Picture This....

I have been cooking dinnner while at home (that's the extent of my abilities, but I have to have something to look forward to each day or I'll just go crazy). I was watching Paula Deen the other day and she made a French onion soup recipe that looked really good, so I thought I would try it. I went online and got the recipe and it called for 1/4 C white wine, which I don't keep on hand, so I knew I would have to pick it up the next time I was out. So, when I went for my dr appt last week, I stopped at the Liquor Store on the way. Ok, first of all I was paranoid to walk in there and buy an alcoholic beverage at 9 months pregnant, but I decided I would just suck it up and not worry about what the cashier thought. Well, I walked in and immediately began explaining my situation to the guy behind the counter. His face was priceless--I think it scared him more that I was was so adamant that I make sure he understood the wine was for a soup recipe than if I had just walked in and bought my wine. Anyway, so I get home and later that evening I am making the soup when I realize I don't have a corkscrew! So, I got online and found a suggestion on removing the corkscrew by screwing in a regular screw and then using pliers to pull it and the cork out. Normally Richie is home by 4:15, but at this point it was almost 5, the soup was boiling, and the wine needed to be in there 30 minutes earlier to allow plenty of time to "cook off" the alcohol. So, I am getting desperate at this point. In our new house we have granite countertops, so I was scared to try to remove the screw/cork on the counter only to have the bottle slip and break. The floor is tile, so again I didn't know what the best thing would be to do. So, I decided at that point, I would just go outside, sit in the yard, put the bottle under my arm, and try to pull the cork out. Well, we are now in a neighborhood, but we don't have neighbors yet. However, they are building a new house right next door and at any given time, we have about 4-6 workers there all day. Can you imagine the look on these workers' faces if I did this? Luckily, Richie came home at that moment! So, he was able to take out the cork without the embarrassment of his wife on the lawn, 9 months pregnant, with a wine bottle under her arm in a panic to get the cork out quick!