Our Covid Summer

When I think Summer, I think of the impressive wall of heat that hits you on the face like you’re looking into a hot oven. The humidity is so thick, it makes the air heavy. Combined, you are just weighted down, like that nightmare where you are trying to run, but your feet are dragging, and each step is like pushing through taffy.

Summer is also swimming pools, mosquitos, and thunderstorms. Fireworks and barbecue. It’s that bead of sweat that trickles down the center of your spine. It’s that persistent feeling that your deodorant has worn off. It’s ceiling fans and high air conditioning bills. It’s fresh fruit and popsicles; ice water, iced coffee, lemonade, and tea. It’s summer camps, family vacation, and endless possibilities.

But for Summer of 2020, it meant lock-down and masks and not going anywhere. It meant unemployment, depression, and lots of time spent at home, not just because there was a raging pandemic, but also because we could not afford to go anywhere else.

At first this was great. My job was high stress and it was nice to not care for a little while. My house was clean, the weeds pulled, the lawn done. We got indoor plants to brighten up the place. I even did power-washing in the back patio area. And for the first time in a while, I could really focus on my writing.

After a while, the boredom set in. The shortages occurred. Masks and sanitizer were required and simultaneously the hardest thing to find. Every day was either a new horror story from Covid or just the normal anxiety of what we were going to do. And as the money ran out, there was no end was in sight. We needed something, anything to get our mind off of things.

Since we could not travel, my roommates and I decided to go to all 50 states with taste, baking and cooking our way from Alabama to Wyoming. We chased away the Covid blues with food.

I learned many things that Summer. I learned that Indiana Sugar Cream Pie is delicious. It has since become one of my favorite pies to make. I learned the proper way to fry food (I could never do it before without the breading falling off). Most of all, I learned that each state has something truly unique and delicious to offer.

I had bison burgers, and crab cakes and fried pork chops. Cuban sandwiches and every flavor of barbecue ever invented, (from Alabama white barbecue to Kansas City to Texas). Each state had a new cooking challenge and a new taste to try.

We alternated, so that the burden did not fall on just one person. Every other night, we would be googling, “What food is ___ known for.” Pages and pages of recipes would appear, and we would sort out what we thought the best one was. Not just what we thought the others would like, but also what was feasible with the time and ingredients we had available to us.

It did not take away the terror or loneliness of those first months, but it did do something more. It gave us a purpose. It gave us something to look forward to. It gave us adventure and responsibility. It brought us closer in those months. Those are the months where we transformed from mere roommates to family.

As gas prices climb, and it is looking like another Summer where travel is hard, I challenge you to look beyond the normal Summer food. Anyone can make potato salad and barbecue, but the best Summers, the ones that stick with you, are the adventures you have with the people you care about.

Looking for suggestions? I will include my favorites below. These are not the only things these states are known for, so feel free to explore! It is half the fun!

For Alabama, we made white barbecue sauce.

For Arizona, we made chimichangas.

For Florida, we made authentic Cuban sandwiches, beans and rice, and mojitos.

For Indiana, we made fried pork tenderloin sandwiches and sugar cream pie.