Up at the crack of dawn, instead of marching I was walking the floor constantly with my small bundle of joy. Instead of jumping jacks, I bounced him, patted his diapers and rocked him to get him to sleep. It was a regimented routine of: wake up, play, eat, burp, eat some more, burp some more and sleep. Over and over again. Instead of ducking bullets from the enemy, I was spit up on, drooled on, pooped and peed on.

I drilled him on his black and white flashcards, read a couple baby books and sang him songs in an attempt to entertain the troops. No Marine Corp Hymn for Liam (the only song my Dad knew how to sing). “Five Little Ducks went out to play” and “Five Little Speckled Frogs sitting on a speckled log” seem to be favorites, with Baby Shark coming in a distant third. A swing and a glider came in handy to relieve the constant holding of my small charge. I forgot how hard it is to do everything one-handed!

I even gave him a bath, which I think deserves an award for bravery- a blue washcloth instead of a purple heart? Liam is a happy baby and was a pleasant most of the day until about five, when he got extremely cranky, fussy and nothing made him happy. It felt like some kind of torture, but instead of a Prisoner of War, I was a Prisoner of Love. I desperately needed reinforcements. Wyatt left around 7, right after Liam finally went to sleep, so all was quiet on the Western Front. I prayed it might be an early bedtime (he usually goes to bed at 8), but no such luck.

There’s no way in hell I’m making dinner tonight.

I told Zeke, when he came home.

So he ordered two sushi rolls from Moon Thai and picked them up for dinner. Just as we were about to sit down to eat our Sloppy J and Sexy Lover roll, guess who woke up? Zeke said “You eat,” and held Liam and I then returned the favor. This reminded me of what my life used to be like with young kids, eating in shifts, gobbling down food as fast as possible and never having a minute to yourself. I don’t miss those days.

The Sloppy J roll had shrimp tempura and avocado inside, topped with tuna, salmon and yellowtail slices on the outside. The Sexy Lover roll has spicy tuna and cucumber topped with spicy tuna, sliced jalapenos, wasabi mayo and cilantro. Both were very good, although sloppily sliced. With dirty hair, spit-up all over my clothes and tight shoulders from holding the baby all day, I felt as far from a Sexy Lover as possible.

Being with the baby all day made me think I need to be doing more yoga, to get myself flexible, relaxed and able to handle these marathon babysitting sessions. Courtney is working 12 hour shifts in Labor and Delivery as a nurse at Mount Sinai and I will be one of the regular sitters each week. It also made me think I need to start eating healthier- more fruits, vegetables and whole grains- in order to stay in ship-shape for all these grandsons!

I had Emma and Guillermo over for pasta Sunday night with Wyatt. As we ate springs with my Grandmother’s pasta sauce, Zeke called me a hoarder. This is the thanks I get for making homemade Sunday gravy, with meatballs, sausage, salad, peas and bread! I was surprised to hear Courtney agree (Emma wisely stayed silent on the matter), saying she’d found something in the freezer she couldn’t imagine what I would be saving it for.

Could it be my frozen celery leaves, parsley stems or onion skins she was referring to? Or perhaps the chicken skin in a plastic bag, mushroom stems or parmesan cheese rinds? Doesn’t she know that eliminating food waste (a big problem in our country?) is all the rage these days? I’ve been ahead of the curve on that one for decades. My mom says I act like someone who was raised in the Great Depression and it’s true; I just can’t bear to throw anything away.

So I took my onions skins, mushroom stems, celery leaves and parsley stems and made a vegetable broth with them. I filled the pot with purified water, added my scraps and a couple bay leaves, brought it to a boil and simmered it for a couple hours. I find vegetable broth in the grocery store has an odd flavor. This broth unfortunately lacked flavor as well, so I added some salt and mushroom seasoning to punch it up. Perhaps a cube of vegetable bouillon would have helped as well. I used this broth as a base for a Minestrone Soup I made the next day.

I used a recipe from Cookie and Kate, which has wonderful vegetarian recipes. This soup is totally vegan, except for the Parmesan cheese on top. I also added Parmesan rinds to the pot, to give it a depth of umami flavor. You know the really hard part covering Parmesan cheese? I cut them off and save them to use in soups and pasta sauces. The only thing I haven’t made use of is the chicken skin, but just give me time.

In other news, Mr. Potato Head is no longer going to be a Mr., but now will just be Potato Head, in order to be gender-inclusive. Potato Head will come with various parts- eyelashes, mustache, purse and pipe- that can go either way (or both ways). Good news! After staying on the phone with American Express for hours last week, I finally scored tickets to a Resy event in Wynwood later this month for a drive-through dining experience. Ten Miami chefs, including Michelle Bernstein and Michael Schwartz, are serving a ten-course meal to diners in their cars. It’s March 18th and I can’t wait!

