During the pandemic, I’ve transitioned in and out of several food trends that have kept me busy during long nights at home. With another lockdown under our belts, I’ve dipped back into my favourites.
When going out to eat with friends, grabbing drinks at a local patio, and trying new tapas restaurants was out of the question, I turned to Instagram, Tiktok, and old cookbooks to find new food inspiration.
Charcuterie boards
My personal favourite trend during the pandemic was the charcuterie board craze. It’s aesthetically pleasing and it’s delicious—I couldn’t ask for anything more for a girl’s night in.
Everywhere I looked, people were posting their beautiful charcuterie tables and home businesses. I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
I’ll be the first to it I was one of the many who took the charcuterie trend too far, making special trips to the grocery store just to buy fancy cheeses, crackers, and grapes.
I would meticulously arrange the food on a large cutting board, rearranging the jams and pickles until I found the perfect Pinterest-worthy combination.
The one downfall to the charcuterie trend is that it would take me up to an hour to prepare and arrange, but it would be gone within 15 minutes of presenting the fruits of my labour to my family.
Moscow Mules
My favourite drink, by far, is a Moscow Mule. Over the past three years, I’ve tested every bar in Kingston to find my favourite one, but each time I’ve found there’s either too much vodka or too much ginger beer.
I brought it upon myself to conquer this tenuous ratio over quarantine.
If you have a copper mug in your house, grab it. If you don’t, find the bougiest glass you have. Add half a lime and one shot of vodka.
One time, when I was baking chocolate chip cookies with a friend, she glared at me sideways for attempting to measure out a cup of chocolate chips. I still her saying, “You measure those with your soul.”
I’ve adopted her laissez-faire mindset for the ginger beer contribution to the drink—measure that stuff with your soul.
Grocery Delivery
My final trend—let’s call it a gift—is online grocery deliveries.
It started in August of 2020, when I was in the middle of a two-week quarantine in my student house. I ordered myself two bags of groceries from Loblaws and they showed up at my door an hour later.
I was amazed and fascinated. Growing up in a small town, I’d never experienced this high-tech, immediately gratifying experience. I was used to driving 20 minutes to the closest grocery store.
Over the course of the pandemic, I become far too dependent on online delivery. Sometimes I would just order ice cream, flowers, or pasta to my door just because.
While it’s slightly more expensive—and definitely lazier—to grocery shop online when you don’t need to, I try to that I’m also ing the people who do the grocery deliveries.
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