Tasty Olive Oil Taste Test

I couldn't eat lunch yesterday.

That was because we taste-tested at least a dozen extra virgin olive oils! With spoons! The most exciting was a new oil from Puglia named Mosto! It's unfiltered, as "olive" as you could imagine, and it deserves strong words like gutsy and zesty. I really like Ravida as well, which is a good thing since I bought a case of it on Tuesday. (If you are on my Christmas list, you might want to forget that tidbit). When we were done, I brought home five bottles for the ever-expanding pantry. Titone is very appealing, Frantoio de Sommaia has a wine-bottle style label and is assertive with a nice bit of pepper in the finish. And, I brought home a 3-pack soon to be listed on the Olio2Go site. The gift pack includes three Frantoio Franci Extra Virgin Olive Oils, ranging from fruity to spicy: Seggianese, Villa Magra Dei Franci, and Le Trebbiane. This is a nice gift pack!

The other tested oils included Badia a Coltibuono, Pelliccia, Merlano (very flavorful and unique, now on sale!), and Olio Beato. It was quite fun--especially the search for the corkscrew. It's not often that a broadcast email is sent through a company in search of a corkscrew.

Knitting. It's been a slow week with a very few rows knitted. When working on the Donegal Tweed at a Field Hockey game, I completely failed to move a traveling cable, which meant I lost an hour of knitting and spent Saturday's second soccer game (of three) fixing the stitches. This week I fell in love with the Sherwood sweater on the Knitty site. It's in kids' sizes, but I could make one of the larger sizes for me.

I only made it to one of the three soccer games as I met with the architect and contractor, while DH took DD2 to her morning game, and as a Board Member was helping set up the neighborhood picnic while DH took DD2 to the second game. In between, we all went to DD1's soccer game. (And there are two Field Hockey games this week, with the second tonight. They won on Tuesday!)

The architect is planning to provide the final plans today! We're on our way to a fine porch and deck for parties and relaxation. I'll post photos when we have something interesting. As long as someone else walks those plans through the permits, I'll be thrilled.

All this talk of home construction brings another current topic: the house across the street. Yes, the market is slow, and the house is priced $150,000 less than the last home sold in June. It's even larger than that house. Unfortunately, it is the story of the failure to update the house. A very nice older couple has lived their 30 years, and although she was in real estate at one time, they didn't keep the house up. It has the original kitchen, the shrubs, garden, and front walk impair the curb appeal, and I can only imagine the stale basement. It might have sold quickly and for a good price in last year's market. The failure-to-update has had a truly negative impact.

I do wonder what the right amount is to spend each year on home updating. Should it be a percentage of the home's value? How does one estimate the right amount for a roof, carpet, kitchens and baths over time...? The real key is not to fall behind.

The beginning of the end is done. The Back to School Nights are over! I'm ever so glad. Now I just have to ask about homework (daily). ...I'd better get to the shower, the bus stop, and back to Olive Oil! I need to be home in time to meet the plumber!

School Daze....drenched!

Living in a small town was easier! My commute got longer this week as children returned to school and parents reverted to school year hours.

The first day of school brought a downpour of rain. For the first time, I couldn't take a group photo of all of the neighborhood children at the bus stop.

DD1's big complaint is that one of her teachers is ..... too happy! DD2 loves both her regular classroom teacher and her enrichment teacher. Her mother wishes she could watch the interactions in the classroom!

It was a busy week for Olive Oil --especially Tuesday. The day was spent catching up on the long weekend's orders. The next three days were spent placing orders for the olive oil we expect to sell in the next few months.

I had more fun cooking with Olive Oil this week. Wednesday was our best dinner of the week, even with DD2's soccer practice and DD1's field hockey practice. I started cooking after 4:00PM and got dinner in the oven before we started running around at 5:00. Our Chicken Mediterranean begins with sautéing boneless skinless chicken breasts in olive oil until golden in a Dutch over or other ovenproof pan. Add 2T capers, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 clove garlic, 1 or 2 sliced bell peppers (preferably orange), basil, oregano, herbs de provence, 10-12 Greek olives, add 2 chopped tomatoes (or on 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes). Cover and bake at 350F for 1-1/4 or 1 -1/2 hours. Mmmmm.

The Stuffed Artichokes were also started on top of the stove and moved to the oven when time ran short. This bit of serendipity resulted in even better stuffed artichokes. Trim and clean 3-4 large fresh artichokes. Rub all surfaces with a cut lemon. Make a fresh breadcrumb mixture with Italian bread, parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, black pepper, and salt. Place stuffed peppers into a pan with 1" simmering chicken broth. Top the stuffed artichokes with a drizzle of a good olive oil. They were crispy on top and the leaves were perfect. For both recipes, I used Gianfranco Becchina's Olio Verde from www.olio2go.com.

