News

May 1, 2013

May will be a bit calmer than our two previous months.  The highlights of this month will be our wonderful Fondue Class on May 7th, showcasing an entire meal built from fondues, and our Vietnamese Cooking class on May 21st given by Annie Henrichs, our guest instructor from Modesto Junior College, who will show us the tricks to making fresh spring rolls and the sauces that accompany them.  For more details, check out our Events Page, or call the store to make your reservations.  All classes are $30 and are given at 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

Stop by the store to look for special items for Mothers’ Day.  If your Mom likes “all things olive” there’s sure to be something in our store to please her.

This month we have 3 hot/spicy oils and 3 springtime-flavored balsamic condimentos on sale at a “red hot” special 15% discount.  Stock up now.

Check out our new blog at www.marisolio.wordpress.com to keep up with even more news from Marisolio Tasting Bar.

March 31, 2013

April 2, 2013: Kids’ Creations Cooking Class.  Our first ever kids’ cooking class for ages 7-13.  Parents must accompany students to class.  See our Events Page. Completed and a Huge Success!!!

April 13-14, 2013:  Thorpe Plaza Pre-Tax Day Shindig.  Winners of our recipe contest will be announced.  We’re celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Marisolio’s opening and also celebrating the completion of our new demonstration kitchen project, as well as highlighting the other Thorpe Plaza businesses.

April 16, 2013: Asparagus A to Z.  Sign up for our mid-month cooking class and learn the many, many ways to prepare everyone’s favorite spring vegetable. Drop by the store or call at (209) 728-5578 to make reservations.  Class fee is $30 and lasts about 2 hours.

Looking ahead to May:

Tuesday, May 7, 2013: Mom’s Day Out – Fondue Class.  Sweet and savory fondues will be demonstrated.  Drop by the store or call at (209) 728-5578 to make reservations.  Class fee is $30 and lasts about 2 hours.

March 8, 2013

OUR NEW BLOG IS UP AND RUNNING.  CHECK OUT THE BLOG AT MARISOLIO.WORDPRESS.COM.

March 1-31 – Our Annual Recipe contest.  Send us your favorite recipes with our oils and/or condimentos.  There will be prizes and the winning recipes will be featured in our forthcoming cookbook.

March 19 – Irish Day in Murphys.  A long-held tradition in Murphys. CA.  Join us for fun and food.  We will be offering our usual Dollar Day Pancakes (free, of course) with a variety of balsamic condimento toppings.  You’ll be amazed how wonderful pancakes can taste with balsamic condimentos instead of syrup.  Healthier for you, too.

March 19 – Hearty Soups Class:  For details, check out our Events Page.

New Recipes this month: Check out our Recipe Page.

February 28, 2013

February 12, 2013

January 24, 2013

Within the next few months we will be featuring our new frozen pasta line. In addition to the dry artisan pasta that we’ve been featuring for almost a year, we’ll be offering fantastic ravioli, tortellini, tortolloni, gnocchi, various pestos and sauces, as well.

Our mission at Marisolio Tasting Bar is not only to offer you the freshest oils in the world but also to share with you information about how olive oil is produced, how to taste olive oil, the chemistry of olive oil, and what to look for when buying olive oils. In the near future, two new monitors in the store will be streaming this information to you.

January 2, 2013

Marisolio Tasting Bar is adding a new cooking demonstration kitchen this month so we can bring you more exciting cooking classes year-round. During the construction, the store will be closed and online orders cannot be fulfilled, because all the crocks and fustis will be wrapped and sealed to avoid contamination from the dust that goes along with any renovation. As soon as the project is finished, you will be notified by newsletter if you are on our mailing list (see upper right corner of this page) and we will post the re-opening dates on this website.

We’re looking forward to being able to bring you new products, new classes, and new cooking adventures.

