Coronavirus: Just a bunch of ‘wiseguys’ doing time

Not the violence, the drug running, the mug shots, or the Italian American accent.

But the food.

The prison scene - a bunch of wiseguys are doing a stretch, incongruously cooking in concerto - Paulie slicing garlic wafer-thin with his razor blade, and checking on Vinnie, making sure he doesn’t overdo it on the onions. 

Later on, the cops are closing in on Henry... a helicopter is tailing him overhead as he races from one drug drop to another, but, all the time, he is barking orders to family members, telling them to keep an eye on the bolognaise sauce on the stove, he doesn’t want it ruined.

Those wiseguys knew the value of certain dishes in uncertain times.

So now my half-Italian husband is in stockpiling mode, a treasure trove of southern Italian family recipes to draw on, the smell of frying garlic is everywhere, competing with the aroma of pungent tomato juice, on the boil daily. At the last count, 15 bottles of pomodoro​ were jostling for position in our cupboard – his nonna ​would have approved.

And the pasta is homemade too. Even the kids are involved. Eggs in the volcano of flour... a bit of work and some love and attention, it all binds together to become a big, smooth lump of dough... then we knead, we click the machine down a setting, we roll the pasta dough through. Repeat. This is mindfulness with a mission.

Kitchen table feed mill control 

Amid all that, working from home continues. But our kitchen table WFH challenges are nothing compared to those of Steven Read, COO of ForFarmers UK. In my favorite interview​​ from last week, he reports on how the company is tackling feed mill control remotely ​– thankfully, technology to the rescue.

Now, my kid’s schoolwork awaits. It is the dreaded mathematics. Here is a question for you - what is the difference between a polygon, a triangle and a quadrilateral? Answers on a postcard please.

This is the third instalment in FeedNavigator's lockdown diary. Catch up on the first​​ and second​​ pieces.  

Tweet us at @FeedNavigator​​ your tales of working through a lockdown, of dealing with coronavirus confinement. You can also leave a comment below this story, or email your stories to jane.byrne@wrbm.com​​