Foodies in the Time of COVID

By Livia D’Andrea and Lauren Greenwood

This story starts on a chilly morning in late March 2020. Lauren and I were sitting six feet apart at a park table drinking hot coffee from a thermos and discussing the future of our Foodie Group. We had reconnected after graduate school and, sharing a fondness for food and cooking, decided to start a group with other food lovers. That group became the Foodies and was now facing extinction.

For the past eight years the 12 of us, senior and senior-ish professional women, and occasionally two men, met at a new-to-us local restaurant to share a meal and informally evaluate the restaurant for food quality, price, and, being seniors, noise level. When the pandemic locked our city down, continuing Foodies was no longer an option, and the fear of disconnecting with our friends was setting in.

Between bites of home-made coffee cake, Lauren said, “I have a crazy idea. What if we make appetizers and deliver them? We don’t need to have contact; I’ll just leave it on their front porch and ring their doorbell. We know they will be home! We can arrange to meet at our usual time, but on Zoom.”

Since the majority of our group are therapists, being flexible is an acquired characteristic for us so I said, “That is a crazy idea. Let’s do it!”

For the first meeting, Lauren made salsa and found an assortment of bags of chips. I made Zoom-Foodie Salsa labels, and she delivered them in left -over gift bags. We met on Zoom and ate our appetizers together and toasted finding a way to get together after all. Our group loved the idea thinking it would be a one- or two-time thing.

As the reality of the pandemic set in, and knowing that high anxiety tends to disengage people, and fracture relationships, we doubled down on our efforts to keep our Foodies together. Lauren and I met in the park each month to decide on a theme for the next delivery, then found a suitable appetizer and an in-theme container that she deemed deliverable-without-spilling. Lauren delivered the appetizers, sent a text announcing its arrival, and that evening we met and ate our appetizer together on Zoom while we brought each other up to speed on how each of us was handling the lockdown. This continued until August when we chose a Hot August Night theme. By then, we were able to mask up and go to the Dollar Store. We bought 12 hula hoops and Lauren delivered one to each porch with the appetizer of the month (feta/lemon dip in a brown bag with a Rosie the Riveter We Can hoop label) and two pieces of Bazooka Bubble gum.

That’s when our adulting ended. We hula hooped on Zoom together and told stories about our first car (a favorite was the car that couldn’t turn right because the steering wheel would come off). By November, we were wearing googly glasses with turkeys on them. In March we met with green and gold necklaces with light-up shamrocks and ate pot-of-gold salsa and chips delivered in a green felt hat. We celebrated Earth Day (trail mix in a terracotta flowerpot, complete with gummy worm), and in June we settled on a travel (not) theme (foil-wrapped sandwiches in a hobo bindle tied to a stick).

Along the way, people began to contribute nuts, dangly earrings, silly in-theme bracelets, chocolates, and any other item (food or otherwise) that could help lighten the heavy toll the pandemic was taking on us personally as well as professionally. We included the contributions with the appetizer of the month and continued to meet on Zoom.

As the months wore on, the promise and consistency of our meetings gave each of us something fun to look forward to. Every month we seemed to expand our knowledge of each other in new ways and with increasing respect. We noticed that our friendship was actually deepening as we shared the overwhelming experience of suddenly losing our freedom to pursue our personal and professional activities. We initially thought we needed to be together physically to maintain our enjoyment of food and companionship. Instead, we found that being together did not mean we had to be in the same room. We could each be in our own home and still be together and share our doubts and fears about what may lie ahead for us. As long as we could share food and laughter, it made no difference if we were on Zoom or in a restaurant.

By August of 2021 we felt it was safe to meet face-to-face, but outside and apart. We scattered tables around Lauren’s big backyard and threw a party. We celebrated the fact that we found lightness in dark times, challenged our creativity, and learned to make Limoncello out of lemons (literally).

Since we were all vaccinated and boosted, when Omicron became the next threat, Lauren bought a GermGuardian AC4825 4-in1 Air Purifier, opened all the windows and invited the Foodies into her house to sit six feet apart (with coats on) and made more themed appetizers. We were one step closer to normal and felt closer than ever. We continued to meet in-person until we voted that February of 2022 would be our last in-home meeting. Lauren and I settled on a Chinese New Year theme and, with the help of the owner of the Asian market in town, bought the ingredients and decorations to celebrate. We gave everyone a red money envelope with five quarters (even numbers are bad luck) and Chinese candies inside, we made origami fortune cookies, and served Asian Lettuce wraps. We agreed to forget the New Year’s resolutions we made last month and laughed our way into the Year of the Tiger.

We had formed a new kind of community; one in which it was safe to be afraid, to be vulnerable, and when given the prompt—to play. Author Catherine Price defined “fun” as “the confluence of playfulness, connection and flow,” and Foodies in the time of COVID was for us fun.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

For the sauce:

Whisk together

3 TBS soy sauce*
3 TBS hoisin sauce*
1 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS peanut butter
1 TBS honey
2 tsp sweet chili sauce
2 cloves fresh garlic minced (or ½ tsp garlic powder) We liked fresh garlic best**
½ TBS fresh grated ginger (or ¼ tsp powdered ginger) We liked fresh ginger best**

For the Chicken Mixture

2 TBS peanut oil
1 lb ground chicken
½ yellow onion, minced
1 cup red pepper, diced
1 8-oz can water chestnuts drained and minced

In a frying pan heat the peanut oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 lb ground chicken and cook until some pieces start to brown. Then add onion and cook about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add red pepper, water chestnuts, and cook until peppers and water chestnuts are soft. Add the sauce and simmer on low heat until chicken and veggies are coated evenly and heated through.

Serve in washed and dried butter lettuce leaves. We made a pot full of fried rice to go with the wraps.

*We made a separate recipe using gluten-free soy and hoisin sauce for our friends with gluten sensitivity.

** We made both versions and taste-tested them for best flavor.

Livia D’Andrea is a retired professor of Statistics and Research at the University of Nevada, Reno. She has a PhD from the University of Southern California and continues to write about best ways to teach and learn statistical methods. She is also a licensed Marriage and Family therapist and specializes in trauma. She is a volunteer on the Crisis Response Team for the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and for the Regional Critical Incident Team of Nevada. She enjoys cooking, hiking, and learning to speak Italian.

Lauren Greenwood has a BS and an MA from The University of Nevada, Reno. She has had a private Marriage and Family Therapy practice for over 25 years. She enjoys hanging out with her dog Sophie, playing pickle ball, cooking, sharing recipes with Foodie friends, and trying new local restaurants. She is an avid supporter of the arts and enjoys going to local events that display the work of the artists in her area.

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Kathleen KuoApril 25, 2022J1 Comment