Sometimes I go back and re-read my posts then really cringe.  Take last week’s “Victory Garden” entry, for example.  Here are all the Blog Boo-Boos I found: a) I talked about Teaoli and didn’t even provide you with photos or information.  b) I wrote some sort of introductory statement like, “And now…here are the finished quiches, feast your eyes!” and followed that up with a photo of my broccoli. Wha?? And, 3) I talked about Teaoli and didn’t even provide you with photos or information.  The Teaoli little faux pas is worth two bullet points.

Nestled in the northwest shopping corner of 15th & Bryant in Edmond awaits a very special place for you to explore.  The owners would love you to come in and taste olive oils, infused olive oils, balsamic vinegars, blended balsamic vinegars, and teas…and teas and teas. Every time I go shopping for olive oil, I always want to taste it.  And now I finally can.  I’ve spent between $7.00 and about $30.00 for approximately 14-18 oz of olive oil.  Their 14 oz bottles are $14.50, a mid-range price-point for oils by and large from California.  I can recommend my first purchase: Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  The description reads, “Fresh and lively with a mild to medium intensity with notes of green apple peel and herbs.” I just uncorked it again to take another whiff and see if I agree with their narrative.  (*inhale….okay, another inhale*) Yes. Yes, on the green apple peel.  And, yes on the herbs but I only pick up about two: thyme and rosemary.  This isn’t an infused oil, the notes are simply descriptions just like you would utilize when analyzing wine.

When you walk into the shop, your eye will begin following rows and rows of oils, vinegars and teas…and stacked neatly along the displays are small white paper souffle cups for sampling.  That’s the part I love – the sampling.  I mentioned that once already, right?  I’ve only been once, but in one week I’ve used about 1/3rd of my bottle.  Therefore, I will probably find myself back again walking the aisles in about one more week.  I hope I find you there too.  We’ll try oil and vinegar combinations together.  My favorite so far? Balsamic vinegar with fig combined with the chipotle infused olive oil. Oh yes, I just wrote that.  And heavenly days, was it delicious.

I mentioned “Delivery Day” in my title. This past Thursday was the date for my first order to be delivered from the Oklahoma Food Cooperative to my Edmond drop site.  I wasn’t able to be there so I had armed Mick with all the information I felt he needed in order to navigate the process.  Here was his report: “The volunteer was really nice, but I think I could have figured it out just fine on my own. Plus, Kelly, it was expensive.  Two grocery sacks of food for $138.00?”  That part was true, mostly because I purchased a large a beef sampler package from Clear Creek Monastery.  However, as a consumer, there is a fine-tuning process for every person when considering the health, cost, local support and taste factor.  I won’t write much about that in this article, but I will say that I’m well aware part of my money spent with the Food Coop is basically an investment in building a sustainable system for our state.  That’s why I try to also grow a good deal of our food in the summer in order to balance out some of my higher cost purchases from local producers.  I’m trying to decide what to do next week because I got so many treasures from places around Oklahoma.  I’m thinking a “buttermilk biscuit bake-off” might be in order.  I’ll wait and surprise you next week.

As we noted last Monday, our team of contributors are in a two-week quiet period and I’m trying to “hunker down” a bit as well.  It’s the end of our semester at OSU and I have a stack of work to do both as an instructor and as a graduate student.  Therefore, I think I’m going to save most of my cooking content for next week.  To end this post, however, I will give you a peek of our “Garden Improvement” project going on along our retention wall.  We’re expanding our raised bed area by about 1/3rd and started the process this weekend.  Stripping the sod and soil are the worst tasks.  The building, filling and planting will be a little more enjoyable.  Have a great week, and I’ll see you next Monday.  Hopefully – with a brand new completed bed filled with tomatoes, peppers and eggplants! Love,

[kelly]

My Little Victory Garden: Entry 9 / Entry 11

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