November 15, 2012

The Harvest is Finished at Rancho Marisol Olive Ranch

“Olive” Our Harvest Facts

• During harvest, we employ 30-40 persons to pick the olives from the trees daily.  Mexican states represented by the labor crew: Puebla, Zacatecas, Oaxaca, Michoacan, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Chiapas.  Other countries represented: El Salvador, Pakistan.
• “Olive” our olives are hand-picked.  No machinery is used.
• We harvest four varieties of olives: Leccino, Frantoio (Italian), Kalamata (Greek), Arbequina (Spanish)
• There are almost 4000 trees at the ranch; approximately 1000 of each variety.
• Harvested olives are dumped into busboy trays (Charolas) from picking buckets by the workers.
• Each “charola” has a number on it.  When filled, the worker places his punch card in the try.
• Ranch workers pick up the “charolas” and place them in the ATV trailer and tractor-driven utility trailer
• The ATV transports the charolas to weigh-in location, where per/individual charola weights are recorded by the ranch.  Then the labor contractor punches a card for each recorded charola meeting the minimum weight standard of 30 pounds.  Usually the ATV can haul 24 filled charolas at a time to the weigh-in location.  The utility trailer can haul 90+ charolas.
• There are approximately 4300 olives in a 30 pound charola.
• It takes 30-32 charolas to fill a waiting bin on a long trailer.  Within a few hours they are transported to the olive mill for crushing.
• A filled bin is “guesstimated” to hold 140,000 olives.
• Every day during harvest, we transport 4-6 tons of olives to the mill.
• At the mill, the olive bins are removed from the trailer by the forklift, dumped into a hopper, and washed.  Then by conveyor belt, they are transported into the malaxer.
• The malaxer crushes everything—- skin. pits, and olive flesh—-into a purplish paste for approximately 50-55 minutes.
• The paste is then transported by pumps into a centrifuge where, by high speed spinning, water and solids are removed and the remainder is OLIO NUOVO.  Delicious, great oil!!

October 17, 2012

Did you know that 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced world-wide each year?  The pumpkin has become an important part of many holidays and traditions in North America: Halloween, Harvest Festivals, and Thanksgiving.  Celebrating the importance of the pumpkin in our lives, Marisolio would like to share some interesting recipes using pumpkins and some of our oils and vinegars. The Marisolio products used in these recipes will be on sale until the end of the month.  See what’s on sale!  Enjoy and happy eating!

Oven-Baked Pumpkin Fries

We’ve all heard of sweet potato fries.  Well, these are very similar but made with pumpkin.  They can be prepared with different tastes, depending on whether you like things savory or sweet.  Try them both ways.  You’ll love them.

---

Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pumpkin

Chocolate chip cooies are a lunch-box favorite for school children and adults alike.  Try this wonderful fall version of everyone’s most-loved cookie.  It will surely turn into a new favorite each year as Halloween and Thanksgiving approach.

---

Quesadilla de Calabaza (Pumpkin)

Pumpkin Licuado Drink

For a refreshing drink in the midst of the busy holidays, try our Pumpkin Licuado for a unique variation on the smoothie.  With the yogurt, honey, pumpkin, and pumpkin spice flavorings, it’s a little like having a liquid pumpkin pie.  Yum.

---

Pumpkin Garlic Soup

When the days and evenings turn cold, there’s nothing like a hot soup to warm the body and soul.  This pumpkin garlic soup will take the chill out of your life and fill you with warm thoughts of the holidays ahead.  It’s a little labor-intensive but so worth the work.  And it will fill your home with a lovely aroma while it cooks.   

---

September 17, 2012

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

By presidential proclamation in 1989, the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month—-September 15th to October 15th—-honors the accomplishments of all individuals and ethnic groups speaking romance languages living in the United States, who have roots in the Iberian Peninsula, North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Some important dates:

Felices Fiestas Patrias: Honors the independence of five Latin American countries from Spain on September 15th: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico achieved independence September 16, Chile on September 18, and Belize on September 21.

Founding of California: September 28, 1542. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (a Portuguese navigator) discovered San Diego Bay and claimed it for Spain. Cabrillo was the first European to land on the west coast of what is now the United States. The Cabrillo Festival is celebrated each year in the San Diego area.

El Dia de la Raza: (Columbus Day) October 12. Celebrates the “blending of the Spanish colonizers withnative, indigenous persons of the New World.