Getsemani is the new favorite in the house. The web site is currently out of stock and this one bottle couldn't be sold. We were happy to give it a try. We've ordered more and it should be in soon.

The world of medicine provided some great olive oil news this week. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-09/acop-tsa082906.php Simply put: Virgin Olive, High in Polyphenols, Reduces Heart Disease Risk Factors as published in the Annals of Internal Medicine

We spent today painting DD1's bedroom with Gator Green and Bahama Blue Glazes from Sunny's Goodtime Paint. It's mostly blue with two large areas of green. Those will set off artwork and her dresser. We've added new bold striped linens and curtains. The right curtain rod and artwork will be added next weekend. She's thrilled and we're glad she's thrilled and it's done. Bittersweet: She says it's the last time we'll do her room before she goes to college. It's her third iteration in the 10 years we've been in this house.

It's been a fairly slow week for reading and knitting. I've spent more time reading A Thousand Days in Tuscany (Di Blasi) and less time reading Good to Great. With two soccer games yesterday, I spent a couple of hours knitting. The knitting time was neither efficient nor effective. It was far more fun to chat with the other soccer parents. We haven't spent our Saturdays together since June.

On Saturday night the girls and I attended the high school football game. DD1 joined her friends, while DD2 and I sat behind a bunch of unsupervised 9th graders. I found myself studying the crowd, wondering who they would each be when they grew up. Does demeanor indicate who they might become? Will their lives be filled with joy or sadness? Do they understand they might have to work for success? Is high school the pinnacle of their lives, or will be a rich time for forming memories? At the same time, I observe their parents and other adults at the game.... Why do those Moms wear their sons’ jerseys? What did they look like in high school? Were they the cheerleaders? Who was in the band? Has everything turned out the way they hoped and planned? Are they happy? Do they value the richness of their lives?

The Most Incredibly Busy Pre-Back-to-School Week

A long time ago, I remember that we were able to travel during the week before the start of school. What happened? This past week, I worked the second week of my job at www.olio2go.com and got DD1 to all of her field hockey practices, except one. While we waited for Ernesto (Hurricane? Tropical Storm?), we had time slots at both the high school and elementary school for schedules and gym clothes and lunch checks, etc. Don't forget those all-important visits to the school nurse to sign in the controlled meds: ibuprofen and the inhaler. Add a lunch, field hockey game, sports meeting, and soccer party, and I think we crammed enough into the week.

And...Yesterday was DH's birthday. He took the day off and drove kids around while I went to work and out to lunch. Hmmmm. To make things more puzzling, his parents bought him two horizontal striped shirts, while I picked out two vertical striped shirts. Think about it!?

On the Olive Oil from Italy front, we reviewed inventory status, and in the week ahead, I'll be placing orders to make sure we have enough stock for the holiday season. And, I'm working on some text for a promo piece and for the web site. Redesign coming soon! And, I found out that some of our oils (www.olio2go.com) won awards at the Los Angeles County Fair. I really only expected California olive oils at the LA County Fair: Titone, Frantoio Franci Frantoio, Gemini and Tenuta Di Capezzana.

I made "my" pasta salad using Tenuta Di Capezzana for the soccer party last evening, and it made a luscious improvement to my usually great salad. It's a recipe I copied from Cappuccino’s in Newport, Rhode Island, back in 1988. Does Cappuccino’s still exist? The salad is made with radiatore pasta, sun dried tomatoes, celery, scallions, bacon, red bell pepper, black olives, blanched broccoli, garbanzos, cherry tomatoes, basil, OLIVE OIL, lemon juice, and a bit of low fat Hellmann's mayo. My friend, Jeannette, is a bit of a gourmet, and she thinks this one is pretty good. It's even better with top-notch (top shelf?) olive oil.

Oh, and about that pizza dough from The Italian Store mentioned in the last posting. It was the best pizza dough ever. They sell it frozen, and when I go back I'm bringing an ice chest so I can transport six balls home to my freezer. Each makes a great pizza. My favorite is to add fresh tomatoes, basil, and black olives--a generous loop of olive oil, and some cheese, and bake it on my pizza stone. Less than 8 minutes to a great pizza.

