Rancho Azul y Oro ~ Surviving the Dream

Last week, it seemed that we could barely contain all the happy, good news coming in to the Rancho, but Mother Nature has never been a lady who likes to take the back seat, so we were given a rather cruel reminder yesterday who is really in charge, and it is not the one writing this blog. With all olive trees in full blossom, warnings as to a storm began to trickle in at the beginning of the week.  We took notice, since April has not smiled down kindly upon us in the past.  All weather casts said there would be rain, but in the Bay area, they said wouldn't get this far south.  The predicted winds were checked, all below advisory level. Shouldn't worry, right? Needless to say, the weather people were again wrong again as winds over 50 mph ripped through the olive trees in full blossom and then rain pummeled our hill, just in case there were any blossoms left.  We could only stand and watch.  It was April of 2014 all over again.   There isn't anything...

It's been a busy spring at the rancho.  After the dust of harvest clears and the workers leave, the behind-the-scenes people (yours truly) get busy on getting the olive oil certified, and if that occurs, after the oil has settled a bit, the time comes to bottle, label, prep for the olive competitions and hit the ground running.  There have been improvements along the way.  Our labels have been updated and polished a bit and more standardized.  We have learned to use the new label machine -- although, if one were telling the truth, one would say it is not as user-friendly as we had hoped.  We have an updated, hopefully more user-friendly, website.  We were also thrilled to announce that, in March, our products were actually on store shelves at the Cheese Store in Silverlake, CA, just outside Hollywood.  We had a great day meeting the people who work there and their incredibly enthusiastic customers. We continue to develop new products and use our...

The 2015-16 Pendolino olives Seriously, what kind of bloggers are you?  You don't even have pictures of harvest on your website. Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before.  Being the boutique we are, we've been engaged in somehow getting that olive oil into a bottle, labels designed -- we get it, there still aren't pictures on the website, so here you go -- you're welcome!                                           The team starts out just as the sun begins to rise . . .  The olives begin to come in quickly and the sorting begins (not as quickly) . . .  The 2015-16 Arbequinas   The 2015-16 Pendolinos The olives are delivered to the mill and go in at sunset Our Estate Blend has been achieved and bottling began mid-January Only several hundred more bottles to go . . . 

There has been a great deal of discussion in the last two days about the "60 Minutes" show on fraudulent olive oil and the Agromafia .  Some of the big name Italian olive oil companies are involved, with possibly 80% of the Italian olive oil being exported to the U.S. being either mislabeled or not 100% olive oil -- let alone EVOO.  U.C. Davis published their findings on tests that they ran in April of 2011 and named the names of companies whose oils were tested.  You can read that report here . So what is a consumer to do?  Well, if you're a U.S. consumer, buy local and look for the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) certification seal.  What does that mean?  International, as well as U.S. standards, require that olive oil undergo a chemical analysis to meet minimum standards in order to be classified "extra virgin."  If those standards are met, that olive oil must be submitted to a tasting panel for sensory evaluation.  The panel consists of ...

One cannot help but enter the new year without some retrospection and thought about what worked and what did not work over the past year.  Our philosophy has never been one of grand resolutions but one of change.   What can we do to change?  What can we do to help implement change in others? After much thought, while shivering over an elegant glass of Chardonnay for the last sunset of the year, I began to think of my Grandfather, who was a farmer.  Have things changed in 100 years?  Definitely.  First off, I don't think he would have guessed that it would be his granddaughter carrying on the family tradition of farming.  I might not have guessed it 10 years ago, either, which led me to some goals toward which we can stretch: 1.)   Be open to exploring new paths , whether it is trying your first vegetable garden or taking a walk daily or envisioning a different life for yourself; 2.)   Embrace technology or try to use it differently in...

Please consider attending a fundraiser for an extremely worthy local charity, the Wellness Kitchen. The goal of the evening is to raise $50,000.  The funds will be used to support the Healing Foods program, education, and general operations of the facility.  The fundraiswer will help to expand programs and reach community members that are in critical need of healthy food, education, and support. What is the event?   It's an evening of dinner, winetasting, and a silent auction, but there's more.  Three local chefs will go head-to-head in a timed competition in the style of Food Network's "Chopped."  The competing chefs this year are Chef Jacob Lovejoy, Cass Winery; Chef Adam White, Twin Cities Community Hospital (TCCH); and Chef Hector Giancarlo Peres Scolari from Daou Vineyards. The Top Chef Judge will be Chef Alex Martin from Crush Catering.  The distinguished panel of judges includes local doctors and dignitaries will sample the appetizer, main dish a...

It's a busy time at the rancho, but satisfying.  The rose garden Stuart planted to represent all the members of the family has blossomed into a fragrant, beautiful area of our courtyard, and it is a highly luxurious moment when I can put aside my other responsibilities and sneak out to cut some roses to grace our home.  Their fragrance is a beautiful reminder to take time to enjoy life, even if it's only for a moment. The fig tree has produced like a champ this year.  Almost too many figs to eat.  How do we know this?  Because whenever we are going anywhere, the host or hostess prefaces the sentence with, "And no, we do not need figs." So what do we do with all these figs?  We make fig jam, strawberry-fig jam, dehydrate figs, make fig appetizers with goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto, drizzled with olive oil, and grilled -- and on and on -- and it's still producing.  Perhaps a sign of El Nino to come?  We hope. We also harvested our...