Monday May 18th, Italy moved on to the next stage in the Pandemia. We are allowed to leave our homes without a permission slip (papers we had to fill out and keep with us). We can also leave our towns and go to nearby towns in the region.
In my village, our weekly market opened again. They made allowances for the virus and spread the stands out. Tape on the floor, not allowing you to get too close.
No more lines at my grocery store and the shelves now are filled.
It’s time to count our blessings.
June 3 is set as the date to open Italy. Italians can then freely move around between regions and EU countries will be allowed in, no quarantine when arriving.
We do need to stay alert. I am worried that people will relax too much and we fall back into spreading the virus again. It is too easy. I have had several friends tell me that they had it or thought the had it.
I don’t even want to think about getting it. I am waiting for things to calm down and then will go beyond my town.
It’s always “Catch 22”, if you are working you don’t have time to travel around. If you are without work, you don’t have the money to travel around.
Luckily, I live in the countryside and it is splendid right now. We had some heavy rains and the hills are electric green. The red poppies are still poking out to my joy! The silence broken by the birdsong almost all day and night is something I never noticed before. Perhaps the birds are also enjoying the peace and quiet.
As you know, all my tours were cancelled, so I have been keeping myself sane by cooking. It has been a very creative period. I have seen everyone has mastered baking bread now. I do have some friends that have been overwhelmed by the lockdown. It is easy to get depressed. Most of us that work in tourism are out of work until who knows when. I personally, work with Americans. I am hoping that they will be able to travel at least by September.
Shopping and Cooking during Corona Virus
At the beginning, it was hard to find flour, yeast, parmesan and mozzarella. Many things were gone from the shelves. I was thinking of what to make with our limited supplies from the market. I have a great cake which I found on the internet called Crazy Cake, Depression Cake or Wacky Cake. I first found it here.
When I was telling a girlfriend about the depression cake, she thought it was something to do while you were depressed. She is Italian and they don’t refer to the wartime like that. We are actually so lucky to have running water, electricity and be able to go to the stores. I think of those that are living in or have lived through a war.
This cake was a reference was from the lack of availibility of ingredients, like we had now. The name wacky cake, I heard was actually WAC cake.. from the Women’s Army Corp or Women’s Air Corp, during the war. It seemed an appropriate recipe to make.
No eggs. No Butter. No Milk. One pan.
No brainer to me! It is actually better the day after you make it as it is so moist the first day.
So our lock down, or Sheltering in Place… is a perfect time to learn how to cook.
This recipe is so moist it really doesn’t need a frosting.
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 6 tablespoons cooking or salad oil
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Mix all the dry ingredients directly into a 8 or 8 inch pan. Round or square.
- Form three small holes in the dry ingredients.
- Put vinegar in one, the vanilla in another and then the oil in the last hole.
- Add the water and stir until all the ingredients are blended well.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes.
- Let cool.
You don’t need to be “depressed” to make this or without eggs, butter and milk. I think this will become a go to recipe.
My sister taught me how to make this cake when I was in elementary school. Our elementary school lunch lady used to make huge pans of it and my mom got her recipe. Once my sister taught me, I was expected to make it when I got home from school so that when she got home she could have a piece! I like to frost it with a thick ganache and I’m wondering if there’s a version that does not contain chocolate, have you ever heard of one?
was thinking of you when I posted this! Yes, I made a lemon version as well to try. leave out the cocoa. Add 4 tbs more flour. I added lemon zest and some juice. I was dreaming of a coffee flavored one.Using coffee instead of water. I think you can play with this cake!