I’ve lost track of time in pretty much the way I lose track of my cell phone and other things that are not permanently attached to my body. At this point is anyone actually keeping track anymore? I’m guessing the months by the weather we are having, which can be hard to do in Iowa where it can change from one to the next in seconds.
The only way I know what day of the week it is would be by what TV shows my DVR has recorded for the day. I rarely watch any TV “live”, I record it all and then watch it when I want to, minus all the commercials. It’s usually at 3 a.m. Other shows I watch are on demand, so that’s not helpful at all time wise.
I’m also so over cooking at this point as well. Ok, so yes, I had to cook before covid set in to stay, but its just getting annoying right now. Remember, I can only recycle about five or six recipes so the rotations are getting very boring. They were boring before, but covid seems to heighten everything. We rarely went out to eat much before covid either, now it just feels like we never go out to eat at all. It’s a whole mindset thing. Darn it covid!
Once in a great while we do go pick up our favorite pizza at Zeno’s in Marshalltown. Like most restaurants, they now have curbside pickup. Having done this a couple of times (maybe once a month?) I am getting better at being prepared for the “meal in a moving vehicle” ride home. Paper plates, napkins, paper towels just in case, lidded glasses with ice and a straw for the pop, water for me and a pizza cutter, all the necessities.
The first time we had decided we were going to go pick up a curbside pizza at Zeno’s, we realized we had to eat it on the drive home because there was no way it was going to stay hot for that forty-five minute drive back. What we didn’t plan for was everything else.
Sadly we had not thought this through and our unpreparedness was quickly realized. We pulled into a gas station in town before arriving for our pizza and Jay got a pop for him and water for me. We now remember to bring our own. We hadn’t thought at all about napkins, paper plates, a pizza cutter, things that they give you in the restaurant to eat your pizza. Things that would be greatly helpful trying to eat pizza in a moving vehicle with limited supplies on board.
Luckily on that first trip I found a few napkins from a fast food place in my glove box. Unfortunately they were the really cheap little brown ones that instantly melt into a slime ball when something touches them.
We love Zeno’s pizza, and normally they will drizzle just a bit of olive oil over the top of the pizza after it’s baked to enhance the flavor and aroma of it. This particular pizza however, got a dump of olive oil on top of it. I don’t know if it was by accident or it was a new cook, but each piece of pizza was literally dripping with olive oil. Those poor little brown napkins were no match for the amount of oil of each piece. We soaked up as much as possible and still enjoyed the delicious flavor of our pizza on the drive home. It was worth the drive there and back.
Good preparation is the key to eating on the go. Isn’t “be prepared” a Scout motto? I’m not sure, having never made it past being a Brownie, which I was for two years instead of one. I wanted to go with my BFF who was a year older than me so they let me go a year early. I guess two years of being a Brownie did me in, as I never made it into Scouting.
The down side currently of driving there for pizza is the sun sets earlier so we drive home in the dark. It’s hard to see the pizza in the box. I may have to invest in one of those lighted headlamp things. Yes, I know they have lights inside the vehicle, but it’s hard to see around the big open box lid and it can be distracting for the driver.
The last thing I want to do is end up in the ditch while eating pizza on the ride home. I’m not sure how the highway patrol would feel about our “meals on wheels” pizza run, but it feels nice to be able to go visit our favorite pizza place again. In case you are wondering, yes, Jazzy gets to ride along with us. No, she does not get any pizza.
Be safe, wear your mask, be socially distant.
Until next time…
Toni