Yesterday, Jim and I trekked to the swamps of New Jersey to watch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band blow down the old Giants Stadium (a new one is being constructed adjacent to the old one). Going to a Bruce concert at Giants Stadium is kind of a special thing — y’all know he’s a Jersey boy, so the audience tends to be filled with the hometown crowd and kindred spirits from the Tri-State area (like us). One of the most appealing facets of a warm weather Springsteen show is the parking lot tailgate, and at Giants Stadium shows it’s always marked by a pretty festive atmosphere. Yesterday’s was only slightly dampened by the weather (which was rainy on and off, and therefore dampening); there were people playing football, people grilling burgers and dogs, and Springsteen music blaring from all directions.

After we stunned ourselves by actually securing the wristbands that would guarantee us entry into the pit, we retired to the back of the van, where we partook of a very nice picnic lunch that consisted of the following:

• Tortellini and Pesto with Grape Tomatoes
• Pepper/Herb Encrusted Dry Salami
• Fresh Mozzarella
• Concord Grapes

The salad was really easy — fresh tortellini from the supermarket mixed with about 3/4 pint of grape tomatoes and a container of store-bought pesto. The dry salami has become a favorite around here for antipasto. I sliced that thinly, and sliced the fresh mozzarella. The grapes we ate straight out of the container — like eating grape jelly!

For dessert, we cracked open a box of cinnamon cookies. Beverage was sparkling water (we don’t do beer at concerts as a rule, mostly because we need to drive long distances afterward).

I also bought some Greek olive hummus and pita chips to dip, but we found the rest of it so satisfying that we never even cracked that open.

The show, by the way, was fantastic.