This has nothing to do with living overseas! HA! If you are not a wine drinker, don’t read any further.

However, this is important. I am a terrible wine opener. Consequently, I went to my local cooking store, The Extra Ingredient in Greensboro, NC. I asked them for a wine opener that I didn’t need another person’s help. They showed me this little gem. Yes, it is expensive, but I went for it because my husband comes home late and I really don’t want to train my children on how to open a bottle of wine just yet (sorry mom, but I hope you stopped reading because you don’t drink wine).

This wine opener is so smooth and effortless to use. I actually broke it once and when I took it back to the Extra Ingredient, they gave me a new one, no questions asked. That interaction was so refreshing and full of grace, which is why we shop local! You have to spend a little more, but I would say it’s worth it. I am sure I was using it the wrong way, and since then, I have been more thoughtful and less barbaric. I enjoy a glass of wine while I cook dinner and that is coincidentally when my teenagers are newly home from school— I am sure it’s NOT a coincidence that I was madly trying to open that bottle of wine… I am working on being more classy.

You can find the exact link here. It’s Le Creuset. I love the IDEA of this brand, but don’t own any of their cookware—do you know even in France, it’s expensive? I have Camp Lodge cast iron products, probably made in the deep woods of Wisconsin. Yes, I bought them at Wal Mart, but at least it was the LOCAL Wal Mart.

Wine and cooking deserve a little more thought and investment. You won't be sorry.