The Empty Nest Kitchen

The Secrets of EVOO with Sharon Streb of Olive & Basket

• Christine Van Bloem • Season 2 • Episode 22

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I'm talking to Sharon Streb of Olive Basket to explore the intricacies of high-quality olive oils and vinegars, including their production processes and health benefits. Sharon also touches on her adventure in Italy and her decision to open a store focused on high-quality, small-batch products, many from women-owned companies. 

We get into the sensory analysis of olive oil, the importance of proper storage, and the specifics of infused oils. You'll find tips on how to use these products in cooking, highlighting a special beurre blanc recipe made with Olive Basket's garden herb vinegar.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:26 Meet Sharon Streb of Olive Basket
01:19 The Story Behind Olive Basket
03:22 Sharon's Journey to Olive Oil
04:54 The Olive Oil School Experience
05:54 Understanding Olive Oil Quality
07:51 Olive Oil Tasting and Safety
08:40 Best Selling Olive Oils
10:57 Health Benefits of Olive Oil
21:13 Butter and Oil Preferences
21:42 Vinegars from Italy and Germany
22:43 Proper Storage for Oils and Vinegars
23:21 Kitchen Advice and Personal Anecdotes
28:40 Making Beurre Blanc with Garden Herb Vinegar
32:29 Favorite Vinegars and Their Uses
36:47 Shipping and Online Store Information
38:05 Entrepreneurship and Gift Ideas
40:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Christine Van Bloem:

Well, hey there, everyone. I am so happy you're joining us today. I have got Sharon Streb of Olive Basket here to talk to us about all things delicious, olive oily, and vinegary today. Hey, Sharon!

Sharon Streb:

Hello, how are you?

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh my gosh, I am so happy you're here. You know that I am completely beyond obsessed with your garden herb vinegar, right?

Sharon Streb:

Yes, and I really appreciate that.

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh my gosh, I just bought a full liter of it. I bought

Sharon Streb:

ambassador of Garden Herb.

Christine Van Bloem:

I should That stuff is so fantastic. I, I kid you not, I made something for dinner last week with it. And I used it to make this beurre blanc. I will tell you all about it. But first, I want you to tell me, what's olive and basket?

Sharon Streb:

Well, we're just a little gourmet food store and we sell about 300 gourmet food items. So we sell lots, well, we sell lots of olive oil, lots of vinegar, but we also sell pastas and sauces and chocolates. We curate from small companies and a lot of them are women owned companies.

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh! Yeah, you go Sharon!

Sharon Streb:

about 60 percent are probably women owned companies because I know it's tough being a woman and most of them are small makers. So I always tell people by supporting, by shopping with us, you support all those small makers and help keep them in business too. So,

Christine Van Bloem:

my gosh, that, I didn't even know that. You guys, you're independently owned, right?

Sharon Streb:

right.

Christine Van Bloem:

you're not a big chain? Just, ha ha

Sharon Streb:

just me.

Christine Van Bloem:

well doesn't, does your sister work there too?

Sharon Streb:

does, but but she wants to be more retired. And I get that because when she, she used to be a park ranger and she was actually covered. She was the first woman in the state of Maryland to be appointed a park manager. So she covered like all Western Maryland and then she retired to come work for me. And so then she, but then her husband retired maybe a year or so ago. And so she wanted to work less. So she goes on lots of vacations.

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah, ha ha ha. Siblings are so pesky that way.

Sharon Streb:

Huh.

Christine Van Bloem:

so how long have you had your shop?

Sharon Streb:

Well, actually, in July will be ten years.

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh my gosh, I can't

Sharon Streb:

I know, it's a shocker.

Christine Van Bloem:

Do you feel like you have come a long way with it?

Sharon Streb:

my gosh, yes. When we first started, I was afraid to use the cash register.

Christine Van Bloem:

I,

Sharon Streb:

so paranoid, I was like, I don't know, I'm afraid to give people change.

Christine Van Bloem:

any way to bring money in, I will master that immediately.

Sharon Streb:

I know, really.

Christine Van Bloem:

am, I am a big fan of the, the money end of

Sharon Streb:

Me too, but I was like,

Christine Van Bloem:

Bring it!

Sharon Streb:

yeah, so I, because I was a nurse before

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh!

