Shopping While Under Quarantine

Ashley's local shop in London,
a few days ago

A local store in Aberdeen

We have been flabbergasted to see the accounts of panic buying, both in the US and the UK. Ashley told us that her store shelves have been devoid of toilet paper for quite a while. Florence also reported empty shelves (although as of today, that situation was improved). We have experienced none of that.

Currently, we are shopping twice a week, although I'm pretty sure we'll go down to one time a week. That might seem rather a lot, but bear in mind our food storage capacity. Our "large" fridge holds a little more than a large dorm fridge, if that. Our freezer space is about the size of a small dorm cube. Keeping fresh food, well, fresh can be a bit of a challenge in the context of four adults (2 adolescent males, no less) for a long period of time.

Ashley's local

That said, we are focusing on vegetables that do well out of the fridge, or eating the more perishable items first. We *could* move the limoncello out of the freezer to make more room if necessary. I'm thinking about starting a new batch of sauerkraut, too...which, of course, will be done only after the quarantine is over (if we're lucky). Fennel is a great choice, carrots and celery do okay. If the peppers are intact, they tolerate multiple days out of the fridge. Apples and oranges are of course very shelf-stable.

Our local store

The local "mega" stores that also hold consumer goods (think a miniature super-Target) have actually blocked off their aisles that are not strictly food-related items. They want to discourage lingering, and remind everyone that the only reason to be out is strict necessity for food. There is to be no browsing of consumer items.

Shelves still abounding in good things!

As a side note, Umberto let me know a few days ago that they're going to stop work for the time being in order to respect the quarantine, given that the house is weather tight at this juncture. Our mayor has done daily update videos (posted on Facebook) that are very encouraging and reassuring. So far, no cases in Todi. They expect the number of cases to keep growing over the next four days, and then they should decrease again.

Love,

Alexandra

NO SHOPPING ALLOWED! Food only!