CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 4/10/2020

Eat, Drink, Play: Some weekend suggestions for the age of social distancing

How strange it is to have so much time these days, and yet so little. How full our minds are, and yet how empty! With each day blending into the next and an overwhelming awareness of the chaos that has come to surrounds us, we wanted to acknowledge the welcome, stabilizing force of the weekend. Here are three "recipes" (and a playlist) for an evening of light-hearted fun during the age of social distancing.

Whether you're sheltering in place with your family or connecting remotely with stir-crazy friends, here are a few of our favorite (and hopefully adaptable) recipes from new and forthcoming books, including a sophisticated classic from Cecil Beaton's Cocktail Book, a homey recipe from Dimes Times: Emotional Eating and a playful action from Offline Activities—all set to an energizing playlist that builds from Dizzy Gillespie to DEVO, stopping off at Billie Holiday, Bob Marley, The Pretenders, Michael Jackson and Run–D.M.C, among others. Click here to listen while you eat, drink and play!

EAT: Enjoy egg fried rice for any meal.

EGG FRIED RICE WITH GOCHUJANG & KIMCHI
1/2 cup good quality hoisin
1/4 cup good quality gochujang
2 tsps brown sugar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp ginger, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 scallions: 1 finely chopped into 1/2 inch pieces along the bias, divided
1 tbsp tamari
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 shiso leaves (or 4 basil leaves)
2 cups leftover cold rice
2 cups chopped leftover vegetables
1/2 cup kimchi
2 eggs: cooked sunny-side-up
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup snow or snap peas cut in half on the bias
1/4 cup cilantro leaves

MAKE SAUCE: Purée hoisin, gochujang, brown sugar, lime juice, rice vinegar, chopped ginger, garlic, 3/4 of the chopped scallions, tamari, sesame oil, cayenne and shiso in blender until very smooth.

Heat a large non-stick skillet with olive oil or butter over high heat. Add rice in a single layer and let cook, undisturbed until brown and crispy on one side. Flip and cook until brown and crispy on the other side.

Add vegetables, kimchi, and two tablespoons sauce. Cook, breaking up rice with a wooden spoon until vegetables are heated through.

Serve fried rice topped with a sunny-side-up egg, toasted sesame seeds, remaining scallions, snow peas and cilantro. Serve with remaining sauce on the side.

DIMES TIMES: EMOTIONAL EATING is published by Karma, New York.

DRINK: Make yourself a Manhattan.

MANHATTTAN
50ml (1 2/3 oz) Michter’s Rye
25ml ( 5/6 oz) Punt e Mes Carpano
2 drops of Angostura Bitters

METHOD: Stir all ingredients and fine strain into a frozen martini glass. Garnish with orange discard (zest) and maraschino cherry.

A towering pillar of cocktail culture and a spice-forward blend of vermouth, whiskey—usually American rye—and bitters, whose deep red color radiates transatlantic refinement. Reportedly created in New York’s Manhattan club in the mid 1870s at a banquet thrown by Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill.

CECIL BEATON'S COCKTAIL BOOK is published by National Portrait Gallery, London.

PLAY: Turn the lights off and dance.

Pick a card, any card, from Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin's coupon-style book of 52 suggestions for things you can do in real life, offline. This week's challenge—"turn the lights off and dance"—couldn't be simpler or more mood-elevating, especially when paired with the Sounds of the Hip-Hop Generation playlist below. (And maybe read a little Rumi, while you're at it!) 

OFFLINE ACTIVITIES is published by The Ice Plant.

LISTEN: Turn up the speakers.

From jazz, punk and rap to funk, pop and beyond, this 35-song playlist—created by Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation co-curator Greg Tate—features music that inspired and came out of New York’s post-graffiti era. Though the the exhibition is temporarily on hold at MFA Boston, the superb catalog releases next week. Why not start listening now to the sounds that electrified the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat and his contemporaries in 1980s New York?

WRITING THE FUTURE: BASQUIAT AND THE HIP-HOP GENERATIONS is published by MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.