It’s been a week since my last newsletter, but as I sit down to write this, I feel like I’m dropping back in from another dimension. Seven days ago, my kids were in school, my husband went to work in an office every day, and I was still going to the gym. Well, schools in NYC are now closed, my husband and I are both working remotely, and my workouts have moved outside. The only thing that remains the same is that we’re all still trying to figure out what foods we should buy, cook, and eat.



Last week, Bon Appétit asked for your quarantine-related cooking questions on Twitter, and I answered many of them on Instagram. Whether you tuned in to the Story or not (and it’s not too late to watch!), I wanted to share a few of the most helpful takeaways for the current moment—which is changing faster than we can even anticipate—right here.



Pick a Protein, and Go Large



A lot of you asked for advice on the proteins you should be buying and making, and I am here to tell you that there’s a big wide world beyond canned tuna and hard-boiled eggs. If you’re a meat eater, I recommend braising a brisket, which will put some of the pantry items you probably already picked up (canned tomatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic) to good use, and will give you a reasonably priced stockpile of saucy, shreddy, tender meat that vastly outweighs the effort you put in. This will yield enough for several meals: Try making brisket tacos (I would put sauerkraut or kimchi on them), brisket hash, chopped up brisket as sauce for egg noodles, or, you know, eating cold brisket while standing up at your kitchen counter, because it’s your house and you can do what you want. You can also set aside a big portion for freezing (or drop some off with a neighbor who doesn’t cook or could use some extra support, but only if you’re comfortable with that). Yes, this is me telling you to make one thing and eat it over and over until it’s gone, and that’s on purpose. There’s a constant stream of new information coming down the pike. Thinking about what new and different thing to make every night can be too much to worry about—having dinner in the bank is a gift.