Sharon Streb:

I was, so I was a nurse for about 30 years. And then I went back in my forties and got my degree in interior architecture and design. So then I started working as do it as an interior designer, doing high residential in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. So I was doing. really beautiful homes in Jackson Hole. And yeah, but then I became a widow, I'm afraid, in my 40s. And I wasn't really sure what to do. You know, everything kind of changes then. And so I read that book, He Pray Love.

Christine Van Bloem:

I mean

Sharon Streb:

is

Christine Van Bloem:

Gilbert, man. She is she has really yeah,

Sharon Streb:

it does. So then I, I ended up Deciding to go to Italy and I got accepted to one of the best design schools in Italy and I went there to get my masters in interior design. So then, I fell in love with olive oil. So that's how I ended up getting into olive oil.

Christine Van Bloem:

did that happen?

Sharon Streb:

I, I was living in Florence, Italy, and I, every time I would go to a different area, the olive oil was all different, and usually for a snack in the afternoon, I would have olive oil and bread. A lot of people do that. So I was like, you know what? I think I really want to come back and open an olive oil store instead. And so they actually have a professional olive oil school in above Florence.

Christine Van Bloem:

do.

Sharon Streb:

They do. It's the oldest international olive oil school. And so I applied, but there weren't, there weren't any openings and my visa was about to expire. But at the last minute someone dropped out. So I got in. So they,

Christine Van Bloem:

my gosh

Sharon Streb:

so they only offer I think a couple English speaking classes a year. And so at the last minute I got in and so I went to professional level school before I left Italy, before my visa expired. Because once your visa

Christine Van Bloem:

Olive oil school.

Sharon Streb:

I know.

Christine Van Bloem:

is killing me. I went to the wrong school, man.

Sharon Streb:

I know. When I tell people they're like, oh,

Christine Van Bloem:

How long, how long was your course?

Sharon Streb:

not very long. I think it's about a week, week and a half, but In the morning you learn about like how to take care of trees, all kinds of things, chemical analysis, and in the afternoon you sample olive oil. And so in, in Europe or especially Italy for it to be called an extra virgin olive oil, They do a chemical analysis on it, but they do also a sensory analysis. So a sensory analysis is someone actually sampling the oil. And so you're looking for defects in the oil. So those people that go to professional olive oil school go work for companies and they taste olive oil looking for defects in it so that it can be labeled extra virgin olive oil. Yeah. So it's really interesting. Yeah. And that all takes place during the process. So if like the olives sit too long, you can have a fusty or a musty taste. Like if they didn't wash the olives, it can have this muddy taste. So those are all defects. So someone sampling are looking for those defects. So if it has those defects, it can't be labeled an extra virgin olive oil.

Christine Van Bloem:

oh my gosh. That, I had no idea. That's so cool.

Sharon Streb:

is really interesting. Yeah. So they're very strict on labeling in the EU, but Like here in the States not so much and you're seeing though, California is doing a really good job They've just started it's I think the California olive oil council And so now some of the California oils why I think they have I haven't seen it But it's I think I'm like some sort of like labeling on it that says that they're following EU standards Which means it truly is an extra virgin olive oil if it's called an extra virgin olive oil

Christine Van Bloem:

That is so cool. All right. Now tell me, because, you know, you look at these bottles and they all look the same to a lot of people, right? And you see, okay, well, this olive oil is 6. 99. And. Yeah, see, right? I know. And it's because it'll say pure olive oil, which is non extra virgin olive oil. These are like grocery store

Sharon Streb:

Yeah. Yeah.

Christine Van Bloem:

The lower end stuff. But when we get to your place, yours I, I love them so much. Do you still let people taste them?

Sharon Streb:

Oh, yes, most definitely, so. Yeah, so before before COVID, we used to have a table that had everything on it. But then after COVID, the health department said we could put it up again. But after that, people started sampling different. They didn't really want like that mass where everybody's touching everything. So now we get everybody, we just, you know, we're like, okay, what sample would you like? So they can sample actually anything in the store. Like they can sample any of our sauces, you know, anything that we have they can sample cause we don't want them to go home, you know, and then they get it home and say, Oh, I shouldn't have, you know, I don't like that. So we want to make sure that they go home with something they really like or love.

Christine Van Bloem:

Or love, like me, and keep coming back for more. All right, so what is your best selling olive oil?

