This weekend I used a few different marinades and was pleased with all of them.  Not all are necessarily intended to be marinades, but all did the job just fine on chunks of chicken grilled on skewers.  As long as a dressing or sauce is somewhat acidic chances are it'll do double duty as marinade.  I was happiest with the Black Pepper Sauce, which I used for the first time, as a marinade for some whole chicken breasts.  I placed the breasts in about a cup of marinade for 5 hours and then grilled them.  We enjoyed the deep, dark, peppery flavor which was rather mild and not overpowering.  In case you're wary of it, my 5 year old ate an entire breast of chicken using this marinade, so I think that most palates wouldn't find it too strong.  We served the chicken with grilled zucchini, red peppers, and eggplant that had been prepped with nothing more than extra virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Other uses for the Black Pepper Sauce:  Of course, it would be great as a simple stir fry sauce (broccoli, green pepper, etc) along with a touch of soy sauce.  You can also use it to marinade beef for an Asian-style pepper steak. 



We had some visitors this weekend and found a few wines we really enjoyed.  Starting off was the Geyser Peak Winery 2007 Sauvignon Blanc at $8.99.  The instant I took a sniff of my glass I said, "Grapefruit!"  The wine had an unmistakable grapefruit aroma and was crisp and light.  Perfect for a warm summer afternoon.  The second bottle was the Rodney Strong 2007 Sauvignon Blanc  at $9.99 - fruity, crisp, and also a winner.  A red that was a hit with everyone was the Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon, at $13.99, full of deep, lush cherry flavors.  In fact, a second bottle of this wine remained at the end of the evening.  We enjoyed it on the beach the next night and remarked that it held up extremely well.