Italian wine

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working from home, a rare and beloved occasion where I am quadruply as productive as I am in the office. I start early, there’s no commute or getting ready, and no distractions.

I started the day with a new product, Trader Joe’s Very Green powder.

I have long been a fan of their Super Red Drink Powder, and I wanted to see how this green supplement would stack up. I mixed a couple scoops of this with Pom juice, banana, frozen pineapple, spinach, and a bit of almond milk. You couldn’t tell the green powder was in there at all, and the smoothie was delicious. I later tried a teaspoon of the Very Green powder in a glass of water with a shot of Pom juice, and it was just as easy to drink on its own. The powder is made up of all sorts of good greens like barley grass juice, alfalfa, spirulina, broccoli powder and other healthy stuff. It’s easy to drink and will likely last me awhile. Good deal.

Working from home also means a good lunch.

I whipped up a quick Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger and topped it with cheese and onion, then Trader Joe’s peach salsa and a bit of Greek yogurt with a side of green beans left over from the night before.

I should start doing before and after shots of my food. After I take a pretty picture of something like this, I usually smother it in hot sauce and more salsa. Messy 🙂

As the day turned into evening and I wrapped up my Marketing Communications real life job, I felt like making some homemade salsa for topping salads and eating with chips. Salsa, if you didn’t already know, is one of my favorite foods and would definitely be part of my last meal on earth.

This salsa started out with some frozen TJ’s pineapple and roasted peppers.

I gave them a good chop in the food processor, then added a can of Trader Joe’s fire roasted tomatoes and fire roasted green chiles.

The spicier the better!

You can see that I also added in crushed red pepper flakes. 🙂 The sweetness of the pineapple balanced the spice out nicely, and the roasted tomatoes and peppers gave it a nice smoky quality.

After dinner, I dug into our wine collection and pulled out a bottle of Casa Zuliani Cabernet Franc.

The second I opened it, I remembered why I bought it at the Bin Ends fine wine flea market. The nose on this wine is spicy and of dry leaves and tobacco. The flavor at first was almost TOO spicy, even for me. We let it breathe a little, then aerated it, and the flavors really opened up. It was still peppery but more in the sense of the white pith on the inside of a green bell pepper with a finish that brought more of a spicy black pepper. This wine is incredibly earthy. These are flavors that I really appreciate, and I am glad we have a second bottle of this Cab Franc.

So, now it is Thursday, the weekend is near, the World Cup starts tomorrow, and I get to go to Truro and Provincetown for an annual weekend with the girls.

Are you watching the World Cup? If so, who will you be supporting?

Salsa would be part of my last meal on earth (as would oysters, lobster with truffle butter, and wine). . . what would you choose for yours?