LAST CALL FOR “CUBA AND ITS SPANISH ROOTS.” In keeping with our Hispanic theme, our Cuban Cooking class will be offered this Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at both 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM. As of this writing there are only a couple of seats left for each class. This class is going to be special!! If you’re interested, drop by the store to sign up or call (209)-728-8853 to reserve a spot. Samples of all the prepared dishes will be provided. Participants will receive a 15% discount on oils and vinegars purchasedat the conclusion of the class. To read about the menu, please check out our web site EVENTS page.

Coming in October: TORTILLA AND TAMALE MAKING 101. Mary Schuster, owner of Marisolio, and Nino Solorio, our newest employee, are giving a “hands-on” demo next month, featuring the making of delicious olive oil tortillas, chicken tamales, chili-cheese tamales, and for dessert, sweet tamales. This will be your chance to get in on the action. Do not wear fancy clothes and please come with clean hands! You will be taking home a dozen self-made tamales, ready to cook for dinner or to freeze for your Holiday Fiestas! Class will be held October 16, 2012 at both 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM. The fee for this very special class is $30. Fee includes the following:

• instruction

• copies of all recipes

• materials needed for a dozen take-home tamales

• 4 chicken tamales

• 4 chili-cheese tamales

• 4 dessert tamales

• cooked tamale samples to eat in class

• ponche to drink with tamales

Reserve your place for this very fun event, culminating Hispanic Heritage Month. This class is going to be a really fun one, promising to be a sell-out. Come to the store to sign up in person or call (209)728-8853 to sign up by credit card.

August 11, 2012

Marisolio is now offering Free Shipping for all of our oils and condimentos, but only IF you Fill A Box (F.A.B.)

Here’s how it works:

1. Choose your oils and/or condimentos. You may mix oils and vinegars as long as you use one bottle size per box and fill the entire box.
2. Here are the amounts needed to fill a box:

(6) of the 200 ml size* OR
(4) of the 375 ml size*

*We can offer this special free shipping to you only for the amounts listed above. For example, if you would order 8 of the 200 ml. bottles, the first 6 (filling a box) would ship for free. The other two would incur shipping charges unless you decide to fill that box, too.  If you want less than the required amount for the F.A.B. Free Shipping option, we will send your order the most economical way possible for your location, but it may take longer for you to receive it than if it were sent the F.A.B. (priority mail) way.

August 1, 2012

In addition, Congress declared August as National Catfish Month in the late 80′s to recognize the contributions that the United States catfish industry has made to the economy.  Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi produce the majority of the nation’s catfish.  This is the month to eat lots of catfish.  Try our Healthy Seared Cajun Catfish with Citrus Avocado Salsa for a special treat one of these nights.

AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS AND UNIQUE WAYS TO CELEBRATE

August 3rd - NATIONAL WATERMELON DAY

Celebrate this day by trying our Balsamic Watermelon Cubes, made with our own Blueberry Balsamic Condimento.  You won’t believe how refreshing these are.  Make lots at once, because they will disappear quickly.  Colorful, flavorful, and healthy!!  These can, of course be made with any balsamic condimento, but the berry flavored ones are the tastiest.

August 8th – SNEAK SOME ZUCCHINI ONTO YOUR NEIGHBOR’S PORCH DAY

If you have an overabundance of zucchini in your garden, you might like to try our Whole Wheat Cobrancosa Zucchini Bread.  Easy to make, healthy, and a good way to use up all that zucchini.

August 21 – SENIOR CITIZEN’S DAY 

August 26 – NATIONAL DOG DAY 

What better way to honor man’s best friend than with nutritious, All Natural Olive Oil Dog Biscuits.  These are really special, made with olive oil and homemade olive oil peanut butter.  Dogs love them!

---

UPCOMING CLASS: TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012.

“SUMMER SOUPS AND A SALAD”

This will be a great class to learn recipes that will keep you cool during the Dog Days of Summer.  Attendees at all our cooking events will receive a 15% in-store discount on the day of the class. Two classes will be offered: 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM.  Hurry in to sign up.  Our summer classes have been well-attended.

Menu will feature Artisan Orzo Salad, Bell Pepper Soup, Carrot-Peanut Soup, Gazpacho, Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Call the store at (209) 728-8853 for reservations or drop by the store in person to sign up.  Cost is $25.00  Join us for an informative and fun class. Learn how to beat the heat with these recipes!

---