Maria and I are two very different people who somehow fit together in a surprising, almost perfect way. She hates to shop or take time to cook (she’s good at it when she does), and I love to shop for food and book.

Maria has come to call me the Hunter-Gatherer; it is my job to keep the refrigerator and freezer full of interesting and healthy food and meals, three times a day.

I’ve gotten pretty good at it. For breakfast, there is fresh bread, granola, cereal,  yogurt, and fresh fruit in the morning, also an egg or two. Sometimes, there is lox or scones.

Lunches tend to be slopped together – soup, pasta, sausage, veggie burgers, salads.

(Our friend Julz, a member of Maria’s Belly Dancing group and the co-founder of the wildly successful Vermont Spetzal Company, has just started a wonderful new blog. “A Journey Of Cooking And Living My Way”It’s about her very unusual life and her cooking recipes and ideas. Julz, who is many things, including a mule-headed weight lifter, spent seven years developing the recipe for her light and tasty spetzal’s, which I use in my cooking all the time. It took her seven years. When she wants to do something, best to get out of the way.  She loves to teach – belly dancing and food – and is very good at it. I’ve helped her figure out the blog’s focus, although she needs precious little guidance and is proud of the fact she rarely does anything anyone tells her to do.  She is fun to teach. Check the new blog out; it’s worth every second. I’ve signed up. Her life and her food are mesmerizing. Julz is not like anyone else I know.)

Today I was in Saratoga Springs for my cardiac rehab exercise and recovery program. All along the way in, I was thinking about what I might find there that would make a special dinner – I try for Fridays’ to be extra-special.

During the pandemic’s isolation, we used to go out to eat three or four times a week – food matters. We can’t go out on Friday, but we can eat well.

It just takes more work, especially up here in the country.

I remembered a wonderful seafood market called Moby Rick’s in Saratoga; I discovered it at the start of my rehab.

Saratoga Springs is an increasingly wealthy town, puffed by an invasion of condo-loving New Yorkers with money. Moby Rick’s just opened a beautiful and quite large new store.

With rich New Yorkers comes good food.

I am careful about masks and distance, but the seafood I can buy is amazing. I sometimes get chowder, crabmeat, lobster meat, shrimp, and today, clams fresh from the ocean.

I don’t have Julz’s cooking stills, this kind of meal is right up my alley. Pre-cooked jump shrimp with a special cocktail sauce and a dozen whole steamer clams cooked for 10-12 minutes.

I don’t have a good attention span for elaborate meals. Julz might be able to help me.

This meal was a hit, the shrimp and the steamers were large and delicious (I dip the clams in melted butter). Fresh seafood is not cheap unless you live along the ocean, but it’s worth it. I also got some fresh salmon,  fresh fishcakes, and crab cakes for lunch or tomorrow.

Maria was unhappy to learn that the clams are alive when they go into the pot. She said she would never be able to put them in the pot herself.

I got some frozen lobster mean for later in the week. The virus rate is rising rapidly around here; I am careful. Next week Zinnia and I are heading to Albany to visit Bishop Maginn High School. She goes inside; I wait in the parking lot.

I love my Hunter-Gathering work; I used to do most shopping when Emma was around. My wife does not have this domestic streak, and I don’t know why I do.

My cardiac rehab in Saratoga has given me the chance to sniff around and find some great markets.

When I first met Maria, she was almost emaciated; she hardly ate anything but bread and cheese.  She loves to eat, fortunately, not to shop or cook. It works out.

This was a knockout simple meal. I’m going to make a crabmeat pizza early next week.