A Sexcipe -- Balsamic Strawberries & Pepper

Had a long, doting visit with The Guy at the hospital. I'm good like that. He'll hopefully be home tonight, and if not, Thursday. Honestly, I'm not much in the mood to write today, though, considering. Kind of sucks to meet someone great then find out they have about 3-4 months of being on crutches, with limited mobility, in front of them. (Did I mention the surgery to install a metal plate with four screws?) Still, it's someone great, so, y'know, I'll deal. Dealing's what I know well.

What to bring someone in the hospital, especially a romantic foodie someone? Strawberries chopped into smaller bits, marinated in only a touch of balsamic vinegar with fresh-cracked black pepper. Beats the shit out of the mush they serve on those horrific little plastic trays.

If you've never tried it, you absolutely must. It's one of the most sophisticated, delicious ways to eat strawberries, and I've never met a man who didn't love them. The tartness of the vinegar and spiciness of the pepper serve to really bring out the sweetness in berries, even in the bland California ones that show up far too early in the season. It's nothing like you imagine... fabulous.

Take a pint of fresh strawberries, chop them up into a bowl, add about a tablespoon or so of quality balsamic vinegar (if you've got a $4 bottle, just throw the damned thing out! Horror of horrors!), and about a half-teaspoon to a teaspoon of cracked black pepper. (Particularly good on strawberries is Black Tellicherry peppercorns.)

Let them marinate a couple hours, and serve just in a bowl, just like that. You can have some dark chocolate with it, or you can serve it with gingersnaps, that sort of thing. Almost anything works, and even alone is great. It's a really great date dessert, and it's never failed to get me action. ;)

The Guy loved them, although the nurse came up, leaned down and said, "You know he's not dying, right? It's just an ankle. He will live to see another day." Yeah, yeah, thanks, babe.