Frozen Grapes

(Blogger snipped off the end of my post last night...wah)

I hate squishy grapes. Biting into them makes me want to give up on the fruit entirely. They need to be plump and firm. When I chomp a grape in two, the remaining half must be able to retain its shape. When I purchase them, I gently squeeze a few to make sure they aren't deflated. A good batch of grapes, in my experience, has a three to four day window of plumptitude before they begin turning to mush.

Wednesday I made the mistake of buying three pounds of jumbo red seedless grapes. I must have forgotten I wouldn't be able to eat them all before driving to Illinois on Friday. I thought about bringing them for the drive, but the pressure of having to finish that many in six hours made me nervous. The car's heat would compromise the integrity of the fruit, causing me to lose faith in grapes. I decided to place them in the freezer, hoping they'd stay ripe and thaw firm.

When I got home last night, I took the grapes out of the freezer and placed them in the fridge. They'd sit there for less than twenty minutes before I came to two realizations: I was hungry, and I had nothing else to eat. I decided to try a frozen grape. Oh. My. God. It was amazing. Tasted like a popsicle. I ate an entire bowl of them, and I think I’m hooked.

This got me thinking about other tasty treats that are fantastic when frozen: candy bars, bananas, chocolate chips, Doritos. Now I’m curious. What other snacks can you freeze? Winter’s coming, which means frozen food season is drawing to an end.

Oh, Billy...

About six minutes in, both candidates reveal their bleak outlooks on the most serious problem facing the US today.

Contemporary American Literature just can't compete

Have you read this?  Or this?  I guess it's safe to say that an American won't be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature this year.  Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize Academy, says that "U.S. writers are too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture," their "too isolated, too insular," and that "that ignorance is restraining" their work.  I'd like to know what he's reading.  I'd also like to know what Steve Schirripa--cast member of "The Sopranos"--has to say about this:

Now I know.

Reading about Alice Munro makes me feel a little better.  I'm still upset about the Cubs, though.

Typical.

Retraction

Sometimes I let my emotions get in the way, and I react without thinking.  I'll say things like, "the Cubs are the worst franchise in the history of organize sports," forgetting stories like this.  Ron Santo hasn't given up, Sweet Lou hasn't given up, and the Cubs still have life in this post season.  So I'm not giving up.  Let's do this, Cubs.  Three in a row and off to the NLCS!

Thanks for the link, Tom.  

Worst Goddamn franchise in the history of organized sports.