Last night over some ho-made salsa (me being the ho), chips, and tossing back the last of a Garnacha, the ladies were recovering from a very cold, windy trek on the beach. We were discussing the logistics of my step-mother's fish tank. Apparently there's a bitchy little fish in the tank that refuses to let a little male live and she bashes it daily.
Now, I'm all for an occasional man-bashing session, but I'm not a fan of watching this creature constantly live in fear of the 'bitchfish.' Not being a fish person (my 2nd husband had them, but I believed they were there solely for the visual entertainment of my two British longhair cats), I brought up some 'time out' strategies, say, in a pickle jar? I have no clue.
My step mother looks over at me and says, "You going to blog about this? We've been watching these fish for 45 minutes."
Me: "Yeah, I'm going to blog about a f***ing fish tank. A month ago I was in Carcassonne blogging about Cassoulet and Absinthe dreams. Who the hell wants to read about a fish tank?"
I thought to myself. I got nothin'. I've lost the will to blog.
This morning I dragged myself out of bed, and over a bowl of yogurt and berries I watched my dad juice. (It was either that or the fish tank. Or correcting grammar and punctuation errors in a horrible local 'dining' newsletter.) We talked about the juice, health, even wine (we've met, yes?).
We all know that my idea of 'juicing' looks something like this:
Well, my dad's become addicted to the juice too. And based on the last post, my dad's idea of juice, one would think, is called, "Paisano" and comes in a jug.
But oh, hell no. He's taken to getting his juice on in the mornings. Watching him decimate piles of cukes, carrots, celery, and jamming spinach and apples mercilessly into his magic juicer every morning, I must say, is quite inspiring.
So now I have to go home and buy a juicer. Usually I would go to a Wild Oats (or on the west coast there were juice joints where I'd get a beet, carrot, cuke, wheatgrass buzz), but the control freak (and cheap retired woman on a fixed income) in me desires a little more mastery of my juice.
OK, I desire a little more mastery over this juice too:
I'm a firm believer that putting good things in our bodies (shut up, cheese IS a good thing) keeps us healthy, and I'm so proud dad (love ya' daddy!) is figuring this out. So what if he indulges in a little California-mass-produced hooch that speaks to a the nostalgic side of many generation Italian-Americans. It reminds him of the wine my grandfather made; apparently that door that scared me as a little girl led to a cellar, a press, the whole works. He also used to give me a little wine now and then - which kindof explains why I'm a lush now a lot.
Whether it is 'good' or not is a personal taste. I also don't believe I scrawled crayola tasting notes on my grandfather's wine (I was more into chocolate milk back then). If a glass of Paisano is a taste of home, a reminder of family, an invocation of memories, an edge chaser and soother, well - isn't that why we put this juice in our glass in the first place?
Whatever juice you have in your glass right now, Salute! - to our health!
Now, I'm all for an occasional man-bashing session, but I'm not a fan of watching this creature constantly live in fear of the 'bitchfish.' Not being a fish person (my 2nd husband had them, but I believed they were there solely for the visual entertainment of my two British longhair cats), I brought up some 'time out' strategies, say, in a pickle jar? I have no clue.
My step mother looks over at me and says, "You going to blog about this? We've been watching these fish for 45 minutes."
Me: "Yeah, I'm going to blog about a f***ing fish tank. A month ago I was in Carcassonne blogging about Cassoulet and Absinthe dreams. Who the hell wants to read about a fish tank?"
I thought to myself. I got nothin'. I've lost the will to blog.
This morning I dragged myself out of bed, and over a bowl of yogurt and berries I watched my dad juice. (It was either that or the fish tank. Or correcting grammar and punctuation errors in a horrible local 'dining' newsletter.) We talked about the juice, health, even wine (we've met, yes?).
We all know that my idea of 'juicing' looks something like this:
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| Friday Night Bible Study |
Well, my dad's become addicted to the juice too. And based on the last post, my dad's idea of juice, one would think, is called, "Paisano" and comes in a jug.
But oh, hell no. He's taken to getting his juice on in the mornings. Watching him decimate piles of cukes, carrots, celery, and jamming spinach and apples mercilessly into his magic juicer every morning, I must say, is quite inspiring.
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| Source: Happy Cow Veggie Blog |
So now I have to go home and buy a juicer. Usually I would go to a Wild Oats (or on the west coast there were juice joints where I'd get a beet, carrot, cuke, wheatgrass buzz), but the control freak (and cheap retired woman on a fixed income) in me desires a little more mastery of my juice.
