​After another day of the impeached Trump handing out pardons like Halloween treats this week alone to mass murderers, convicted felons who wouldn't testify against him, and the father of his son-in-law who set up his own brother-in-law with a hooker and videotaped it. -- none of them showing remorse or turning their lives around with good deeds -- I decided I needed a palate cleanser.

I was going to write about Joe Biden's great press conference on Tuesday, where he blisteringly took Russia to task, blamed them for attacking the U.S. on Trump's watch -- noting that Trump wasn't watching and making clear they should be held accountable and that he would do so if Trump didn't.  But good as that was, it was pretty much what you expect for a President.  (Although, admittedly, Biden isn't a President yet, and you don't really expect it from a President-Elect.  But then when the actual president is AWOL, popping up only for pardoning remorseless convicted felons and vetoing a defense bill, the President Elect pretty much has to step in...

Instead we're going to go with Mark Bucher.

Mark Bucher owns the Medium Rare steakhouses in Washington, D.D. and Arlington, Virginia.  He was on MSNBC yesterday morning talking about his Feed the Fridge initiative, getting free food to those in need, sort of a local version of what the great Chef Jose Andres has built on a national scale.  It was wonderful, but what stood out was his enthusiasm to get the government involved, as well as other restaurants.

You can read a very good interview with him here, but to go along with that, here is that interview from yesterday, only 3-4 minutes and worth every moment. 

I thought I'd see if I could find one of the fun "50 people try to make..." videos from Epicurious that would Thanksgiving-related.  And I did, and it was perfect for a few reasons.  And those reasons mean, too, that this will be a bit different than the others we post here.  This is for making cranberry sauce.

The main reason this is perfect is because making cranberry sauce seems to scare people off and instead they buy it from a can.  And making cranberry sauce is SO mind-numbingly easy -- I mean truly brain-dead easy, literally not much more difficult than opening a can, though it takes a little more time -- and it is SO much better than canned that it's almost like eating a different food.  In fact, cranberry sauce is even easier to make than the professional Epicurious chef describes it at the end, since he says you should keep stirring it all the time, and I've never done that.  I stir it a few times at the beginning and a couple times as it cooks, but I don't stand over the pot stirring.

Also, this was perfect because it allows me to present a recipe to show how easy it is.  And it's perfect too since it lets me present my own twist on the easy recipe that is almost as easy, and soooooooo much better.  I love making cranberry sauce not only because it's so easy and people are impressed that he actually made it, but also because the end result is so much better than people think it will be.

First, here's the video.  It's a lot of fun, especially when knowing ahead how bizarrely and ridiculously easy it is -- and delicious.

Okay, first, here's how actually easy it is to make.

Ingredients:
I package of cranberries
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar

Yes, that's it.  Pour the water and sugar in the pot, stir and bring the mixture to a slow simmer.  Then, dump in the bag of cranberries, stir, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

And that's all.  Really.  It truly isn't much more difficult than opening a can.  And it's delicious, and tastes like a real fruit, because it is.  To even think of gelatin cranberries makes me shudder.  You could probably eat it hot, but I refrigerate it until its cool.

But here's my recipe to make it even better.  You can adapt the amounts according to your taste.

Ingredients:
I package of cranberries
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of sherry
3/4 cup of sugar
1 apple

In this version, start by cutting the apple into cranberry-sized pieces.  Why apple rather than orange peel and orange juice like many recipes suggest (including the Epicurious chef)?  A few reasons.  First, orange peel is bitter and orange juice is acidic, and since cranberries are bitter to begin with, I think the sweetness of apples are a better complimentary mix.  Second, because apples are so sweet, you can use less sugar (which also brings the calories down). Third, apples have natural pectin, so it creates it's own "gelatin."  And finally, I think the mixture of cranberries and apples is SO delicious because (to me) it almost tastes like strawberries.  And to give full credit, I got this tip as a little kid from my Grandma Rose.  Her main focus was on the natural pectin.

And to those concerned about the alcohol from the sherry, know that boiling the sherry cooks the alcohol out of it.  But if you don't want the sherry, fine, leave it out and just use a cup of water.  But I think it adds a rich flavor.

You make the dish almost the same way.  Bring the water, sherry and sugar to a slow simmer.  (Let it boil enough to cook the alcohol out.)  Mix in the bag of cranberries and the chopped up apples.  Stir, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

And that's it.  Ideally, let it cool.  And taste it -- if you feel that the apples didn't sweeten it enough for your taste, just mix in some more sugar until it's how you like it.

But that's how easy it is to make cranberry sauce.  And to make it even better. 

With the weekend just around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to head back into the kitchens of Epicurious for one of their Basic Skills Challenges.  This time, 50 people try to make...pancakes.

Since so many people are still doing much of their own cooking these days, we head back into the kitchen with Epicurious magazine.  And this time, the ask 50 people to try and make an over easy egg.  Which you would  think might be...well, easy.  But the fun is not only how many people don't even know what an "over easy egg" is -- but also to watch their expert going into more specifics than you might expect on doing it right.

On this week’s Al Franken podcast, his guest is Andrew Zimmern, who hosted MSNBC’s excellent series, What’s Eating America.  If you haven’t seen any episodes (I’ve seen a few, not all), the show is very well-done and offers a unique perspective on its subject -- food.  As Franken writes, “Turns out food is important. Andrew Zimmern, host and producer of MSNBC’s new series, What’s Eating America talks about the intersection of food and health, immigration, climate, and addiction – including his own harrowing journey to sobriety and grace.”  This latter episode is one that I did see, and it was terrific -- open and fascinating.
 

