Last week I sent out an email to clients and friends to give them an update of our life here in Italy. After I sent it out, I thought, this is exactly what I'd like to say on my blog too. At the time, I felt that since it wasn't a fresh piece of writing ... it was cheating a little bit. But as I sorted through the recent activities and grappled with messages, I realized it's okay to become efficient. I can't fabricate reality and in the last month, quite frankly, we had lots of balls in the air. While it may seem redundant to me, the blog hits different people and it certainly doesn't mean I'm on autopilot with getting our news out for Casal Cristiana Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil (CCEVOO). 
I don't like to inundate people with emails so I reserve this type of correspondence for specific news. Many people prefer to check in on the blog, follow us on Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook instead. We do it all and in this age of social media marketing, so many businesses are clamoring for attention. To the right is an Instagram photo of Torre di Palme in the early morning as we headed to our little office. Here's a peek into our Italian life for the last month, it's been challenging and exciting! So in case you are not on our email list, "ecco lo!" Here it is! Enjoy! We've all heard the saying .... "Time flies when you're having fun!" For us, time has been racing along like a fast speed train. We have been having fun along the way but truly not enough to equal the time lapse from our last communication. The spring shipment arrived safely at our Oregon warehouse a couple of weeks ago and all looks beautiful! The new capsules complete the CCEVOO package with sophistication and weathered quite well in the custom boxes especially designed for shipping. 
Our Oregon manager confirmed the new shipment's flavor is bright with the olive aromatics you have come to know! Another exciting bit of news is .... we moved! Our new Italian home is just a few minutes away from our original location. It is a larger home, accommodating our family better, has a stunning view of the Adriatic Sea and 63 olive trees to call our own. Better yet, it is a sustainable home with a field of solar panels to provide 100% of our electricity during the day, excess power is sold back to the electrical company to offset evening use. Our water heaters use pellets (or in our case, olive pits) to heat the home and all rain water run off is captured into two large wells, recycling for irrigation on the property. 
Our naturally climate controlled home is achieved by the construction of 3-foot stone walls. Currently in progress is completion of a guest home to serve our clients and distributors for further olive oil education and personal tours of Le Marche, Italy. With all those wonderful things, it's the pool that is the big hit with our boys. In the midst of moving and our kids finishing the school year, we had the pleasure of being tour guides recently with back-to-back guests from California and then family from Oregon. Impressions of this region were very favorable, as one guest said, "I can't decide what's my favorite dish, they have all been so good!" The Marche is somewhat undiscovered outside of the EU. Due to its locality to the sea and mountains, visitors can enjoy seafood and traditional Marchigiani meat dishes at the same restaurant. 
The photo taken to the right is at Ristorante Rosso Conero with family members, Dick and Nancy Ponzi and their friends Monica and Alan Grinnell. Agriculture thrives in this region with it's fertile soil and subtropical climate so we eat really well here. Last year, we featured this little restaurant on our blog because to our surprise, it's at a gas station. It's casual, but the food is well prepared, fresh and local, and offers a view of the Numana and Fermana coastline that allows time to pass with pleasure. The Fermana coastline, where Casal Cristiana Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is produced and where our olives grow, enjoy hot summer days but benefit from cool breezes that help the fruit ripen gradually and fend off pests. Adequate rainfall and the sandy soil contribute to the flavor of our olive oil. We think this is a great location for the health and flavor of our olives.
From fancy to casual, we love good food. This dish was so simple with pureed fresh peas, fish straight from the Adriatic, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt at one of our other favorite restaurants, Tentacolo, in Porto San Giorgio. And we can never resist a party, particularly when it's on a rooftop garden at a friend's home in Torre di Palme. 
It's a culinary adventure to live in this Italian region and always an inspiration to expand my recipe catalog. This July and August we will be in Oregon to share our stories, recipe ideas and to conduct olive oil education! We hope to see you at one of our Casal Cristiana Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil events. Sign up for our email on our website to receive our quasi monthly newsletter. We will soon announce the location of our First Anniversary CCEVOO Dinner Celebration, where we will be for VINO e OLIO tastings, and more! Please "like" our Facebook Page to stay informed and be inspired on a regular basis with photos, recipes and olive oil news! Write to us if you would like to host a cooking class, dinner or cocktail party that would be coupled with olive oil education and tasting techniques. Extra virgin olive oil health benefits are numerous and the recipes for great meals are endless! Let us know, we have some dates available for Portland, Bend and Seattle. But for now, I'm off to unpack a few more boxes and cook in my new spacious Italian kitchen!
Buon appetito!
In one day, our server's pedometer logged 16 miles within our restaurant hustling food and drinks to our celebratory guests. Whether its an engagement announcement, birthday, Mother's Day, work lunch or it's a "I am treating myself" moment, we are in the business of happiness with great food in a beautiful and relaxing environment and an upbeat team to make it all happen.