Zeke and I went down to our condo in the Keys Friday to check on a boat cover I’d gotten him as a Christmas present. Luckily my brother-in-law trailered the boat back from the boat dealership, so we didn’t have to deal with that nightmare again, but when Zeke checked the boat last week in the boat yard, he couldn’t find the boat cover. I wasn’t too concerned, as I know how Zeke looks for things, but we decided we better go down to make sure it was there and put it on the boat.

When Zeke looked again, “Surprise, surprise!” (as Gomer Pyle liked to say)- there was the boat cover, in the head, just as Unique Marine had informed us. Zeke removed it from its bag and it was like a giant black amoeba sprawling out inside our boat, with no rhyme or reason as to how it was to go. There were no instructions, but we finally got it figured out, positioned it in place and we went to get a drink, before heading home.

Getting a margarita at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon was probably not the best idea in the world. But we were in the Keys, celebrating our victory over the boat cover, enjoying the day and missing our little slice of Paradise. The Big Chill serves a margarita I actually like, not easy to find in the Keys. Their Perfect Margarita is made with tequila (Jose Cuervo), lime juice and orange liqueur, exactly as it should be made; for some reason, the salt around the rim tastes better than regular salt. It went down quite easily, as we listened to some island tunes and looked out at the glittering bay. Getting the second margarita was probably not advised, but I did it anyway.

Needless to say, when we got home, I didn’t feel up to going out so we just grilled some sausages outside by the pool to make sandwiches and listened to Margaritaville on Pandora. Which is what we will continue doing as we count the remaining days of March, waiting to get our condo back in April. Until then, I have a little Drill Sergeant living upstairs who demands my time and attention.

So bring me two pina coladas, I want one for each hand, Let’s set sail with Captain Morgan and we’ll never leave dry land, Hey troubles, I forgot them. I buried them in the sand, So bring me two pina coladas, she said goodbye to her good timin’ man.

Garth Brooks

Up Next: Minestrone Soup

Cinco de Mayo is a minor holiday in Mexico, celebrating the victory of the Mexican army over the French army at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. In the U.S. during the 60’s and 70’s, it became a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage for Mexican-Americans, especially in areas where there were large Mexican-American populations. The holiday really became a big deal in the U.S. in 1989 when the San Antonio-based Gambrinus Group, an importer of Corona beer, launched a Cinco de Mayo themed ad encouraging Mexican-Americans to drink Mexican beer.

By the late 90’s, Americans linked drinking Corona beer as a key way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The actual historic events of the date are unknown to most Americans and Cinco de Mayo is now basically an excuse to party. It is now the U.S.’s largest beer drinking holiday, surpassing beer sold on Saint Patrick’s Day and even the Super Bowl. It seems like the Gambrinus Group’s ingenious plan worked and they still spend $1 on advertising for every case of beer sold. We’ll see how Corona sales go in 2020, but if you don’t want to drink Corona, I have a recipe for a Perfect Margarita below.

Use up those leftovers!

I hesitate to call this a recipe, since it’s so easy and adaptable and a perfect way to use up a variety of leftovers. The original recipe was with uncooked skirt steak, 1/2 cup of lime juice and 2 to 3 garlic cloves, chopped, but I adapted it to use with already-cooked meats. It’s good with leftover steak, pork or chicken. You could even use shiitake mushrooms, if you are avoiding meat.

If I don’t have 1/2 cup of lime juice, I use whatever I have. If I don’t have lime, I use lemon juice; fresh garlic is best, but jarred will do in a pinch. But since there are so few ingredients, try to use fresh.

It’s really best to use a cast iron skillet for cooking this, if you have one and make sure you cook the peppers and onions first, as it helps flavor the meat. I sometimes throw in some jalapeño pepper, if I want some heat. You can even serve the fajita meat in the skillet, as they do at restaurants, sizzling as it arrives at your table. I would serve this with refried beans and rice for a complete meal.

Easy Fajitas

Ingredients:

• 1- 2 cups leftover meat
• 1/2 lime juice
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 Bell peppers, sliced, deveined and de-seeded, sliced in strips
• 2 White onions, sliced
• Flour tortillas

Marinate meat for 1 to 2 hours in lime juice and garlic.

Preheat oven to 350. Put flour tortillas in foil, seal up and heat in oven 10- 15 minutes.

Heat cast iron skillet on medium-high. Add a tablespoon olive oil and brown the onion. Remove. Add more oil & brown the bell peppers, until they’re slightly blistered. Remove. Add meat and cook just until warmed up.

Line up peppers, onions, meat and serve with hot flour tortillas and desired accompaniments. These can include: sour cream, salsa, guacamole, cilantro and/or pickled jalapeños. Enjoy!

I whip up Pico de Gallo whenever I need to add a pop of color, flavor or a bit of heat to Mexican dishes. It’s easy to make and is good on eggs, tacos, grilled meats or served with tortilla chips. If you have a tomato, an onion and a lime or lemon, you’re good to go.

