New Pet Peeves

It is getting harder and harder to buy peppercorns, because they all seem to come in a grinder.  I have my own grinder(s)  and just want a jar of good quality peppercorns.  The friendly lady at Trader Joe's showed me how you could unscrew the bottle and pour them out, but when I bought a nice big jar at my local supermarket, the grinder was built in (fine print) and would not yield to opening.  O.K., on a scale of 1-10 this is a 1 (I returned the jar), but it's annoying.

At Target, I was looking for a cleaning product (Mr. Clean, Pine Sol, Spin N Span, etc.) to pour into a scrub bucket.  Everything was in a spray bottle.  Finally I found a few bottles of stuff to dilute in water in a different part of the cleaning supplies.  Poor selection, hardly any name brands.  Doesn't anyone clean with a scrub bucket anymore?  Well, sad to say I don't engage in this activity a lot, but sometimes that's just what you need.  Again, on a scale of 1-10 another 1.

Tearing up the road on I-95 today.  Third pet peeve is drivers who constantly drift over the lines in their lane?  Are they drunk, half-asleep, texting, yakking on their cell, amorously engaged with the person sitting next to them?  Ya never know.  Sometimes even a few honks of the horn don't produce the desired result.  What is with these people?  Distracted drivers. At least number 5.
 I haven't been posting much because I've been writing and writing and doing PR for the newly pubbed book and writing some more.  And then there are the holidays.  We came home to find a bad cat had chewed the tree lights cord in two!  Bad cat.  Whatchagonnado? 

Christmas Dinner, Chez Grapeshop

A pork roast with creamed spinach, apple sauce and mashed potatoes.

Happy 2013!  

First Tomatoes and Insalata Caprese

In our own little garden plot, planted and maintained by us, we had two tomatoes ripen this week, medium size, not cherry. The basil is also coming into its own. Time for Insalta Caprese.

Insalata Caprses is one of the most delicious and simplist things you can make. Hey, even a kid can do this. Recipe:

Pick however many tomatoes you need, from one to four. Pick some fresh basil. Carry your produce into the house.

Here you will need a cutting board and a platter. Get out the EVOO, salt and pepper grinder. From the fridge, get out a nice ball of fresh mozzarella. Slice the tomatoes thinly and put on a platter. For each tomato slice, cut an equally thin slice of mozzarella. Cheese goes on tomatoes. Chop up the basil and sprinkle on the cheese/tomato slices. Salt (judiciously) and pepper, a few grinds. Drizzle the platter with EVOO.

Carry this into the dining room and use nice utensils and put out some decent bread. Sop up the tomato and EVOO juices with the bread. A glass of crisp white wine will make the experience even better.

This is so simple that you need to use the best tomatoes, basil, cheese, EVOO and the pepper has to be freshly ground.

It's a fantastic summer luncheon.

Grapeshot