On March 15, 2020 we sat outside with our neighbors, around a backyard fire pit. Staring at flames, listening to the crackling and popping of burning wet wood. All whilst shaking our heads and wondering aloud what quarantine was going to look like for us.

We quickly agreed to The Bubble: six people, four dogs.

I think we made the decision without too much precedence; mostly leveraging inclination and intuition.  In retrospect, reducing the size of our circle from hundreds of people down to 6 was just logical.  Our small but mighty community included: -Sharing experiences. -Differing or supporting opinions -Laughing;  -Excursion buddies for  ‘outside of the bubble food shopping’; -Breaking bread; -Processing a ‘new normal’; -Celebrating birthdays; -Backyard haircuts; -Walking dogs; -Dancing to good music. All while sticking to one primary premise: nobody compromises the integrity of the bubble as long as we’re in it.

Tuesday, March 24, marked the first of 13 International Foods Tuesdays.  The premise was fairly simple: draw a geographical location from a hat, and prepare a full dinner of traditional recipes based on the geographical and cultural norms of the area.  Not a lot of rules except: everyone participated in cooking, no fish or chickpeas, and everyone tried at least one bite of what was served.  

Very quickly we established the ‘other’ rules:  Rogers prepared dessert.  Everyone scored the meal using a card. A definition of “Delicious” was required. (“You thought the food  had a good taste.”) And, lobbying for favorable votes and compliments was completely legal and often encouraged.  At some point we realized that music from the region to go with the food would create the perfect ambiance.  From polka to ABBA to mariachis,  Alexa did not disappoint!