Fleas & Bloody Marys

I love flea markets. Anywhere, anytime. We recently went on yet another flea market blitz in New York - not the first & certainly not our last. I'm pretty sure heaven must feel something like working over a good flea. Oh, and by "flea," I do not mean "antique mall." In fact, any use of the word "antique" almost invariably means overpriced goods and no bargains. No, I mean an honest-to-god flea market where you can sift through piles of stuff in search of a true bargain. You just never know what you'll turn up at a good flea, and therein lies the fun.

For example, this morning at our local flea (which we almost never miss unless we're out of town visiting other fleas) I found (or I should say Mark found, since he spotted it first) the coolest grinder ever. As it happens, I was just complaining recently about how much work one has to do to get an appreciable amount of pepper out of a pepper mill. Our pepper mill collection is nothing to sneeze at, by the way. We have quite an array, from William Bounds to the lesser-named mills - I think we may have tried them all. I have my favorites, of course, but all fall short of the ideal grinder for one reason or another...until today.

The grinder we bought today is, in a word, phenomenal. It clamps to the counter in a death grip and grinds pepper as though it were butter - virtually effortlessly. The coarseness settings are extremely sensitive - at its finest setting it will literally put out product the consistency of sawdust. Of course, we won't be limiting ourselves to grinding peppercorns with this baby. After we used it to grind a few trial peppercorns this morning, we threw in some dried bird peppers (which I added to the egg salad I made for lunch - gave it a terrific smoky heat!) and then promptly compiled a list of other things we could pulverize with the new toy: cumin and coriander seeds, nutmeg, whole allspice, anise seeds - you name it, we'll be ready.

After lunch, we were ranging around for a good reason to grind more pepper when our eyes fell on the half-gallon of Svedka we bought this weekend. If you follow me on Facebook, I noted earlier today that it received a 93 from Wine Spectator, putting it into competition with top shelf brands like Grey Goose despite its middle-shelf price. I find it absolutely delightful - definitely worth trying, and a bloody mary is the best reason I can think of to grind yet more pepper!