Granada Quarantine Diaries – Part 8 & 9 – Making the Famous Hilton Doubletree Cookies, an Italian Kitchen Staple and More

Hi-di-hi there, follow isolators!
Things don’t feel so bad though, right? I, myself, feel freeee! For me, freedom is walking to my heart’s content, my favourite coffee places and bakeries open…simple pleasures. The kind of simple, beautiful things that start as a lil’ tingle from your head to your feet, right through to your soul.
Joy triggers!
Today, I went to Zara Home, regular Zara *and* Mango (wild!) and although there’s only about 40% of stock on display, when you enter the store, you do so in a manner of maneuvering those criss-cross lines, similar to those in a queue for a ride at Disneyworld. Nevertheless, all is working well. Everyone here is doing an excellent job. All our streets have markings too, and all cashpoints/tills continue with plastic partitions.

I am beyond happy with the changes, flows, transitions. Everything is unfolding at just the right time, as it should. When I sometimes talk to someone who is feeling frustrated (no judgement here) I try to be as gentle as possible; trying to envision myself in their shoes. I do also like to remind them (kindly!) that this is global. We are all in this. We are *all* affected! So I provide as much advice as I can, ideas, positive antidotes, or simply just listen. The best thing you can do for anyone, really.
If I’m being 100% transparent, travel is the only thing that makes me sigh a little (hi Amalfi Coast, you would have been spectacular! or even Nerja again for my birthday. No frills, just a little break) but only for a moment, no more. I don’t allow myself to dwell on something that doesn’t exist.

Other than that, this newfound freedom in Granada, sunny blue skies…LIFE being LIVED and knowing my family and friends are doing just fine is all that is dear to me. I’m not sure if it’s a little ignorant that apart from reading The New Yorker and Washington Post (both, fervently, no skimming here!) day in day out for my news (no thank you, TV) that I don’t let my day revolve around COVID-19, but that is how I flow with things.
I’ve always been a germophobe. So the extra precautions seem more than normal to me, etched into my brain since the ’90s. Thanks Mom, thanks Dad.
I already scrub my hands often, like the majority of folk! I never touch door handles. I kick open a public bathroom door. If it’s pull, you best believe I’m on a hunt for a scrap of TP to free me from that germ box. I always carry hand sanitizer. So instinctively, I really don’t think about it. I go about my day, my routine, my pursuit of a beautiful well-lived, well-enjoyed life. Only the mask-wearing wakes me up, jolting me into our current reality. By the way, I realise how unbelievably lucky I am to write the previous few lines. I really, truly am. No two of us share the same story.

In short, I am happy. I feel free. I revel in the sunshine on my back (and indeed face…wear SPF!) closing my eyes under the warm May sun has given me more than any vitamin could. Soothing, supported, loved.

As for all of us, collectively. We will be ok. Everything always is.
What I’m trying to communicate to anxious friends is that you simply cannot force anything. Nothing! Just do you, look after you, nourish yourself, and the rest will fall into place. Eventually. With patience. Coming from a society who is used to everything, instantly, at the tip of their fingers…I’m sorry. Especially for teenagers. This is no longer a thing. Unless you’re engaging in serious retail therapy right now to soothe the pain. Again, no judgment. If you’re buying everything on Amazon, just know you’re lining Jeff freakin’ Bezo’s pockets. I can’t even fathom that level of wealth. HELP THE PEOPLE, JEFF!

Anyway, back to the whole, having everything, whenever. That won’t be happening, not this time. Put down the phone, alcohol, TV, food, drugs, whatever you’re using to medicate or pacify that feeling. Sit with the discomfort. Allow it to wash over you. It won’t be pleasant. Like working out at the gym, it’s a muscle that needs to be strengthened. It’s difficult. But you’ll learn something. You’ll learn a lot.

Anyway, I went deep there. Apologies! Back to silliness, y’all.
Here are videos of me making truffled eggs. Yep. You read that right. Bougie. I eat something truffle-related at least 4 times a week. It’s who I am, what can I say.
I’m also baking the famous Hilton DoubleTree cookies, trying a calm magnesium supplement to chill me out, as I’ve been having trouble sleeping, like the majority of us. (Did it work?!) I’m talking about my latest ride or die; an amazing white truffle oil find (get it, I URGE you to get it. Your life with never be the same. It will be enriched in ways beyond your COMPREHENSION!)…general couch chats and a recipe (can I call it that?!) for alcohol-free mojitos. Oh, boy, are they refreshing. Who needs the beach when you can sit by…eh, your vacuum for company?!
Oh, and I made Alison Roman’s ‘ The Stew’, but who hasn’t made that?! Old news. All links are in the video description boxes, in case you wanna take a stab at some kitchen antics of your very own.
Thanks for watching! If you watch me! Hi!

Q-Diaries Part 8

Q-Diaries Part 9

Until next time, enjoy! Wash those paws, take deep belly breaths (if you don’t enjoy meditation or yoga, download Breathly, it’s a no-frills guided breathing app), and know that the best is yet to come!

E x