Since people tend to have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen these days, we're going to head back for one of those "50 People Try to..." videos from Epicurious.  And today we have something pretty basic, but the fun is discovering that it's not that basic for everyone -- how to pancakes.

Once again, we have a Stay at Home edition of NPR quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!  The guest is cooking teacher and author Samin Nosrat, who hosts a special on Netflix about international cooking.  She has a very upbeat interview with host Peter Sagal since not only is she very excited to be on the show, but she notes that she’s emotive about pretty much everything, and they amusingly talk about how she’s been dealing with cooking during home isolation.

For all the stories about businesses opening, the ones that have seemed to get the most attention are about restaurants.  And I understand that.  Their impact on both the economy and our culture are profound, arguably more than any industry -- not just for the food and all the people and related-businesses they support financially, but also the sheer social aspect of the dining experience.  So, I get it.  And I'm pleased that, unlike most businesses that are closed, restaurants at least have the option of continuing to operate by developing take-out business.  It doesn't compensate for the loss of sit-down customers, but it's something, which is more than most can say.

This all came to mind yesterday when I got an email from IHOP. (Yes, I'm on their mailing list because I get free pancake offers from them a couple times a year -- on my birthday and the anniversary of then I signed up with them). It explained all the measures they're taking to make sure their restaurants are clean and safe.

And the efforts they're taking seem to be the same that stories all explain the lengths that other restaurants are taking to make their places safe.

Still, as much as I admire the efforts and as much as I hope restaurants can open and swarm with business, because I love restaurants (One of my first jobs was working for a Burger King, which my mother would generally call, "King Burger."  I used to be a very teensy investor in a restaurant in Los Angeles.  I've written lovingly three or four times about a restaurant, Charlie Beinlich's, near where I grew up outside Chicago.  I still have fond memories as a very little kid being excited to take occasional family trips about 20 minutes to Des Plaines to go to this new, little place which turned out to be the very first franchise ever for McDonalds.)  

But as much as I love restaurants and hope they survive and thrive -- and as much as they're making great efforts to keep their places clean and safe -- I wouldn't even consider going to one until there is a vaccine, and most people have been inoculated.

And from stories I've read, I get the sense that most customers feel the same.

I appreciate that they'll be disinfecting the chairs after each customer.  And be extra special cleaving the plates and silverware.  And only have single-serve ketchup and mustard packs.  And that they'll keep patrons separated at their tables to reduce capacity.  And waiters will wear masks.  And there will be hand sanitizer on tables. And many restaurants will have single-use plastic utensils.  And single use paper menus.  And...

Seriously, knowing all these efforts being taken to keep a restaurant safe, does that give you the idea that maybe restaurants have a safety issue that requires all of these steps?  And isn't there just a gnawing thought in the back of your mind that every restaurant is not going to all these steps every time without slipping up?  (We all expect slip-ups in life, including in restaurants.  When the the result of that mistake is the possibility of death, they're a little less acceptable.)

But let's even say that every restaurants takes all these safety measures and even more, and handle them all perfectly, ever time.

There are still other problems with a restaurant that are just inherently built into the experience.

Like -- will people be wearing face masks?  If yes, which I'd think would be the case, that would seem to make it incredibly difficult to eat.  And if no, to facilitate the eating process...isn't that a huge danger-warning light glaring on-and-off??!  After all, if "no," they'd be taking all these many steps for safety -- but leaving out the one requirement that has become pretty standard.  So, neither option makes much sense.  Or the fact that a large part of the dining experience is relaxing and socializing -- but the longer you're in an enclosed place, socializing, the greater the chance of viruses being spread through the air.  And you're sitting at a table, just a few feet away from your dining companion, everyone talking, talking and talking.  (Which brings up again the previous question of wearing face masks.)

And the thing is, the problems are just as great from the restaurant side of the coin.  To open up your restaurant, there are costs involved with that -- staff, electricity, gas, maintenance, security, insurance and more.  But even at best, it would seem likely that business will be down 70%.  On the positive side, if you're doing take-out, then some of those costs are already being paid.  But not all, or most.  It might well be much more cost-effective to stay closed until you know for absolutely certain it's safe. 

Which brings up probably the biggest caveat.  If your staff screws up just once, and a customer gets sick, but worse, dies -- that's not only a tragedy, but a disaster for your business.  Most restaurants probably couldn't come back from that.  And if that one person gets sick...it seems likely that it won't be limited to just one.  So, the question for restaurant owners is whether to risk opening as they no doubt desperately want, or play it safe for yourself, your staff, your customers and your future.

I love restaurants.  I can't wait for them to open.  I can't wait for it to be safe enough for them to open where all those safety requirements aren't needed.

But until that latter happens, I have a hard time seeing going out to dine.  And I suspect that's the case for most people.

Last night I was watching the Food Network when they ran an ad for a new show there, premiering on May 11.  It turns out that Amy Schumer's husband Chris Fischer is a James Beard Award-winning chef.  So, together, while quarantined -- with their nanny handling the camera when their baby is sleeping -- they will be doing a show called, Amy Schumer Learns to Cook.

Food Network came to them, looking for some new programming that they could put on the air during the quarantined.  For Schumer, she said fine that it seemed like a good idea.  After all, she noted, it combines their two passion.  "Chris's is cooking.  And mine is eating."  It's scheduled for a limited run, I think I read nine weeks somewhere.  Here's the ad.

Since people are pretty much homebound these days and doing without restaurants, cooking for themselves, I figured it's a good time to head back into the kitchen for another "50 People Try..." video from Epicurious.  Today, we take a look at 50 people trying to do something that I suspect a whole lot of people are trying to do these days -- make a smoothie. Now, you'd probably think that not much can go wrong -- hey, it's a smoothie.  You'd be wrong.