Category Archives: Random everyday stuff

A candid interview about our olive oil with my 4 year old daughter Giada

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Giada and Mike Coldani

Giada and Mike Coldani

I recently sat down with my 4 year old daughter Giada Coldani to discuss the olive oil business and why she likes olive oil. Forced to be immersed into the world of olive oil, both of my children have become fans at a very young age. Both of them have been dipping bread into this gold goodness since before they were a year old and it has gotten to the point where Giada will ask for oil if she doesn’t see it present at dinner (embarrassingly enough; even at other peoples’ houses) The interview with my son Gino will have to be postponed since he is just over one year of age and his vocabulary consists of about ten words.

Mike:    What is your favorite food to enjoy Calivirgin olive oil on?
Giada:    Ummm?  Bread!

Avocado with EVOO and Vinegar is one of her favorites

Avocado with EVOO and Vinegar is one of her favorites

Mike:    What is your favorite food to enjoy our Calivinegar balsamic vinegar on?
Giada:    On sliced avocados!

Mike:    What did you teach your friend Dylan when you went to the olive mill?
Giada:    I taught him how to eat the oil and to play with Vito.

Mike:    Which of our Calivirgin flavored olive oils is your favorite? We have Basil, Lemon, Rosemary, Jalapeno, Garlic, Buddha’s Hand Citron, and Jalapeno-Garlic.
Giada:    I like the Rosemary!
Mike:    I’m pretty sure you haven’t had the rosemary. Why do you like that one?
Giada:    I’m not sure.

Giada Coldani and Dylan Kerns tasting some fresh milled EVOO

Giada Coldani and Dylan Kerns tasting some fresh milled EVOO

Mike:    What is your favorite part about the olive mill where daddy works?
Giada:    The praying mantises in the box where you dump the olives.
(The olives get dumped into a hopper and then conveyed into a washing system. There
are often many praying mantises picked up by the harvester that use this opportunity to get to safety. Giada has a blast collecting them and letting them crawl on her arms before setting them back into a tree)

Mike:    If you worked for Calivirgin what job would you want to have?
Giada:    I want to make the olive oil like you!
(As far as punctuation; it isn’t so much as an overuse of the exclamation point as it is Giada yelling her answers at me like she is on a television game show)

Vito is the ranch dog who is somewhat camera shy and not thrilled to have his photo taken

Vito is the ranch dog who is somewhat camera shy and not thrilled to have his photo taken

Mike:    What are Polyphenols?
Giada:    What do you think it is?
Mike:    I’m asking you what you think.
Giada:    But where did you hear about it?
Mike:    Someone once told me but I forget, what do you think it is?
Giada:    But where did you learn about polyphenols?
Mike:    You know I’m supposed to be the one asking the questions.
Giada:    Daddy, maybe when I’m older I’ll know what polyphenols mean.

Mike:    Why is our Calivirgin olive oil Extra Virgin?
Giada:    I don’t know.

Mike:    Ok, you are getting tired, how about this; who is your favorite princess and why?
Giada:    I like Cinderella, Ariel and Snow White.
Mike:    Why do you like those ones?
Giada:    I like Cinderella because she’s pretty and I like her dancing. I like Ariel because she is magical under water and she marries Prince Eric, and I like Snow White because she has a lot of tiaras.

Don't let the highlighter outfit fool you, she is a farm girl at heart and loves insects and reptiles

Don’t let the highlighter outfit fool you, she is a farm girl at heart and loves insects, animals & reptiles

Mike:    Would you rather work for Calivirgin when you grow up or be a Princess?
Giada:    I want to be a princess!
Mike:    I knew you were going to say that.
Giada:    Then why did you ask me?

Mike:    Ok, your interview is over.
Giada:    Now can I have a treat?
Mike:    Ha Ha!  Ok, I did promise didn’t I !

A Presto!

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8 Random Friday Facts

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It’s Friday!  Enjoy some tidbits of the everyday things going on in our lives here at Coldani Olive Ranch.

I planted a six inch seedling the day my wife Julie and I got married ~ 9/16/2006 ~  Quite frankly; as an olive tree farmer the tree looks a little pathetic because it has been restricted in this pot but we also received the beautiful pot as a wedding gift and I wanted to be able to take the tree with us if we moved so don’t pass judgment on my farming skills from the looks of it!  I like to think it’s an antonym for our marriage.

June 8th 2012 will be our first ever pick up party for our olive oil Club Members.  We will be holding it at Abundance winery in Lodi.  More notice will go out but it should be a great time with oil tastings/pairings, a band and a complimentary glass of wine.  If you are a club member and in the area swing by and grab your shipment and enjoy the evening with us.

Get your Allegra or Zyrtec ready.  Working in these groves while the trees are in bloom is messy work and will cause a fit on your allergies even with a dust mask.  Olive pollen is very fine and can even travel miles away in gusty winds.

Look for our new sign on the side of a semi truck.  Currently parked on our oldest block of trees off Interstate 5 and HWY 12.  This is the second one; the first truck had been stolen in the night after it sat for about three days.  WHO steals an entire semi truck trailer!?  Who would have thought that I would have to pull off decent tires from this trailer and install bald ones trying everything to keep this one from being tempting?

This is a mission olive tree I planted for aesthetics in my front yard.  Nearly every day there is a cat using it as a scratching post and I have seen at least three or four different cats on this tree.  I’d like to think that someday when this tree gets to be 100 years old there will be an interesting visual story around the base of it.

They’re here!  Calivirgin needed more hands so my sister Gina and her husband Scott moved from the always sunny and mild weather of San Diego back to Lodi to work with the company full time.  At least it wasn’t like they were moving to Alaska.   I think last I checked we have been picked up by 33 different retail stores since January first of this year so cracking the whip seems to be working.

There are many different uses for olive oil.  I could make an entire blog post on them alone and I just may do that but one that we have been receiving many comments on is the use of our lemon olive oil as a makeup remover.  It works! Plus it leaves your skin moisturized with a light fragrant smell of lemons.  Try it sometime!

I saved my favorite photo for last.  At first I thought a twenty pound gopher or ground squirrel had finally done us in.  Our irrigation nemesis jumped out of this hole.  A mother coyote and eleven, YES ELEVEN!  pups scattered in all directions from this den which was dug right in the middle of one of our rows of trees and about in the middle of the entire grove.  Coyotes are a real problem, they chew on our drip irrigation nightly to the point that we will not fix the drip lines until the night before we water otherwise we will just have to fix it twice.  They like the drip lines as a source of water but there is also evidence that the just chew on them as a chew toy.  Coyotes easily cost us in the thousands every year in repair parts & labor.

Happy Friday, Mike Coldani