eat — Blog — Stay At Home Husband

Best Activity

Golf in Time of Corona - The last couple weeks, the weather has slowly warmed up in Boston to unseasonable temperatures; it started to feel like we might have escaped the winter unscathed. The pessimistic among us always punctuated the conversation with a statement like, “We’ll probably get some massive storm in March or, god forbid, April!” Unfortunately, I think this years version of winter is disguised as a pandemic. After perusing the aisles yesterday in search of some canned goods and other non-perishables, Tiff said it felt like the entire country (even the world?) is preparing for a huge blizzard (There’s a joke hiding in here about spot savers and shoveling, but I just can’t formulate it…)

I cancelled a trip to Las Vegas next week. Golf and March Madness were the siren songs for my friend Phil and I. We had spent a few years threatening to plan a trip somewhere to play golf and hang out (he lives in San Francisco). In order to tune up my game, I went to an indoor golf facility to hit golf balls for an hour. The repetition of hitting balls is therapeutic, just like clicking off miles during a run. There’s a rhythm to it, there’s constant feedback spinning in and out of your head. Both are beautifully individual but also a form preparation for something bigger like a tournament or a road race.

As this coronavirus pandemic sweeps through the world and cancels everything in sight, I hope everyone finds some way to release some stress while staying safe and healthy. It’s the only thing that will keep us sane.

Best Watch

I Am Not Okay With This - This Netflix show is a fun watch. It follows a teenage girl who is slowly realizing she has some sort of super power. It’s set in what looks like a Pittsburgh suburb (Penguins t-shirt, rust belt vibe, etc…). The end of the first episode was jarring, not for any cliff-hanger or plot twist, but because it didn’t feel finished. Why? The episode it was around 20 minutes long and I was settled in for a 45 minute pilot. The producers of Stranger Things are behind this one too, and captures the same vintage aesthetics, but it’s set in modern day.

The Bachelor Finale - It’s too late, it’s over, you’ve missed the boat. If you were there for the last two episodes, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. I don’t think we’ll ever see a performance like the one Peter’s mother gave in the last 20 minutes. It was like Walter Payton, Hall of Fame in such a short amount of time. To add salt to the wound, Peter and Madi announced on Friday morning they were breaking up.

Parasite: I finally got around to seeing the Best Picture of the year, and it was, unsurprisingly, incredible. I thought I had a bit of an understanding of the plot from the trailer, but I didn’t. It had the feeling of a folktale told in modern day. Yes, there is some violence, if you’re not into that kind of thing, but it comes in a very small dose. If you still have a chance to see it in the theater do it (if it’s still open and you’re willing to go outside…). The subtitles weren’t a distraction, but they were tiny in the version I watched and sometimes blended in with the background.

You’ll probably be cooped up for the next week (or more?). This is something you should watch.

Best Read

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again - This is travel writing at it’s most hilarious and wonderful. David Foster Wallace is exceptional. I had never read this essay/story about his first cruise experience. Harper’s Ferry asked him to write a review, and he also put together this recap of the trip. It’s laugh out loud funny in many parts and incisively perceptive in so many others. He writes the truth and tells you things you knew but couldn’t dredge up into words.

A Lockdown Diary: A simple, well-written illustration of life in Italy right now. - NYTimes.com

Best Listen

Get a Grip Podcast - The name of the pod could make you think it’s talking about the coronavirus, but it’s not. This pod is co-hosted by Shane Bacon, a golf commentator, and Max Homa, a PGA TOUR winning. They’re really great to listen to each week. Max offers some great insight into the life of a pro athlete earning a paycheck week in and week out. He’s honest and self-deprecating while Bacon asks good questions and they banter well back and forth.

HAIM’s “Now I’m In It” - I love HAIM and have been listening to them a bunch the past couple weeks. I find myself starting with this song every time.

Best Eat

Pastrami Reuben Hash - Imagine a hot skillet with chunks of pastrami, onions, peppers, Swiss cheese, TWO poached eggs, with a side of rye bread in front of you… that’s what Monument has concocted. On Sunday, I went down and found a spot at the bar to watch the Manchester United v. Manchester City soccer game. This meal was my companion for most of the second half. It was incredibly delicious and I didn’t have an appetite for the rest of the day. The pastrami was cooked perfectly, big chunks of it just falling apart and mixing in with the rest of the ingredients. Pair it with a Downeast cider and a Manchester United win; you can’t go wrong.

Frozen Waffles - I’m training for the Big Sur Marathon in April right now. It’s up in the air if it will even happen. Good times! One of the challenges hidden challenges when you start running marathons is fueling up before a long run. Running 20 miles takes hours; if you don’t eat properly before the run, you’re screwed, and you’re probably screwed a long way from home. I typically like oatmeal or an english muffin. I’ll add peanut butter and a banana to both of them. Recently, I rediscovered my inner-fat-kid infatuation with the frozen waffle. Two of these puppies an hour before a run with some peanut butter and maple syrup is perfect. I also find them delicious when I’m not going for a run (with butter and honey…). English muffins and oatmeal have been ruined for me because of the connotation they have with running and pain and misery. I’ve been eating the Wegmans brand and the 365 brand from Whole Foods. I haven’t tried any of the flavored ones… yet.

Best Drink

Florida Man by Cigar City Brewing - A really good Double IPA that I came across at Blackmoor on Saturday. The name and description were enough to pique my interest. Here’s the blurb about the beer from the website: “A modern Double IPA with a tropical expression from the blend of American hops including Pacific Jade, Galaxy, Azacca, Lemon Drop and Simcoe is balanced by delicate peach esters from a unique Double IPA yeast and a dash of Canadian honey malt.” - CigarCityBrewing

Best Plug

NYTimes Writing Prompts: This week I randomly picked some writing prompts from the NYTimes list of thousands… This is something I’ll be doing more regularly.

Here are the first three;

Have You Ever Been Told You Couldn’t Do Something Because of Your Gender?

What Do You Remember Best About Being 12?

What Food Would You Like To Judge In a Taste-Off?

The Random Division - The season is over! We have our Mondays back! What a ride it’s been. Tiff and I do our best to process and wrap-up Peter’s disastrous season that ended with him being verbally cooked by his mother on live national TV.

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The Imperfect Game: Both and I try to spend $120 million on a starting line-up for our imaginary soccer club; however, we’re only allowed to pick players from the ten teams we have researched over the past few months. It was much more challenging than we thought it would be and compromises had to be made.

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