Fruit Memories-etcetera

As a child I recall eating ripe peach slices that had been soaked in red wine, always being surprised that my parents allowed my sisters and me the opportunity to imbibe. Of course, the alcohol had pretty much evaporated by the time the fruit was ready to be served, and we ate the fruit in small amounts. I'm sure the wine was a rather inexpensive brand because we were relatively poverty stricken at the time.
Basically my mother washed the peaches well and cut them in half if they were small. If the peaches were on the large side she would slice them into smaller pieces, put them in a bowl and cover them with red wine. Then all she did was cover the bowl with a plate and put it in the refrigerator for later. When it came time to serve the peaches she scooped them out of the bowl with a slotted spoon and served them in small custard dishes. What a treat!

A while back I mentioned eating strawberries with a splash of balsamic vinegar and wondered if you had tried that delicious combination of sweet fruit and tart/sweet vinegar. It is one of the most elegant ways to serve strawberries and it is so simple that you can prepare them at the last minute. {actually you HAVE to prepare them at the last minute!} Simply cut the berries in chunks or in half and place them in small bowls for individual servings. Then drizzle with good quality balsamic vinegar and serve to an appreciative group of friends and family. Take a bow!

While I am on the subject of vinegar, another way my mother used vinegar was on a "rolled fritatta". Let me explain. Proceed
as you would if you were going to make a large omelette or fritatta, by beating about six eggs with some chopped fresh parsley, minced garlic, grated romano cheese, salt and pepper. Heat a large heavy skillet {Mother always used cast iron}, add a goodly coating of olive oil and heat over medium-high heat until a small amount of egg sizzles and cooks quickly. Pour the egg mixture into the hot skillet and reduce the heat to medium. As the mixture starts to set up on the bottom loosen the omelette from the center of the pan so that you are able to begin to roll it up. As you move the omelette toward one side of the skillet allow the wet egg mixture to flow over into the hot skillet, rolling the omelette in such a way that you produce a rather flat omelette that is about four to six inches wide and as long as the skillet is wide. At this point slide the finished product out onto a serving plate and douse with red wine vinegar. Slice into pieces and serve with good Italian bread, and a nice green salad.

My mother had very young looking skin on her hands for a very long time and I'm sure that this was because of the way she prepared our salads. In general she used escarole, leaf lettuce, fresh parsley and basil as the base for most of our salads because they were available, and salads in our house were very simple dishes. Next she carefully poured a small amount of olive oil over the greens and using her hands she made sure that each leaf of the greens was coated with oil. At this point the bowl was put aside until we were ready to have supper, at which time she sprinkled the greens with a small amount of red wine vinegar and, using salad fork and spoon, tossed the greens to disperse the vinegar. I'm sure that my mother owed her beautiful skin to that frequent olive oil massage!