O is for Olives and Olive Oil

It took me a while to come up with what to base Jenny's O post on this week.

Orange?

Oops?

Oh My Goodness?

None of them did it for me.  And since the dog ate my homework last week...(*blushes*)

Then it hit me! Why not talk about one - no, TWO! - of my favorite things?

Olives and olive oil.

*sighs happily*  I love olives.  They are just wonderful.  I'll eat them just about any way I can get them.  Straight out of the jar or can, from an olive bar, on pizza...smothering pasta...

Do you like olives? How about trying some Cheesy Olive Bread? I adapted that one from Pioneer Woman and totally changed my father's life along the way.  It's very powerful.

What about stuffed olives? I had stuffed olives many, many moons ago and it occurs to me now that I need to make them happen again for myself.  They were big, green olives stuffed with garlic and cheese then breaded and fried.  Unbelievable.  Diners have the best food sometimes.

One of my favorite pasta sauces is very simple: Garlic, olive oil, and a little butter in a pan until the garlic becomes fragrant.  Toss in chopped tomatoes (or halved grape tomatoes - my favorite) and cook them til they're softened.  Add in a handful of sliced or whole olives right at the end and a bit of fresh basil.  Even add a little white wine if you're so inclined.  Perfecto!

And olive oil...mmmm....

Golly.  I love olive oil.  Rich, fragrant, golden olive oil.  It's so wonderful.

I use it to dress my salads, dip my bread, enrich my pasta sauces, brown meat...I'm a big fan.  I think if I ever went to an olive oil tasting I'd probably die from excitement.  Sounds dorky, but it's true.

And not to go on again about pasta and how much I love it (gee, I wonder what my P post should be about..?), but simply drizzling olive oil over pasta...maybe some grated cheese...oh, forget about it.  I'm all over that.

I've always wanted to make an olive oil cake.  Have you ever made or eaten one? How was it? It's on my list of Things To Attempt, for sure.

How do you use olive oil the most? If ever? :-)  What about those olives - what's your favorite way to eat them, if at all?

Okay.  Enough waxing rhapsodic over food.  For now, anyway...!