PEACHFRONT SPEAKS

it's satsumas all the way down but maybe there's a pomegranate or two there at the very beginning

2009-11-21 - 10:48 a.m.

© 2009 by elaine radford

Peachfront's Note: Check out my October 2009 Bolivia "Bird of Prey" trek: To start with Part 1, please click right here. If you missed any previous installments, well, here's Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and the thrilling conclusion, Part 6. Or check out my bird trip list with over 50 new life species. Also don't forget to investigate my photo essay, the beautiful butterflies of Bolivia.

I had no idea that there was any such thing as a foofy upscale Wal-Mart, to wit, the Neighborhood Market by Wal-Mart. Woo-hoo. I'm not sure if I'm being sarcastic or not, but if somebody sends me a $5 gift card, then sure I'm going to check them out. Yesterday was the first day of business, and the circus was going with all three rings, and every police officer in Mandeville and three of the eight police cars were directing/blocking/"calming" traffic. It wasn't a very big store, and it had a strange mix of upscale things like $9 bottles of organic cranberry juice (no way), $4.55 bottles of organic pomegranate (guilty), and those wicked little overpriced squirt bottles of agave nectar (yeah, got one of them too), interspersed with lots and lots of real steals, like butter for $1.50 a pound and skinned, boneless chicken breasts for $1.98 a pound.

They also carried the Wal-Mart version of Three Buck Chuck, a line of $3 wines that aren't half bad called Oak Leaf or Oak Alley or whatever...I'm blocking the name at the moment and didn't actually pick up any this time, but you'll know them by their low, low Wal-Mart price, tee hee. I ventured no further into the liquor department on this trip, because I knew that I already had too much booze at home.

You see, I have now with my loving hands at home created three bottles of satsuma citrus vodka and two bottles of satsuma triple sec liqueur. In the interests of holiday planning, I mixed myself a pomegranate martini to see if it will be good enough for my Thanksgiving guests:

Squeeze a lemon or lime slice around the rim of the martini glass, then roll the rim in superfine sugar to make a frosted rim.

Shake 1 ounce citrus vodka, 1/2 ounce Triple Sec style liqueur, and 1 ounce 100 percent pomegranate juice with ice. I have a shaker that allows you to strain and serve the martini straight up, with no ice chips in it. Delightfully decadent, two thumbs up.

On other projects, I was turned down by the micro stock photo agency, but DH did get the second American Airlines credit card, so I confidently expect us to earn two award flights this year just from credit cards, in addition to what we've earned from BIS flying. So you win some, and you lose some. From what I've heard, the value of the air tickets will be way beyond the payment I was likely to receive over a year's time for use of the photos.

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