Stromboli, Scrambled Eggs, Family Dinner

Greetings on this April Monday. I hope everyone had at least one beautiful spring day like New York had yesterday — 65 degrees and blue sky. I had grand ambitions for organizing the basement, but ended up outside all day, reading/breakfasting/lunching on the patio, running, hiking a local trail along the Hudson River. And I’m A-OK with that! We visited our neighbor’s last night before dinner (they set us up way across the yard from them), and watched the first two episodes of Fauda. Kicking off Week 6, here’s today’s PPP…

Pantry: The Best Scrambled Eggs

Eggs are the ingredient I’m most afraid of running out of these days. Actually, quarantine has nothing to do with that fear — I’m obsessive about keeping fresh eggs in the house even during the best of times. Once a week I’ve been picking up a dozen from our farmer’s market to supplement the cartons we’ve been scrounging up elsewhere, and the girls know to ask permission before using these for their various baking projects. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no better way to eat those fresh eggs in as pure a state as possible: Scrambled for breakfast. Yesterday’s batch was particularly flavorful and I prepped them my favorite way, whisking in about 2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan, a tablespoon of chives and a dash of water with two deep-orange yolked eggs. (Plus S&P, of course.) I like soft eggs, so cooked them in a nonstick (greased with a pat of butter) over super low heat until they were set but not blistered. Eating outside with a cup of coffee…is there any better way to start the day?

Project: Stromboli Two Ways

For a while, when the girls were little, we used to make Stromboli on Fridays. I guess it was our version of pizza night — it felt like a celebratory way to end the week, everyone sitting on the counter adding toppings to the dough before Mom or Dad would very carefully roll it up and brush with oil. (And I could never seem to write about it without adding an exclamation point…Stromboli!) The truth is, it’s easy and practical enough to make on a weeknight, too. We made two on Friday, one classic (tomato sauce, sausage, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil) and….

…and one riff on our favorite Joe Beddia pizza (spring cream, kale, pickled onions, mozzarella, Parm, show above.) It’s way more involved than the classic, but it pays off in spades.

Purpose: Family Dinner 101

Still my favorite hobby: Finding evidence of “the sanctity of family dinner.” Here’s the latest mention in a really great profile of Anthony Fauci in last week’s New Yorker. (Reminder: There’s a paywall once you hit a certain number of articles per month.)

Stay safe, stay home.

The goal of the Project, Pantry, Purpose series to keep us sane, distracted, and connected. Please continue to comment below with suggestions for recipes, projects (for kids and adults), good deeds, donation ideas, stories, movies, games, puzzles. Or just tell me how you’re doing, what your daily routine is, and especially how DALS can help you or people in your community. You can also email me directly at [email protected].