This is why I love summer eating. Last night I took some ripe tomatoes, sliced off their tops and seeded them. Took out the core, sprinkled the tomatoes with salt. Then I diced some fresh mozzarella, combined it with some basil chiffonade, good olive oil, kosher salt and coarse ground pepper. I filled the tomatoes with the mixture and dined like a queen. Yum, yum, yum--may the universe bless the caprese salad and all its varietals.
mb

quote:

Originally posted by Buffalogirl:
--may the universe bless the caprese salad and all its varietals.
mb

Amen!

Especially all the "varietals". I made a caprese for dinner last week, and broke out the bottle of olive oil I carried back from Volpaia, soo good - hoping the oil stash lasts for awhile, at least through summer tomato season.
Have to say that over the past months, reading about everyone and their luggage loaded with bottles of oil, wine, etc. I was sort of a skeptic, as in, bring bottles back, no not me.
Soo, just a few weeks ago, last night in Rome, repacking luggage, there we were, shifting tour books from one bag to another to carefully pack in: 2 bottles of oil, 2 vin santo, 3 or more wine bottles from Paolo Bea's winery, contraband cinghiale sausage, oh you name it. And now I'm just hoping the olive oil lasts until we visit our daughter in Siena next spring.
Hope this gives someone a good laugh.
Marcia

We are already half-way through a bottle of olive oil that we were given by our rental hosts in Umbria...and we've only been home for 2-1/2 weeks! It's so good that my husband has actually spent a fair amount of time researching the olive oil import business. He's spoken with our hosts a couple of time to see what they project next year's production to be; spoken to local distributors of specialty Italian products; met with a couple of small retail outlets; and been in contact with a food import consultant. The regulations and bureaucracy are convoluted, but he's plugging along. I'm just hoping his new venture pays for future trips to Umbria!

So, if he ever decides to expand this to the other coast . . .

Buffalogirl your post had my mouth watering....longing for a sun-ripened tomato.
I called my husband and asked him to stop by our local farm stand and pick me up a couple of nice toms and some veggies to grill.

I honestly thought he had bought peaches when he came in with the clear plastic bag (they were SO not ripe yet). Guess I'll set them in the sun and wait.

quote:

Originally posted by MarciaB:
And now I'm just hoping the olive oil lasts until we visit our daughter in Siena next spring.
Hope this gives someone a good laugh.
Marcia

Marcia, I am up to one liter a week!!!!
More or less!!

More...more than less!!!

When my grandad was still fine, and since he ate LOTS of salads (and big, huge bowls of it) we were at OVER one liter per week.