Last night was movie night. Home made popcorn, followed by a milano salami and mozzarella pizza with salad, and then some Gu mini salted caramel pots to finish. The only let down was finally watching the Wolf of Wall Street which had aged badly and simply doesn't compare with fairly standard Netflix output nowadays. Last week was White Tiger - so much better.

There's a butcher near me that does outstanding meat, but their real permission to shine is the snags they do. We were having a bbq at mum's tonight and I took 12 chicken and white wine and 12 pork, fennel and white wine. I usually hate "gourmet" sausages because they just taste boring but these are so amazigly good. The fans all loved them. 10 people nothing left. And these suckers were big.

Overall, a pretty good dinner. The bagnarotte tasted like a Russian dressing that was a little more peppery. Very good on the shrimp (3 big shrimp each). The kale pesto was stirred into the cauliflower, and the dish was quite good. It kind of made the cauliflower taste like a hybrid of broccoli/cauliflower. I didn't taste kale specifically. Brisket was a little chewy but flavorful. The grits seemed more like polenta to me. Carrot cake was very moist and the star of the show.

We signed up for the next 3-meal subscription yesterday. That will be our last, mainly because restaurants are slowly opening back up here, and hopefully the foot of snow on the ground will be melted by the time the next subscription is over.

You are throwing gatherings with 10 people ??

Dinner last night was cauliflower crust pizza. Tonight will be leftover beef stew - appropriate for an icy day.

Here in IL, some counties' guidelines allow gatherings of up to 25 people and some are up to 50. Private home gatherings are less precise, with the guidance being "allowed with public health guidelines". And I believe the poster isn't in the US, so I'd guess life is closer to normal. Hopefully more normal for us too by the end of the year.

Ground lamb (formed into patties), seasoned with salt, cumin garlic y Moroccan mint, roasted carrots seasoned with cumin, garlic and honey, and some cumin papads.

Perhaps many or all have received their COVID vaccines?

Wow--I had no idea that some places in Illinois where allowing gatherings of 25-50 people. I assume "with public health guidelines" means masking but if food and drink are served, the masks come off.

I live in Illinois and I had no idea but that is so far out of my comfort zone that it really isn't relevant to me.

Doesn’t bensyd live in Australia?

Google tells me that for SYD:
Up to 30 visitors from any number of households may visit another household on any day. The total number of visitors includes adults and children. (A member of the hosting household is not counted as a visitor.)

No more than 50 people can gather outside in a public place which includes public parks, reserves, beaches, public gardens and spaces.

A maximum of 300 people may attend a wedding or a funeral subject to the square metres rule applicable at the venue.

I think Cook County is up to 25. I haven't been to a gathering that large. We've also happily dined indoors at restaurants a couple times since they re-opened, and again this weekend. I feel much more comfortable in a restaurant spaced at 25% capacity than I do rubbing shoulders with people in any of the crowded big box stores and supermarkets that have always been open.

Yeah. The current restrictions are 30 people in a house. There hasn't been a case here in NSW for 26 days. I think it's been 4 months since someone died. ETA: there's been 5 deaths since reopening in mid-May last year.

The thing about supermarkets and Costco is that you are only in the same space as another person for a very short amount of time unlike restaurants. I didn't realize that you have indoor dining now too. Here we are still at only outdoor or takeout.

Masks also tend to be required at regular stores (depending on where one lives and the store), which helps too. Meanwhile, it's kinda hard to eat with a mask on.