Quarantine Reflections, or, How COVID Led Me to Day-Drinking:

First and foremost I should mention I adore escargot. - Living in a small town, it's not often I have the opportunity to order it though. So one day a while back, when I saw a can of escargot on the shelves at the grocery store I decided to give it a try. I wondered if the canned version could be nearly as good as the variety I usually get at a restaurant (spoiler alert... and probably no surprise to anyone... it's NOT!). But dread and foreboding got the best of me and I just couldn't bring myself to give it a try. So there it had remained... in my kitchen cupboard... just waiting for me to give it a go. I should mention I had the same sort of dread the first time I made my own sushi, and the first time I consumed caviar from a jar (also purchased from a grocery aisle - remember, I live in a small town where you can't just order this stuff on the menu), both of which I came to love and prepare often.

So now, with COVID isolation, I set a personal goal to clear my freezer and shelves of all the random things I might otherwise have ignored. Thus my selection for today's lunch. Naturally, I decided it really wouldn't be the same to have escargot without a nice oaked chardonnay. So, that's what I prepared. And as I drained the juice from the can of escargot, then dumped the contents of the can into a baking dish, I remembered a conversation I'd had with my sister yesterday about the enormous snails that were wreaking havoc in her garden. I valiantly pushed all thoughts of garden slugs aside and determined to have an open mind about my garden slu... ahem... escargot lunch.

I poured my glass of wine (never mind the hour, or the fact that I was drinking alone) and started working up a delightful blend of butter and garlic. I cooked those babies up until the butter was nice and bubbly, then I sat down to what I hoped would be the first of many canned escargot episodes. I took a sip of wine, then I plopped one of those creepy looking critters in my mouth. Mush, followed by sandy grit, and I continued to maintain a positive attitude. I contemplated spitting it out right away, but I told myself it could be all in my head. So I continued to chew and then swallow that slug.

And that, my friends, is why I have one less can in my cupboards... and why I'm now enjoying chicken enchilada leftovers and chardonnay for lunch!