. To explore what it is to be a woman, a mother, a fellow human being walking this unknown path, sometimes crooked, straight, shadowed, lit up, always blessed, what we call life.

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ADRP Award 2019!

Awarded third place in the 2019 Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Award.

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Chicken & Rice in the Oven

I love this recipe because it’s a great all in one meal. I got the idea from a friend’s house we went to for a meal. She says she often cooks rice in the oven. Something I had never heard of before. I’ve always cooked rice in a pot. So this was a different concept, an all in one, easy peasy recipe of yummy rice and chicken in a casserole dish, which everyone loves. 

So I googled a recipe and found this one. I am posting this link here, https://www.recipetineats.com/oven-baked-chicken-and-rice/ so the original is attributed, and it does describe in much greater detail the process, and I’m typing up my version of it here because I never quite stick to instructions. Having said that I don’t recommend straying from the amounts of water, the rice can turn out too soggy or dry – I learned that the hard way.

Ingredients 

(I have to say here that I always double this recipe.)

5 chicken thigh fillets – or drumsticks or anything you want

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups basmati rice

1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I use salted, hot water – tell me who has broth to use at hand ever???)

1 1/4 cups hot water (I use boiling) 

Chicken Rub

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried thyme 

1/2 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp salt

Black pepper

Olive Oil

I’ll be honest here I just put whatever I want on the chicken. This is a good guideline though. 

Method

  1. Preheat oven 180C/350F
  2. Cut onion and garlic and scatter them on a casserole dish with olive oil and pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes so they are golden, careful not to burn. 
  3. Mix chicken with chicken rub – you can also prepare this in advance. I add olive oil as well. It adds flavour and moisture.
  4. Add washed rice to the garlic, onion in dish and mix.
  5. Place chicken on the rice. Pour chicken broth (if you have) and water around the chicken. (I salt my water because otherwise, I find the rice tasteless.
  6. Cover with foil and back for 30 minutes. Remove foil, baste with more olive oil if you want, and bake for further twenty minutes, until liquid is absorbed.
  7. Fluff up rice and serve. 

I find if I stuff up the liquids, and it’s too soggy, I can let it cook a bit more to dry out. If I didn’t add enough liquid I add more and cook a bit longer. So don’t panic.

Further, you can add other vegetables when you add the chicken. I’ve added potatoes and sweet potatoes. But you can use your imagination and add Jerusalem artichokes, onions and any other veggie you fancy.

Enjoy!

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank

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