Sharon Streb:

For olive oil, our number one seller has been garlic oil for the last 10 years.

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay, so now I remember at one point, because people were making their own oil infusions, right?

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, you have to be really careful with

Christine Van Bloem:

You have to

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, people don't realize that. Especially,

Christine Van Bloem:

reading that botulism was a thing that would happen when you infused garlic and olive oil. So, people would always come in when I owned my cooking school and they'd be like, Oh, I make my own, like, garlic

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, they say that. We hear that a lot.

Christine Van Bloem:

Right? And it's like, well, this is not botulism in a Botox kind of way. This is botulism in a super bad kind of way. So, how, do you know how they do it so that it's a safe thing? Because I know everything you

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, I'm

Christine Van Bloem:

high quality.

Sharon Streb:

I, so the people that we, we import it, we work with a Greek family and we get most of our oils. So most of our oils are Greek oils. Though we do have a couple Italian oils and a couple Spanish oils. But I really love working with this family because they're really passionate. about olive oil. They win lots and lots of awards. They they have been in Forbes magazine and we have been working with them since about 2017, I think. But I really love them. But they, so they make all of our oils for us. For us, but I'm not sure I know for the ingredients It says that it has garlic oil in it. So I'm not really sure how they make

Christine Van Bloem:

What they're doing. But we know it's safe. We didn't, no

Sharon Streb:

Oh My gosh, yeah, most definitely and we have a lot of people it's very interesting because we get a lot of people who Have and I don't know if it's allergies to garlic or it's where they can't have like raw garlic Related to like I don't know Oh I don't know what it is that they have. I don't think it's an allergy, but maybe it's an autoimmune or it's something. And, but they can eat our garlic oil. And they, so they, as long as it doesn't have like actual garlic in it, they can eat it. So, so yeah, it's very interesting.

Christine Van Bloem:

Alright, now, I get a little snobby when it comes to my olive oils. I know! I figure, I don't drive a fancy car, I can have fancy oil,

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, it's really important because it's the base of your cooking, right? Oh,

Christine Van Bloem:

just finishing it up, and it's all about the Mediterranean diet. It's

Sharon Streb:

so, number one diet for how many years?

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah, and I like it because it's not like a wacky doodle diet. We actually have a unit coming up about all the wacky doodle diets that have been out there. And I, I love the Mediterranean diet. I had been dipping a toe into it previously, but now I'm even more enthusiastic about it because of all of the benefits it

Sharon Streb:

Oh yeah, there's a big chunk of people all over the world, and that's what they eat every single day, and they're super healthy, and the blue zones are a big

Christine Van Bloem:

Blue Zones. Yeah. Okay, so if I am gonna come down to you, I'm gonna come down to your shop and you're here in Frederick, Maryland.

Sharon Streb:

Yes.

Christine Van Bloem:

Love it. Love Frederick. If I come down and I want an olive oil that is not a flavored oil, I want, I want something that is pure, baby. I don't want anything added to it. That's why I have the vinegar. Which one are you going to recommend for me?

Sharon Streb:

Well, I would recommend two because they're both award winning oils. The one I really love is, we call it Koryniko. So, Koryniko is a Greek olive oil. It's an award winning olive oil. I think one year it won like 123 awards. And at one time it got best, I think it got, at one time it got best Koryniko oil in, in the world, olive oil in the world. But It's real buttery in the mouth. It's really easy to eat. It's one olive. So they use they the Corinico olive and it's such an excellent, it's very easy. Like I said, very easy oil to eat. We do carry another one. It's organic Spanish. And that's a really interesting oil too. I just met the owner. She's a young woman who just took it over and her family has grown trees. Cause you know, olive oil, You know, olive oil is only made once a year. And olive oil is a very generational family thing. So when you plant a tree, it takes eight to 15 years to get fruit. So it's not something you get, you plant it and then you expect it's, it's a lifetime where your family's going to take it. You know, your next generation, next generation, next generation. Like the organic Spanish, I was talking to her and she has trees that are, It's on her property that are, you know, 500 years old. So you know that because they have some ancient trees and I forget how many generations her family have been planting trees and how old they are so. So it's really quite interesting but that will is is really, really good too. It's a little bit more robust than the Koroneko. So some people aren't used to a real strong, so it's not everybody's cup of tea, but I love it. And, but I ko I I would say across the board is probably the easiest oil to eat because a lot of people aren't used to of, of used to the flavor of a real olive oil.'cause you have that, that bitterness and then that ency, which is related to the antioxidants in it.

