Category: Blog

Hello,

This is my first blog post.  Its during the Covid19 pandemic and mandatory self quarantine.  Its an uncertain time in what is now known as America.  There has been panic everywhere.  Restaurants and venues have shut their doors for the time being and some for good.  An estimated 50% of restaurants will never recover after this.  Birch Basket was hit hard by this as well.  We are doing everything we can to stay afloat.  Turns out people like popcorn, who knew.  

We hope you are all staying positive during this time.  Getting out and doing things that make you feel happy and grateful while being safe and keeping your distance from other people.  Today, I went for a walk around my neighborhood and it brightened my mood so much.  I was inside for the past few day’s just trying to stay away from people and it really got to me.  I hadn’t realized how much I needed to be out and look at the flowers and talk with my ancestors on a walk, not just inside four walls.  So get outside for a little while.  Talk to your ancestors.  Talk to your plant relatives.  It’s a good thing.  

-Hillel

I’m seeing DIY this and “you can grow this in your bathtub”, that during the Covid19 quarantine.  I’m not the best at either of those things so I will not be giving you that advice, however, I can give you some practical pantry tips during this time.  Those other tips never seemed practical or feasible to me anyways.  Why would you want a garden in your shower?  Some of the things I’ve seen on my social media and internet have been so weird or just not real world applicable.  Some of them are so complicated, take too long, cost too much, or have only one purpose and that’s just a waste of time and space for everyone involved.  As a professional cook, I have learned that everything needs to have multiple uses, otherwise it doesn’t have a purpose in the kitchen.  I think that belongs to the home kitchen as well.

These are some easy things you can do, buy, or keep in your pantry at all times not just during a world pandemic but are helpful for this time.  With all of these, you can make so many kinds of meals and flavors.  

• Probably my favorite and most efficient, is to have root vegetables in your pantry!  There are so many varieties and they last for a long time.  Its fresh food that lasts ages. 
  
• A classic and go to, dried goods: beans, rice, oats, ect.  Get what you know and one or two items in a small quantate so you don’t waste it.  Have some recipes ready and play around with them.  You might love it and get more or hate it and be glad you only bought 4oz of the almond flour instead of a pound.  
  
• Can and ferment things.  People think these are hard to do but with clean tools, fresh produce, and some research its easy and a lot of fun.  Every culture has some version of one or both and they are amazing.  Play around with it and see what you like.  

I hope that you take these suggestions and play around with them.  Food is a great way to be creative and have a chance to try something new.  Now is the perfect time to get out of a quarantine funk and try something different.  Have fun and stay safe!