In the kitchen, “Idle Time” is the time that a recipe requires you to do nothing. You mix your dough, you knead it and then…you wait for it to rise. For most cooks, especially in a professional setting, this means pushing on with your prep list of other things to do. We make Idle Time work for us. Start with the task that takes the longest and keep going.

This story finds us two weeks into an almost global lockdown due to the outbreak of a new Coronavirus: Covid-19. For many of us, almost overnight, our jobs, plans, hopes and daily lives had to be put on hold. Some of us, found themselves locked down with their family and loved ones, others, like me, are home alone, the lucky ones have pets…

This is not going to be a blog about life in quarantine. We have so many people documenting that side of things. This is, hopefully, going to be a blog about community, creativity, eating well, keeping each other uplifted and positive through this experience and beyond.

I hope to share interesting ideas about how to adapt to this “new normal” which we didn’t chose and have no clear end to. I hope to invite friends from different fields of expertise to share their own helpful tips along the way. Sometimes I’ll share recipes or sometimes just thoughts. I’ll share my projects around the house and in the kitchen. Music – that’s mandatory, I’m afraid. I’ll take you through ideas for shopping during the quarantine and how to utilise your pantry to keep your body nourished and your mind active.

The day we were ordered in lock down, here in Greece, I was negotiating the contract for a lease. I was finally ready to open up my own place. You see, I’m a professional Cook. I don’t use the word “Chef” to describe what I do when I can avoid it, because Chefs are people who have earned their hats in a professional kitchen. I have not! Sure I have worked in and even ran a professional kitchen before and I loved it. But I am not a seasoned professional. Therefore the term “professional Cook” applies better.

So, opening up my own business is put on ice, but here I am, ideas and plans in hand and with lot’s of time to spare. Is it going to be Idle Time? I guess that’s up to me? Up to us!