I can start learning and practicing Italian. The CD set, Italian with Michel Thomas, arrived today and it is going on the front seat of my car, ready to keep me off the cell phone during my commute. (Might that be possible?) I really need Mapquest to come up with a selection akin to shortest drive, that says best cell coverage along this route. Right now, my coverage drops out three times over nine miles.

I didn't get much knitting done this week, but I do have photos of the Tahki Donegal Tweed back, in need of blocking, and the Mably Stripes. My goal is to get back to the stripes during the Notre Dame game this evening.

My LYS (local yarn store) Uniquities in Vienna, Virginia, mailed the Plymouth Yarn cabled vest pattern that I ordered. You may have seen it in the Plymouth ad toward the front of the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting. I keep telling myself that as soon as I finish the back of the Mably vest, I can search the stash for the right yarn for the Plymouth vest. (I'm still hoping VK will post a correction to the pattern!)

Good news about Uniquities. It looks like my new job is nicely placed for an easy jaunt into Vienna. It won't be so out-of-the-way for me.

Maureen and I made a visit to the hospital today to see our little friend and his parents. His meds seem to help a lot, and his body seems to know what to do with the chemo. I am in awe of his parents and how they are handling all this. His Aunt Jen visted and she's obviously his favorite aunt. We bought a few little presents, transported cards from school, and brought yarn and needles to Mom. Mom picked up the knitting bug quickly. She must have had four inches of a scarf done in just a few minutes. We hope it gives her some satisfactory peace during her hours of w a i t i n g in the hospital.

School starts Tuesday!

The Slipped Summer Recap

Reposted from August 27th

As the summer ends and the new school year looms, life is changing around here. The anonymous daughters, DD1 and DD2, manage to pack my calendar with their activities. Soccer, Field Hockey, and more. Two schools. Multiple calendars. I knit when I can. One MDX. Fill’er up!

In my world, I've entered the Witness Protection Program (WPP) for former PTA Presidents. I didn't make that one up. It was told to me at a cocktail party back in June. Lovely evening it was. And, I met this wonderful woman who told me about the WPP just when I needed it most.So, I got a job! I'm having a blast with Italian Olive Oil at (http://www.olio2go.com/). t's been such fun working with the PR firm, placing orders, reviewing publications, and thinking about all the work that needs to be done. Great boss. Flexible hours. Friends have asked whether I'm working at home. (No!) Working at home holds no appeal to me now. I've worked at home for 14+ years, first for the magazine distributor (a job I LOVED), and then writing computer books, and later doing about half of my PTA work from the home computer. On the one hand, I'm too social to work at home. On the other hand, I don't want to be "found" for awhile.

Yesterday, we went on a field trip to The Italian Store in Arlington, VA. (http://www.italianstore.com/) The place was packed with double-income-no-kid-types getting sandwiches for a late lunch. (I do remember those days!). On the other hand, DD1 and DD2 went to Starbucks before meeting us in the Italian Store. Of course, I checked the olive oils to see what they had versus what "we" have. We bought cheese, pasta, olive oil and rosemary crackers (same brand as at Standa in Firenze), rice for Venetian risotto, and pizza dough--that's for tonight.

And, knitting. There are two projects on the needles right now. One is a denim blue Tahki Donegal Tweed multi-cabled pullover for DH. Officially it is Kathy Zimmerman's, Rhapsody in Tweed from the Fall 2004 issue of Interweave Knits. My more-portable project is Brandon Mably's striped vest from the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting (pattern #22) in Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool (65% Wool, 35% Silk). Colors: Charcoal, gray, and a touch of deep red. There's a theme here: this yarn is Made in Italy! I think there's an error in the VK pattern--and I wouldn't be surprised because five patterns from the issue have corrections posted at www.vogueknitting.com/corrections.shtml already. I've sent a request, but haven't heard back....

My favorite knitting is that which I can do while reading a book (and sometimes while watching TV). It's best if the books are hardcover :-) Recently I've read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Knit One, Kill Two (written by a friend's MIL), and am working my way through the Donna Leon mysteries set in Venice. Good to Great (Collins) is my current read.

The girls: DD2 put her iPod Shuffle through the laundry on Thursday. I think I know why Apple is making so much money. That particular iPod was a courtesy replacement from Apple for another that failed. It used to belong to DD1. DD1 is now on her 2nd 30G Video iPod, the first having disappeared from the bus on a school/drama trip to NYC. (Shall I tell you there was some drama over the loss of the iPod?)

The only sadness this week was huge. This is a hug-your-kids moment. A good friend's child was diagnosed....I don't even want to say it. At this time, the positives are how friends come together, how communities react, how support is given and how we learn to make the most of whatever point we're at...