Adventure Is Where You Find It

Today Hubby Tony had the day off in honor of the Martin Luther King holiday.  In the morning we both did paperwork, but while we ate lunch we agreed we needed to get out of the house for an adventure.  The problem was that the weather was awful, 21 degrees Fahrenheit and falling.  A dusting of snow that we had received overnight was being blown around by a gusty wind, which made things feel even colder.  No big outside adventures for us!

Instead, we ran some errands, and ended up in Maplewood, which has a nice historic downtown area with some unique shops. Many of them are closed on Monday, but there were enough stores open to make browsing worthwhile.  At the midpoint of the shopping area we stopped into Vom Fass, a specialty store for oils, vinegars, and spirits. The walls are lined with small casks, and you can sample everything before you buy it.

Tony and I have been experimenting with drizzling nothing but balsamic vinegar on our salads.  I think the Kirkland brand we buy at Costco is pretty good, but Tony suggested that another flavor might be a nice change of pace.  We sampled several, and we had one picked out, when I saw they had a small display of discounted items left over from the holidays. The bottles had colorful raffia ties around their necks, and the name of each was carefully written in gold ink.  We chose a bottle of apple balsamic vinegar from the selection . 

The clerk carefully wrapped the bottle in tissue paper before placing it in a small bag. He included a card which explained the product's origin (from Germany), composition (made from apple vinegar and concentrated apple juice), taste (fruity, dark amber-colored balsamic which was ripened in an oak barrel), uses (salad dressings, marinades, sauces, and poultry dishes), and pairings (any extra virgin olive oil).

Tonight I made some steamed green beans for dinner, and drizzled a little of the new vinegar over them.  It was great!  There was a definite apple essence mixed in with the sour vinegar taste.  I'm looking forward to seeing what else it goes with.

Five years ago today: Just Perfect