Wine Tasting - so old - try Olive Oil Tasting!

"What? Olive Oil Tasting?"
"That's Right!"

I, personally, have never heard of Olive Oil Tasting before. But, I do love trying new things, so when I heard of it, I was ready to see what it was all about. Yet, I could not see what the big deal was. Olive Oil is olive oil. I use it everyday.I only saute my food with olive oil. And I love french bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And flavor of olive oil and some acid on my salad is delicious. What could olive oil tasting do for me?

I went to Ventura with my sister and some friends and we went to this place called We, Olive. Basically everything in the store was available for tasting. They had samples everywhere! And it was more than just olive oil that you could taste. There were jams and spreads and marinades and vinegars - it was amazing!

Then we were directed to the bar. But, we were not served liquor at the bar. We were served olive oil. There were dozens of oils on the bar, where would we start? The host handed us little cups with some olive oil. We were instructed to sniff it first and then taste it. It was so weird. Who eats olive oil by itself? So, I did as I was told... How could I have been so nieve when it came to olive oil!!! We were served a wonderful buttery tasting olive oil, then we had one with a grassy finish, then we tried one that was infused with orange. Oh my! It was like I died and went to olive oil heaven. Then we really started getting out of control. We tried the oil infused with garlic, and the oil with chile and the olive oil with lemon. Amazing!

But, that was not the best of it. The owner, our bar attendent, then took out the balsamic. As a preface, I like balsamic. It's a nice sweet vinegar that balances out oil - nothing special. So, when he poured the balsamic into the oil, I didn't think much about it. He explained to us that he personally calls the balsamic "love" and you can put a little "love" on anything. So, I went ahead and tried a little "love." Can we say "WOW!!!" I have never tasted a balsamic like this. I could drink it by itself; it was so good. It was a party in my mouth that I never wanted it end. Later on that day, I had peaches soaked in that balsamic and served with vanilla ice cream. I cannot describe how absolutely wonderful that was. It was unbelievably good.

The best part of the tasting experience is that it is free! That's right. Go in and taste, but you will find it very hard not to buy something. Thankfully, the prices were very reasonable, especially when you consider how wonderful the oil and vinegars are. They promote reusing bottles, so when I go again, I will only be paying for the oil, not the bottle. If you are in the Ventura area, try out We, Olive. You won't regret the experience. It really is the little things in life that make life wonderful.

Click here --->We, Olive

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

Chocolate chip cookies are my weakness. I fantasize about chocolate chip cookies with walnuts or pecans so much that it probably should be a sin for me. My husband uses cookies to motivate me to do things. And sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night having bad cravings for them. They are a drug to me. I wonder if they have rehab for chocolate chip cookie lovers.

Just recently, I tried a new recipe that uses whole wheat flour. WOW!!! Where has these fiber packed cookies been all my life. They were so good that I had to write about it. Granted, I love whole grain foods. I only eat whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice. When I eat the processed stuff, it doesn't have the flavor depth that I get from the whole stuff. So, when I made whole wheat cookies, it had a nice nutty flavor that fits well with the cookies. Then I gave some to my husband. He declared that it was the best chocolate chip cookie that he's ever had. He then shared some with a coworker that has been dreaming about them since. There is something about whole wheat - it's just so good.

If you use all whole wheat, the cookies will spread considerable and be expremely flat because it doesn't contain a lot of gluten, which is fine to me. But, if you want a normal looking cookie, use half all-purpose flour or pastry flour (I just found a whole wheat all purpose flour, so we will see how that turns out). I will confess, however, that I did not use Bob Mill whole wheat flour, as Al Dente's blog tells us to use. Maybe it makes a difference. Be adventurous. Try it! You may be surprised.

Click here for cookie recipe at Al Dente

Day at the Descanso Gardens

I have NEVER heard of the Descanso Gardens, but I am glad that I have now discovered it. It was so beautiful. And it appears that April was the perfect month to see the gardens in it's full glory.

The Descanso was founded by E. Manchester Boddy, who was the owner of the LA Times. It was eventually sold to the County of Los Angeles in 1953. In this garden you will find an oak forest, where Camelias are intertwined. There is a Rosarium where more than 3,000 roses can be found from all over the world. A Japanese garden with a koi pond that was truly awe-inspiring. And the lilac garden, with more than 500 lilacs, left me speechless - they smelled wonderful. And they had the cutest train ride that went through the Descanso and a bird observation area, where you will find a variety of birds, and you may also be greeted by turtles and fish in the lake. This is only a handful of the things you'll find in your exploration.

As I've stated in the past, I love nature. And I am pleased to now have a group who is as excited by nature as I am. As we wandered through the gardens, all you could think of was paradise. It was so beautiful and peaceful that it seemed to change the attitudes of everyone that was there. People greeted us as we walked by; others would get excited by what they found and include us in their discovery. If we didn't immediately become excited too, they would explain to us, in detail, why it was so wonderful. It was a rare, but nice, scene to experience.

We traveled half of the park and then stopped for lunch. There is a cafe at the entrance, which was really cute and on special days, you may even be able to eat at the teahouse. But, we brought a lunch and some blankets and headed to the picnic area. This area is outside the garden, but you would not have guessed it. After eating, we all wanted to just lay under the trees and relax. But, we were so excited to see what else the garden offered that we carried on. A lot of love was put into this garden attraction; there was no doubt about that. It was truly a perfect day.

Why not take a trip to the Descanso Gardens in La Canada, this Spring? You will feel like you're on vacation without having to travel.