January 03, 2014
If you have made a New Year's resolution for healthier eating, put these top ten facts about Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) in your pocket for making positive choices this year.
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December 09, 2013
In a world where technical systems and precision promote perfection and accuracy it's nice to see that small, unassuming gestures and old traditions still thrive. Italy has a different tonality than the U.S. when it comes to celebrating Christmas time.
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December 02, 2013
While predicting your future isn't as easy as looking in a magic glass ball, there are signs along the way that give us direction. Every choice we make has a consequence. Our choice to buy a vacation home in Italy turned to something more. Our involvement within our Italian Commune at Torre di Palme led to meeting new and interesting people. Our desire to stay connected to Oregon and to bridge our Italian life naturally evolved from our interests and experience. As relationships developed, so did opportunity. Olio e Vino, Oil and Wine; natural partners, the perfect duo.
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November 09, 2013
"Unchain my heart, oh baby let me go ..... " Ray Charles sang it best! This hypnotic melody told the story of heartache and love. Straddling two continents, diverse cultures, and a foreign language, there are times I sing that song when it's been a particular frustrating day as an expat.
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October 24, 2013
Mother Nature talks to us everyday through the wind, rain and sun. The photo to left gave us all those weather elements in one day in Torre di Palme, Italy. Seasons change, they are never the same year to year and it makes doing business in agriculture interesting, creative and challenging. This year, the olive crop in Le Marche, Italy has enjoyed a beautiful summer with long warm days and evenings. We've been fortunate "bel tempo" has continued through the fall.
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October 06, 2013
Last year, I put my little tasting cup under this cascading waterfall of olive oil that was pouring out after the centrifuge separated the oil from water. My first taste of fresh, off the press, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil was a bit mystifying. The texture was buttery and thick, with bright fruity flavors of olives and then the bite in the back of my throat assured me this was not my supermarket olive oil.
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September 13, 2013
Buongiorno! We love hearing from our friends, customers and prospective clients. Recently someone asked if I could clarify the definition of sustainable farming as we have described on our website. With all the marketing messages targeted towards consumers, it's often confusing and a quagmire of information to filter. So, to shed a little light on the subject, today's blog features the definition of sustainable farming, why it's important and how it specifically applies to our product, Casal Cristiana Extra Virgin Olive Oil, here in Italy.
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September 09, 2013
We were honored to be invited to the Pierti Launch Party on Saturday, September 7th in Torre di Palme, Italy. Our friend, Tiziana Piersanti, put her lifelong dream of becoming a fashion designer into action after a milestone birthday last year. Throughout the year we watched her sketch in the bar, Le Logge, which she owns with her husband Dottore Umberto Bedetta. It was so fun to see bolts of fabric arrive at the bar as she moved forward to bring her sketches to reality.
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August 25, 2013
We woke up to high clouds and big, heavy rain drops splashing on the balcony. A humid, intermittent rainfall as is if the sky was contemplating...to rain or not to rain today. I scurried over to Torre di Palme to bring in the laundry off the wall of the medieval village. I have taken on the Italian ways of hang drying all my laundry.
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August 23, 2013
I want to go where the olive grow. After two weeks of traveling throughout Holland my appreciation for the healthy Medterranean lifestyle has deepened. The windmill, canal, and stretches of greenery are beautiful visions, but we had a difficult time finding food that wasnt heavily processed, preserved, or packaged in plastic.
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August 12, 2013
I am blogging today in Holland. Yes, The Netherlands. When I was young and complained of going camping in Oregon for the zillionth time, my Dad would say, "well, it's not like we're in the Netherlands or something!" So my youthful vision of The Netherlands was one of mystery and isolation, a place to go if you are banished. So I sent a photo to my Dad, "say Pops, The Netherlands, they're not so bad!" I wouldn't dream of trading my knowledge of Oregon and time with my family for anything, but I am happy to report, The Netherlands is a beautiful place to visit. In Amsterdam, the canals remind me of Venice, Italy while the beer pubs, light rail trains and bicycles resemble my hometown of Portland.
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August 07, 2013
Buongiorno! Italy continues to be hot and humid, great for the olives as they incubate in the summer sun. However, as Oregonians, we longed for green grass and tall trees, so we are trekking north for cooler weather, searching for rain. As we travel through Europe we 
significantly notice the affects to the change in our diet. Through France (did not go via Provence), Luxembourg, Belgium and finally the Netherlands there was no olive oil in sight and we are regretting we didn't toss a few bottles in the luggage (along with some pasta). Danish pastries, chocolate croissants, Belgium waffles and sandwiches with gouda cheese and mayonnaise remind us how far away we are from the Adriatic and it's cuisine.
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We woke up to high clouds and big, heavy rain drops splashing on the balcony. A humid, intermittent rainfall as is if the sky was contemplating...to rain or not to rain today. I scurried over to Torre di Palme to bring in the laundry off the wall of the medieval village. I have taken on the Italian ways of hang drying all my laundry. 
I want to go where the olive grow. After two weeks of traveling throughout Holland my appreciation for the healthy Medterranean lifestyle has deepened. The windmill, canal, and stretches of greenery are beautiful visions, but we had a difficult time finding food that wasnt heavily processed, preserved, or packaged in plastic.
I am blogging today in Holland. Yes, The Netherlands. When I was young and complained of going camping in Oregon for the zillionth time, my Dad would say, "well, it's not like we're in the Netherlands or something!" So my youthful vision of The Netherlands was one of mystery and isolation, a place to go if you are banished. So I sent a photo to my Dad, "say Pops, The Netherlands, they're not so bad!" I wouldn't dream of trading my knowledge of Oregon and time with my family for anything, but I am happy to report, The Netherlands is a beautiful place to visit. In Amsterdam, the canals remind me of Venice, Italy while the beer pubs, light rail trains and bicycles resemble my hometown of Portland.
significantly notice the affects to the change in our diet. Through France (did not go via Provence), Luxembourg, Belgium and finally the Netherlands there was no olive oil in sight and we are regretting we didn't toss a few bottles in the luggage (along with some pasta). Danish pastries, chocolate croissants, Belgium waffles and sandwiches with gouda cheese and mayonnaise remind us how far away we are from the Adriatic and it's cuisine.