Sausage And Grapes

I feel as if I have been swirling in the vortex of life for the past few months. Time flies while my activities expand to fill the time allotted.  My creativity, particularly my cooking, has become stagnant. Tired of the repetitive dishes of winter, I search the markets for inspiration and find none. My anthem these days seems to be Anna Nalick's "Breathe".

Of course I am impressed by Tracy's bagel experiment.  I am enchanted by Denise's butterfly olive cookies. My sweet tooth is piqued by Kath's Kaluha and coffee ice cream, and I am amused by Valerie's adventures in Italy; but a couple of failures in the kitchen and my current funk have rendered me immobile.

As Spring turns Winter into a memory, I am hopeful that my stagnation will retreat as well.

The dish I made for dinner last night, although said to have originated during the fall grape harvest in Umbria, was a nice change of pace.

Sausages With Grapes--My Version
Serves 2

1 pound Hot or Sweet Italian Sausage--I like hot
3 cups seedless red grapes
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Place sausages in a 10- or 12 inch  skillet, add 3 tablespoons water, and turn heat to medium. Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, turning often.

Remove cover, and prick sausages.  Remove excess fat from pan leaving about 1 tablespoon.  Add 1 tablespoon butter to the pan along with the grapes.  Sprinkle grapes with a pinch of salt, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until grapes soften somewhat. Add balsamic vinegar and stir.

Serve hot and enjoy!

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Weekends

The comic strip writer, Bill Watterson, once said, "Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something pointless."  And as much as I would like to spend the weekends doing just fun things, most   weekends around here are a combination. You know, the dry cleaner, the post office, the gas station and dinner with friends.

This past weekend none of the usual suspects was around to play; but fear not, a couple married as long as we had no trouble finding something to do.  Friday evening the skies cleared and we were able to enjoy martinis on the deck before dinner.

I took a piece of tuna, briefly marinated it in a lightened teryiaki-type sauce, then pressed some toasted sesame seeds onto the suface. After the grill had heated to HOT, we barely seared it for a couple of minutes, then sliced it thinly on the diagonal and served it with some soy sauce combined with lime juice and a splash of sesame oil for dipping. Delicious with or without a martini.

  

For dinner we shared a nicely marbled rib eye steak (blurry photo below) and a Greek salad.

Saturday's weather forecast was promising, so we blew off our errands and went to  the beach. When we returned and were ready for dinner, I prepped some wild sockeye salmon for the grill, cut some farmstand corn off the cob standing ready to be sauteed in sweet butter and topped with a chiffonnade of basil. And figs for dessert.

By Sunday dinner  all we could manage was a farro salad and a bunch of grapes!

Not too bad for an old couple left to their own devices. Let's see what next weekend brings.