Not an Easy Week & Easy Skillet Fish Dinner / 3-18-2020

      Hello all and welcome and hope you are surviving this weirded out way of life. I want to say so much, but I am afraid I would end up getting political and that is now what this blog is about. I know the old man at the lighthouse station was champing at the bit last week, But that's his segment not this one. So I will try to just say this week, may we all get through this in one piece and still financially afloat so that we can continue to enjoy this place we call Cape Cod. It's a beautiful place, a place where people need to be out and about, not locked up in homes and rooms. Fresh air is healthy to the body and so is friends and family, and social gatherings. It does good for the mind, the body and the spirit and Cape Cod is the place to experience that. So let's take care of ourselves now so that when second half of spring and summer comes around we can get back to some normalcy and really be out on the beach, on the nature paths, the rail trails, the dunes, the golf courses, and any place else out and about on Cape Cod you can think of. I don't do well cooped up, and being told to stay in, I like to be on the go and after being stuck in my home office all day I want to be out, enjoying, watching sun sets and going places. I get it, but I don't. So I keep the hope, and the prayers going and go from there. Weird week, and weirder events. Sorry to be so discombobulated, but not thinking to clearly about all this. Make your plans and keep the faith, and hope to see you soon, right here on beautiful old Cape Cod. 

      Cape Cod small and local business. What can I say right now, not a lot that is. Many of our small businesses do have online shops, from Washershore washer jewelry, on face book and at https://washershore.com/. wait, instead of going through the entire list, go back through my blogs and look at my business report I give place after place after place. Robin's Toffee in South Yarmouth, she sells online. Check out Candy Manor in Chatham, they do online business. What about the Ducks in the Window, they do online biz, and then there is Cape Cod Coffee, 3 Finns Coffee Roasters, and let's not leave out Snowy Owl out of Brewster. Then there Truro Winery, and Atlantic Spice, again they do shipping and the list keeps going. And please if you enjoy your beer, check out what Cape Cod Beer is doing and if you need give a call to your other favorites like Barnstable Brewing to see what they are doing or where to buy their products. So there are plenty of places to get local products online and shipped. Do it and help our locals stay in business through this time of hardships.   

      Well, another week has gone bay and here we are, same place we were last week. Some of you are wondering just how much I got in trouble, well, the author of this blog thing, merely told me I needed to be a little more sensitive about it. I told him I would try, It's just sitting here all day long with no one allowed to come and visit me and the old gal, (no not the Mrs, and besides I call her an old gal, I might has well just tell the dog to go take my place in the bed and let me have his dog house.) Yes I miss you folks, your stories, your interest in my lighthouse, guard station and light tower. I enjoy talking about the different kinds of lenses and the history of them. And old foggy the fog horn. It's hard, I mean really hard, but I also know for the safety of especially those my age and older, we have a hard time listening to others tell US what to do. We want to be out, and short of being ordered to completely be locked down (which is what it has taken) we don't listen well. But life will go on, and this too will pass, and we will get back to some normalcy, just praying it soon. So do what I have had to do, keep busy around the dwelling, read, clean, take the dog for an extra walk, open the windows with the temperatures on the rise and air out that house or room you call home. But don't become stagnant, pick up the phone and call your kids, call your folks, call the grandkids. Write a letter, you know snail mail, send an email, stay connected, young, middle agers, aging and seasoned, we all are in this together. Maybe you need to turn off the TV a bit more or at least change the channel from all the news, and keep off social media and all the dooms day sights. I get caught up in it as well, so I am not just preaching it, I am saying it to myself as well. So just do it, let's get this thing through us and get the U.S. back on her feet and us back to our regular duties and when it's possible come visit us here on old Cape Cod.  

      This week I think we all need something that is quick and easy. My job has been a work at home position for the past 8 years. That has its pluses and minuses, especially when it comes to food preparation and wanting to cook at the house all the time. But I do enjoy it and it does make cooking easier because I am already home, not stressed out from the drive or commute, and if I forgot to take something out the night before I can usually pull it out mid morning and it is thawed by dinner time. But when it comes down to it, I am always looking for something easy. I don't want tied to my kitchen, or feel like I have to spend half the night in there after spending all day in my home office. So this kind of dinner is right up my alley. And is a perfect for a Cape Cottage Kitchen. Now on with the show,,, 

      This week's recipe: Easy Skillet Fish Dinner

      2      stalks   celery - chopped

      1      cup      green pepper - chopped

      1      cup      onion - chopped

      2      tsp       olive or canola oil

      4      each    plum tomatoes - chopped

   1/2      tsp       salt 

              dash    pepper

      1      lb.        cod, haddock, orange roughy, or flounder fillets

              hot       cooked rice

              Hot      pepper sauce

      In a skillet, saute the celery, green pepper, and onion in oil until almost tender. Add tomatoes, cook and stir for 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Top with fish fillets and sprinkle with seafood seasoning. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 6 minutes. Break fish into chunks. Cook about 3 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve over rice. Serve with hot pepper sauce if desired.