Bad Influence

My husband is such a bad influence. When we walked the dog yesterday morning we stopped in at Romeo Jones because they were having a sale. I bought a couple of tasty things, but he found a bottle of prosecco (not on sale) that we've had before - Case Bianchi Vigna Del Cuc - and added that to our shopping. It went straight into the fridge, although I had thought it would be for another day.

I had great intentions for how I would spend the rest of the day - cleaning up the rest of the Christmas decorations, vacuuming, and ironing. He had other thoughts, especially since it was his last day of holiday for a while. He persuaded me to sit on the sofa for the rest of the day, watching Dr. Who, and drinking prosecco. To be honest, it was much more enjoyable than what I had planned! The prosecco was a nice touch, too, although different from how I remembered it. It had a clean, green apple scent, but it tasted of fresh flowers and herbs with a distinct hit of spearmint. It was more fizzy than bubbly, but the fizz lasted through the glass so I can't complain. It was a little pricey (around £20, up significantly from the last time we bought it), especially when I compare it to some of the proseccos we had from the Champagne Warehouse for half the price (and better bubbles). But a completely nice prosecco, continuing on with our good start to 2011.

Getting Over the Hump

It's been a long week this week, I don't know what it is. Yesterday seemed particularly long, and when my husband got home from work, I mentioned to him that I wouldn't mind a glass of wine with dinner. He eyed the bottle on the champagne shelf - then pulled a face when I told him it was our last bottle of Philizot et Fils numero 3. We both still have bad memories of the numero 2 (of which two bottles remain, unloved, at the bottom of a box in the utility room).

We opened it anyway, and then patted ourselves on the back because it's a perfectly drinkable champagne. It was lovely to stand outside sipping while my husband grilled our chicken. It was even better to drink while we plucked ripe cherry tomatoes out of the garden and dipped them in the most delicious pesto from Romeo Jones. It definitely helped us get over 'hump day', the rest of the week should just fly by now.

Judging a Bottle by its Label

Last week my husband and I walked the dog past Romeo Jones. Sitting in the window was a new bottle of prosecco. With a label with a moon on it.

I know I'm not supposed to buy wine because of what the label looks like, but I did it anyway.

We popped our bottle of Col di Luna prosecco open this weekend to drink along with some hot pepper shrimp my husband made. The shrimp were fantastic, the prosecco only so-so. It had a green pear flavour that took me back to my grandmother's garden and the enormous pear tree that grew there. It also had a slight sweetness that nicely offset the spice of the shrimp. But it was decidedly lacking in bubbles, a real disappointment compared to the taste.

If you're not that into super-bubbly sparklers, this might be a good wine for you to try.

Supporting My Local Economy

There's a great deli in my neighborhood, Romeo Jones, that every now and again stocks pastries that I make. I try to be a good customer, too, although never as regular as I would like since I'm usually walking the dog with no cash in my pockets when I walk by the shop.

Yesterday, though, my husband was walking the dog with me and he had some cash, so we stopped in. Not with the intention of buying anything with bubbles - just to get some cheese for our lunch, a pandoro for dessert, and some of their wonderful seeds since it's warming up and I'm starting to plan my vegetable garden (I got yellow beans and green peas).

But a bottle caught my eye - a crisp, citrusy-lemon prosecco from Case Bianche (their Vigna del Cuc) we had tried once before and really enjoyed. How could we leave that behind when it would go so well with our Italian dessert? Not that there was much left by the time we got to dessert, since it also went so well with the blue cheese, hazelnut, and honey-covered bruschetta that we ate while our lunch was on the grill outside.

It was a nice indulgence (especially since we drank bubbly the day before!) that didn't break the bank at £13.45 for the bottle. What better way to support my local economy? And what better way to celebrate our first BBQ of the year??