Got my vaccine + some comfort food

Some weeks ago I wrote about the difficulty in obtaining the Covid vaccine when you can’t go out and go to a designated location for it. I finally found out about a “homebound list” and got on that. Then, I was notified that the list was paused while the administration of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was paused for further investigation. It’s the only one of the vaccines that can be transported and administered off-site efficiently.

Not long after that, I was notified that the list was being activated again, and was asked if I still interested? Having done my own research about it all, I definitely was. Some days after that conversation I got another phone call and my appointment was set for this week.

They couldn’t give me a time, just an assurance that somebody would call about 30 minutes before arrival at my house. I had to keep my high schoolers home that day to let the nurse in and wrangle the dogs.

As it turned out, I only got 5 minutes advance notice, and instead of the 1 person I was expecting, a team of 3 women arrived. They wore matching dark-blue windbreakers and matching masks from the hospital that had been tasked with performing this home delivery of the vaccine. It quickly became apparent that each woman had a specific role to handle during the visit.

The first person had a clipboard and all the paperwork in hand. She went over all my info that had been collected over the phone, verified that the vaccination card they’d leave was filled out correctly, and gave me a bunch of paperwork about the vaccine and what to do if there were any problems. She also let me know that it would take 2 weeks after the injection for me to be considered fully vaccinated. The 2nd woman was in charge of the bright orange cooler containing the vaccine. It took her maybe 6 seconds to administer the shot. The 3rd woman was in charge of a stopwatch. The first two women said goodbye and wished me a good day, then headed out to their car to prep for their next scheduled destination. The 3rd woman sat down to wait with me for 15 minutes to make sure I didn’t have any unanticipated allergic response. Everything was fine. I didn’t even have any injection site discomfort that lasted more than 5 or 6 minutes. An hour or so later I did develop a pounding headache that hung in there for about 24 hours, but then it vanished. The only side effect I had aside from that was tiredness.

Usually, I take an injection 3 days a week as treatment for MS. I was due for one all of those shots on the same day as I received the Covid vaccine so I skipped that regular injection, realizing it wouldn’t be a wise move to do both in one day. Two days after the vaccine I went ahead with my regular MS injection because I was feeling fine still, just more tired than usual. About 6 hours later I was seriously regretting it.

The bad headache came back, accompanied by chills this time, a massive sense of weakness, and such extreme tiredness that if I blinked too long, I fell asleep. Nothing permanent or dangerous at all, it just makes a person very unproductive – especially when you can only use one hand to begin with. I think the ridiculous level of weakness is starting to get a little better, and I’m hoping it will continue to improve more rapidly. I’m grateful I was able to get vaccinated, though, because I know that were I to get Covid, the outcome for me would be truly dangerous.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to read this week using my Kindle app. I haven’t been able to read quite as much as I want because I’m so tired, but I know it will pass.

So, it’s a very short blog post this week!

And I’m adding a simple comfort food recipe that is traditionally associated with Jewish cultures. It might seem odd coming from a Christian woman. But my awesome maternal grandmother was Jewish, and I grew up enjoying this. It’s really simple. Even though I can’t physically cook anymore, years ago I did teach my daughter to make it and she still does.

No matter your background, just about everybody can enjoy food from other cultures, and this is one of them. If you don’t know what matzoh is, it’s an unleavened flatbread sold by the box in the supermarket.  It’s crispy, almost like a cracker.

Matzo Brei

Total time to prep and cook: 7 – 8 minutes

4 Pieces of plain matzo (also known as matzo boards)

½ cup of slightly warm water

4 Eggs

Salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

In a mixing bowl, break the matzo into roughly 1-inch pieces.

Pour the water over the matzo pieces and quickly toss them. You want them softened but not dissolved.  Drain off excess water.

In a bowl, beat eggs with a fork. Mix the beaten eggs and a dash of salt into the matzo.

Over high heat, heat the butter and oil in a large saute or cast-iron pan.

Add the matzo. Fry until crisp but not dried out. Flip over to fry the other side, breaking into pieces as it cooks. Ideally it’s going to end up slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside of the pieces.

This is a very forgiving and adjustable recipe. If you soften the matzo a little too much you might need to fry it a little more. You can use less butter or skip the oil. Figure on one egg for each sheet of matzo, so you can scale the quantity down or up as you want. Some people add pepper to the beaten eggs along with the salt. My grandmother didn’t do that, so I don’t.

Some people serve this with maple syrup, or preserves, or sour cream. Some people add sautéed onion to the eggs and matzo mix. Depending on what you’re in the mood for, you can make it a little sweet or a little savory.

My preference is just for a little salt, which is ironic because I rarely add salt to anything.

Do what feels right to you and enjoy!