Balsamic Vinegar

[meganjane]

I adore balsamic vinegar!

I make a delicious salad dressing with it:

Equal quantities balsamic and oil, 3 tsp seeded mustard, 2 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce, s & p to taste.

We also love to sprinkle it on to sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper and have it on toast for breakfast!

[quirkycooking]

YUM!  I'll have to write that salad dressing down, MeganJane!

[judydawn]

I have too and will stick it on my pantry wall where I can find it easily.  How much liquid would you say MJ - 1/2 cup of each or less?

[Cornish Cream]

I've copied it down as well, thanks MJ.

[andiesenji]

I also make my own vinegar - have been keeping two vinegar "mothers" alive for several years.  One is for red wine and one is for white.

I have a lot of friends who are wine aficionados and often buy wines to try that don't meet with their expectations.  Rather than dump them, as long as they haven't gone off, they give me the "leftovers" for my vinegar production and in return I give them vinegar. 

I don't really have any funny stories about vinegar but I have one about olive oil - sort of off topic but since this is in Chit Chat, I'll tell it anyway.

Back in the days when I was much younger and much, much thinner, I attended a wedding reception at a winery near Santa Barbara where they also crush and bottle their own olive oil. 
The reception was held outside on the huge patio, under live oaks and one enormous fig tree, under which was a large trestle table that held several decorative containers as well as various little food items and etc. 
Part of the display was a carboy of olive oil, sitting on top of a wine keg.
I was standing near the table with a group of people when one of the servers stumbled on one of the flagstones and bumped into the table. 
The carboy of olive oil fell, hit the table, bounced and tumbled onto the flagstones where it broke showering me and the people around me with the oil.
I was wearing a pale peach-colored silk dress.  When oil gets onto silk, it renders it transparent so needless to say, there I stood, dripping in oil with my underwear exposed to all and sundry.   Fortunately, I was wearing appropriate underthings but still, it was more than a little embarrassing .
A quick thinking server grabbed an extra table cloth and wrapped it around me. 
Fortunately just prior to this, the bride, who had been chatting with us, had moved far enough away that she didn't get any of the stuff on her dress. 
With the help of some friends and the daughter of the winery's owner, I was able to get cleaned up, into a dress belonging to the daughter and returned to the party.
The winery bought me a new dress and sent me two cases of their best wines, which in those days, I could still drink.  (Before my allergy to alcohol became severe.)

For  years I was forced to relive the experience every time that batch of friends got together and it did get funnier with time.

[quirkycooking]

That's hilarious, Andie!!  How embarrassing  (but funny!) 

[gertbysea]

Donchya love stories you can dine out of for years!

Once when working as a waitress I was serving the much loved Governor of NSW and his Lady wife who by the way, was wearing a lovely bright yellow frock.  When reaching to put the plate down in front of her  something small and red leaped from the plate and bounced down the front of her dress leaving button like marks all over her sizeable bust. She never blinked and eye.

On the other hand when serving the odious wife of the Commodore of a POSH yacht club at a very high level function I accidently dumped roast beef in plenty of gravy down the back of her white sharkskin full length and outrageously expensive dress. The howl could be heard across Sydney Harbour. She stood up and called me some really exciting names and fired me on the spot. Later, of course,I was reinstated with a raise but I do believe it cost the club a considerable sum to replace the dress.

For some months I was quite the hero of the staff and of course won the bet!

Of the two only one was a lady.

Never challenge Gertbysea.

[andiesenji]

I should say that as a follow up to that experience I was asked out on dates by two of the single guys who were also at the reception.
To this day I don't know if it was because of my wit or because of that accident.....  I dated both of them off an on for a few years and we had lots of fun and more than a few memorable dinners. 

[judydawn]

They must have liked what they'd seen Andie - good story