Pico de Gallo

• 1 Ripe tomato, stem part removed, diced
• 1/2 white onion, peeled and finely diced
• 1 lime, squeezed
• 1/2 jalapeno or serrano pepper, deveined and de seeded, chopped fine
• salt
• cilantro, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Taste. Add more salt or lime juice if needed. Cilantro (some love it, some hate it) is optional. This lasts a couple days in the fridge.

“Wasting away again...”

A Margarita is my drink of choice in the Keys, but it’s surprisingly hard to get a good margarita at Key Largo restaurants, and most of them are closed now anyway. So here, to my taste, is the Perfect Margarita, which takes no time to whip up and has significantly less calories than most restaurant versions. Only three ingredients, but fresh lime juice is “key”. I sometimes make it with Key limes, but squeezing those little limes will get in the way of your time to drink the Perfect Margarita!

The Perfect Margarita

• 2 ounces tequila (I prefer Patron Silver)
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice

If you want salt on the rim, circle rim of glass with lime juice and dip in salt. I like Kosher salt flavored with cumin, cayenne and a dash of Old Bay.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add lime juice, cointreau and tequila. Shake vigourously. Pour into a margarita glass and garnish with a lime slice.

Enjoy. (Listening to Jimmy Buffet music while you do this is optional). This is MY perfect margarita, but if you want less alcohol, use 1 1/2 ounces of tequila. If you like a sweeter version, add 1/2 ounce more Cointreau; and if you’re down to your “last shaker of salt” or just don’t like it, skip it.

Now that you know these super easy Mexican dishes, you can whip up a Mexican feast for your family like Speedy Gonzales. Arriba, arriba!

Up Next: How to Shop Safely at the Grocery Store and Spring Meals.

The line from the Jimmy Buffet song Margaritaville keeps ringing in my head. I haven’t been drunk for two weeks, but there’s definitely been some drinking going on at our house. Not that it helps. I wake up every day and it’s the same bad news- worse than the day before actually. First thing in the morning, I check my phone to see how many more people have died of coronavirus. You know things are bad, when you’re waiting for a peak of deaths, because at that point, it will go down. I keep waiting for someone to call “Olly, olly oxen free,” and tell me it’s all over and we can come out and play.

Sometimes when I’ve had too much to drink, I have an urge to run, to hide, to escape. I’ve had that urge since this whole thing started, but there’s nowhere to run to, no place to hide and nowhere to escape to. The coronavirus is EVERYWHERE. No place is sacred or exempt. I don’t think I ever took for granted my basic freedom of being able to get in the car and go wherever I wanted, or hop on a plane and fly somewhere new and exotic. Now- not happening .

I consider myself an introvert with a social streak;  I never knew how much I would miss people. Friends- to have lunch, drinks, dinner with, or just chat and hang out. I miss my Book Club, tennis team, yoga class, Cookbook Book Club, Happy Hour buddies. I think it’s why people kept going to the grocery store (and some still are) long after being advised not to. It was the last place you could see people (that you weren’t already stuck with), the last everyday task that felt remotely normal.

“Why are people still going to the grocery store?” my sister Kelley demanded to know.

“It’s the last thing we have,” I answered.

I even miss people on the street, total strangers, although now that doesn’t feel safe either. I’m staying far enough away that they can’t cough or sneeze on me, but what if the person walking in front of me JUST coughed or sneezed? The diabolical air droplets carrying dreaded coronavirus can linger in the air for HOURS.

Most of all, I miss my family. And Wyatt. It’s so hard to see him in the car and not be able to kiss and hug him. That’s what grandmothers are for. He would usually yell “Gigi!” and run into my arms for a big hug and a kiss. 

“I’m sorry I can’t be close to you,” he said yesterday, as he stood a safe distance away and looked at the radish sprouts we’d we planted in my garden.

It wasn’t lost on me that my four-year-old grandson has more common sense and understands the imminent danger of “the virus” as he calls it, better than a lot of adults I’ve encountered lately.

“Me too,” I told him. “When this is all over, I’m gonna give you a big old fat kiss and hug!”

It’s like what they would say when I used  to go to Mass: “when two or more are gathered in his name”. There’s something about the collective, the experience of a mass of people that is different than the individual. Netflix at home is not the same as going to the movies. Even though I often go to the movies by myself, there’s something about watching a movie in a movie theatre with other people. You feed off their energy, pick up on it, ride with it. You laugh with them at funny parts, cry together at the sad, applaud at the end. And now- gone.

I’d been watching Ellen reruns, for a cheerful thing to do at 3 p.m. Last Monday she started broadcasting from her home in L.A. Normally, of course, she has a studio audience. Now, she’s by herself. She interviewed JLo (who lives right down the street from me, by the way) and JLo said: “I miss people.”

Yep, JLo. Me too. 

And to quote another song, from The Boss, I can’t wait for someone to  “Meet me out in the street.” Sans mask. 

Good Friday to all and stay safe.

Up Next: How to Instacart (because you shouldn’t be going to the grocery store) and Foods to eat to fight Viruses!