Thoughts on things in jars

While I haven't gotten very far into the world of pickling and preserving aside from marinating some olives and trying to can them, I'm very intrigued by that whole universe. I'm fairly obsessed with eating pickled items, fruit preserves and that sort of thing. Last Christmas one of Mark's cousins gave us three types of homemade jam and I was over the moon! That's how excited I get for things that people have made themselves and put in jars for me to enjoy. This may explain why I love those rustic-looking mason jar goodies Jamie Kennedy always seems to have on display!

Being a lover of all things pickled and brined and preserved for all time, I couldn't wait to get my hands on some of Sable and Rosenfeld's "Tipsy Olives" soaked in various types of alcoholic goodness.

   

 We were at an event the other day where we had a chance to try the typical olive stuffed with pimento, but the twist was that it was bathed in vermouth - we found it really nice in a classic martini. While we also tried the blue-cheese-stuffed olives and the jalapeno-stuffed olives bathed in vodka, my very favourite kind was the lemon olives in gin. Could eat those all day right out of the jar... they are highly addictive.

 At said event, Encore Catering showed us that a lot of the Sable and Rosenfeld items could be added to different dishes. I personally saw the olive bruschetta as being one of the most versatile products (yes, I am obsessed with olives so I'm biased but bear with me) - of course it can go on bread to mimic a bruschetta, but it works as a tapenade for fish and would go nicely in a sandwich or panini - I even imagined using it alongside things like zucchini and eggplant in a vegetarian lasagna - that could be pretty delicious.

The presentation of the food by Encore was some of the most beautiful plating I had ever seen. Their dessert was to die for - a feast for both the eyes and the tastebuds. If they can keep that kind of quality and presentation when scaling up for weddings and other large functions, consider me impressed!

Yours in food,

-Stacey