OK, I desire a little more mastery over this juice too:
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| So sad - dumping all these bottles after each day at VinItaly... |
Whether it is 'good' or not is a personal taste. I also don't believe I scrawled crayola tasting notes on my grandfather's wine (I was more into chocolate milk back then). If a glass of Paisano is a taste of home, a reminder of family, an invocation of memories, an edge chaser and soother, well - isn't that why we put this juice in our glass in the first place?
Whatever juice you have in your glass right now, Salute! - to our health!
Hey, my ex-bf left his juicer here, he would make those healthy ones , man they would clean your system out!. BTW know anyone who wants a juicer? I love your version of juicing.. Those glasses are divine!
ReplyDeleteI like my grape juice. Italian. French. Californian. Oregon. I used to do wheat grass shots, but they don't have any juice bars in France, or any I've been able to find. And I'd have to grow my own. Better stick with my "grape" juice! They say a nice red is good for the heart...
ReplyDeleteI was drinking Garnacha too last night. First time having it. Was... light, at least compared to the Borgeuils I seem to prefer these days.
ReplyDeleteBut anything beats Rossi jug wine!
Cheers!
Wow...that juice sounds really healthy!!! Actually, both sound healthy to me :) But I know what you mean about the jug wines - my parents, being Italian, always had jug wine on the table. This was what everyday wine was about - nothing fancy, just some good old fashion table wine!!! And so, I guess that explains why I'm not too picky about my wine!! Ha! ha! In fact, a REALLY expensive bottle of wine would probably be wasted on me :(
ReplyDeleteYou know, not every blog post has to be about something amazing. I think you have it in you to cover even mundane topics a la This American Life. I think blogging is your means for searching for something, and I don't mean in general terms, but *you* specifically. Your posts seem searching, and your attention to detail says what you don't in words.
ReplyDeleteSo blog about the fish tank. And the juice. And your life. It shows a person living with her senses tuned to a very fine resolution, and I think more people could benefit from following your example.
I'm with Sam, grape juice is the best. But for breakfast, those juicers are pretty great to have :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm just fresh off 3 weeks in California & let me just say...I get the juice...oh how I get le juice :)
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm all for you getting a juicer because it will surely beat the 3.99 I sank into the CA organic industry to get my fill every morning.
Needless to say, that stuff is goooood!! Way bon! You go juice-girl...& while you're at it, can you ship a few back to la belle france, lol :)
@Chrissy - I may look you up for a juicer when I get back, ha ha. I am definitely looking forward to getting home and doing my cleanse a little early this year. Yes, those glasses were actually a wedding gift from one of my BFFs of 40 years, & the maid of honor when I married dips**t #1 23 years ago. They & the decanter have survived many moves over the decades.
ReplyDelete@Sam - girl, you know I love my grape juice too - don't think I could live without it!
ReplyDelete@ADOC - Cheers right back at you! I'm really into more complex, interesting wines, but gotta tell ya, when I'm munching a panino on a side street in Italy I can easily do a simple red vino sfuso/vino della casa. (I mean 'do' as in drink - not 'do' as in Santa on an elephant, trackin'? :) )
@Barbara - Ciao! I was thinking about you as I finished this book the other night - Sergio Esposito's "Passion on the Vine" - have you read it? His love of wine started with just simple house wine that reminded him of his uncle, that was all - nothing wrong with that - but you should read how his love for wine grew...hint: most of the book takes place in bella italia. I think you will enjoy it molto!
ReplyDeleteTJ - Lil bro, where have you been? Don't say facebook - I abandoned my account a few months ago. Always good to hear from you and appreciate your support - since you were partly responsible for getting me into this blogging crack to begin with. Hugs!
ReplyDelete@Sara - another girl after my own heart. I think if you, me, Sam, the other Sam, ADOC, and Tuula ever got in the same room with a few bottles I think there would be some epic fun to be had!
ReplyDelete@Tuula - you've had the juice buzz too - fabulous, n'est-ce pas? If I could only trade you some juice for that damned cheese...which is what got me into this mess in the first place... ;0
yes, Val.. there is a technical name but here's the link
ReplyDeletehttp://www.soonerplantfarm.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/241/index.htm
drought tollerant... i love it.. it is unusual..my friend chose it when she did my yard
Oh no, I'm so far behind on my blog reading! There's nothing wrong with writing about fish tanks, but I'd much rather hear about the grape juice and Friday night bible study.Regardless, you always make me laugh.
ReplyDelete@Crissy - love it! Thank you!
ReplyDelete@Michele - I'm behind too (on a lot of things) and thank you - I've been sitting at Panera for 3 hours now catching up...or at least trying to. You'd think I've not seen the outside world for a year...
I'd like to read more about the 'bitchfish'. Lol.
ReplyDeleteNah, I only like red grape juice- the variety that has alcohol in it. We have started drinking smoothies first thing in the morning though (Hubby is on a health kick and even I can't get away with demanding wine for breakfast!)
Valerie I reckon you could blog about any topic in the world and make it entertaining.
As for an iPhone..it still needs access to the internet or a wifi signal so sorry I don't think it would help you...unless I haven't got it figured out properly yet and it can do things I'm unaware of.
Carol
Thank you, Carol. Good gawd if I have to blog about fish before I head home next week, I will most definitely need to be fueled by an unreasonable amount of juice too - yes, the grape kind. Oh, and hey - I hear the iPhone can also check tire pressure, change the oil, and can be used as a snow blower. (Sorry - have been in the Australian grape juice today too...) Hugs! Gotta go make sock puppets and screw with the fish... :P
ReplyDelete@ Val re: Drinking with you, Sara, Sam, the other Sam (Dugan), Tuula and myself... well that'd be 3 Sam's in one room. And lots of laughing and (in)appropriate laughter and conversation!
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right about the garancha. Sometimes light and easy is better.
ReplyDeleteOooh - that does sound like a party.
ReplyDeleteOK - here's the scoop - I ran out of 'my' wine, and looked around and saw my dad has his Rossi open. Just poured a glass...(Dad - don't read this part, no, it wasn't me drinking your wine...) ...took a sniff...sticky sweet, overripe fruit. Took another sniff - cherry cola. Flat cherry cola. OK, simple, not complex - what did I expect, right? Took a sip, swishy-swish, and spit it right back out. I'm all about simple wines with simple foods - after all, I wouldn't drink a Brunello with a panino, but - I gottta say, in my humble opinion...
OH HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS CRAP, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? My palate is pissed at me right now. It had really bad, unsolicited sex, leaving behind a wetspot of a 1/2 second grape kool-aid finish and now I have to clean up.
Oh - this is just wrong.
I need a shower now...
HAhahahahahaha!!! oh good god, i just spit out the last of the wine I was drinking. Wet spot indeed.
ReplyDeleteObviously I'll never make it as a wine critic.
ReplyDeleteBut I now think I know what they mean by "foxy" aromas - not sure if something went wrong during vinification or the grapes just have a foul characteristic (like the muscadine I came to detest on the east coast).
I disagree. Pehaps some avant garde wine journal should hire a wordly woman such as yourself to honestly and graphically describe her wine experiences ; )
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michele - although, I'm not sure about the 'worldly' part - and some would beg to differ that we are, indeed, referring to THIS world in particular. I once used the term, "like dragging my tongue across acetone-soaked asphalt" to describe a wine. Enology & Viticulure teacher didn't like it. Her exact words were, "Valerie! You cannot be a somellier if you use words like that!" Oopsie.
ReplyDeleteBetter you said dragging your tongue across acetone-aspahalt than across a$$... now THAT is something a sommelier shoudldn't say.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to wish you a special birthday today Bella. I hope this year is the most amazing ever! Lots of Love and hugs as always!
ReplyDeletexxxooo :)
Amy.
@3rd Sam in the room - see, that's what I thought. Sheesh - I mean I've said, "This tastes like feet." before, but never other body parts. :)
ReplyDelete@Amy - Thank you, gorgeous - wishing I could share some bubbly with you again...hugs!
Bonjour! Or is it Ciao! I'm not too sure where you are at the moment but I hope the fish are behaving! (and the wine is good) Many thanks for popping by my blog the last couple of times.I'm always so pleased to see you've been visiting. Thank you too for your lovely comments. Bet you didn't know I'm such a romantic! Don't worry I'll be back to normal next post no doubt berating poor old Hubby...what else would I have to write about? Looking forward to reading more of your posts when you get to some internet. By the way I've discovered that the iPhone can manicure your nails, clean the bathroom and pour a glass of wine so maybe you should invest! ;)
ReplyDelete@Carol - I'm home in Colorado - the fish are still in Florida, and I'm not budging for a while ... until I go back to Italy in the spring. I loved that post - and I, too, am a romantic about some things - despite all the cynicism I spew forth in this blog. Thank you for your awesome perspective - and your kind comments as well. People like you make this blogosphere such a fun place! Cheers!
ReplyDelete