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh, so cool.

Sharon Streb:

stuff. The stuff that you, well, you wanna be able to have.'cause for, again, going back to, defects. So the positive attributes of an extra virgin olive oil. First, it's the odor. It only has three positive attributes and the rest are all negative attributes. The second is the bitterness, which hits you like in the middle of your tongue. And then this, the third one is is Pungency, which is this black pepper finish, well, which makes kind of cough sometimes, but those are all the bitterness and the pungency are related to the antioxidants, the polyphenols that you're looking for, because that's what you want. Cause that's why you're eating them. You're eating them because you, I mean, that's why you're eating olive oil, right? You're eating it because you're, you're eating it for health properties. At least that's what most people who come see us, you know, they're coming in because they want to eat a real, because people don't realize olive oil is the most adulterated food item out there. They just had that big bust, I don't know if you saw that or not, in Puglia

Christine Van Bloem:

No.

Sharon Streb:

because Puglia has a huge region, it was like, I forget how many tons of olive oil that was all fraudulent olive oil. And shipping here as extra virgin olive oil.

Christine Van Bloem:

What would make it fraudulent? They're cutting it with other

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, they can cut it sometimes with canola. In the grocery store a lot of times you'll see it, well, it can have canola in it. And that, I think the canola bumps up its smoke point maybe. But

Christine Van Bloem:

I think it would.

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, and they cut it with, sometimes they'll add leaves to it to make it more green. And people don't realize that color means nothing. Some people think, oh, because it's green, it's fresher, and that's not true.

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay, does green sometimes olive oil comes off a little green and sometimes it comes off a little gold and yellow. Is it, now I had always heard, and correct me if I'm wrong because I hate spreading rumors, that the gold olive oil comes from black olives.

Sharon Streb:

I know I never heard that. I know.

Christine Van Bloem:

it was dependent on the, the color that the olive was, but I would trust you over me.

Sharon Streb:

yeah you know, a color isn't associated with its freshness, but it is associated with when they did harvest it and then also the type of olive they used.

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay.

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, but because I think a lot of people like going back to, you know, them putting leaves in it to make it look more green as that's what we hear a lot of times when people come in and they're looking for the color of it and I'm like, I wouldn't worry about the color of it. It's more the taste of it that you're looking for to make sure it has all those positive attributes. And then, like I said, it doesn't have any of those negative attributes. It's just,

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay. You had mentioned something called Smoke Point and all of the lovely ladies who are listening they may totally know what that is, but some may not what, what is the Smoke Point? What the heck is that?

Sharon Streb:

It's just when the oil will start to smoke once you have it on heat. So olive oil should be, go ahead, you can probably add more than I can cuz you're a chef. Well,

Christine Van Bloem:

olive oil has a lower smoke point, so you don't want to use olive oil when you're cooking over really high heat,

Sharon Streb:

no high heat. It's about 375. It just really depends on the oil itself, but about, about 375. I mean there are oils that will smoke it higher.

Christine Van Bloem:

Sure, like avocado

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, yeah.

Christine Van Bloem:

which has zero flavor. It, it's so, I remember thinking I was so fancy once and I had a friend, she had had like knee surgery or something and I'm like, Oh, I'm going to make this vinaigrette out of this grape seed

Sharon Streb:

Oh

Christine Van Bloem:

and this is going to be fantastic. She'll love that. And I tasted it and it tasted so good. Disgusting. So, I was like, NO! Because olive oil brings such richness to everything. So much flavor to it. So, I generally think I'm gonna use I'll use something that's not olive oil. when I'm cooking over high heat. Because I love, I'm a, I'm fairly aggressive in my cooking style and I like to use a really high heat and like kind of go with it. But I don't use olive oil for that. I save my really good olive oils for finishing salad dressings, drizzles, things like that. You, you know, something that's so delicious. There's there's a restaurant in Ocean City, Maryland. What's the name of it? Liquid Assets. And I think it's such a cheesy name, but it's basically a restaurant in the middle of a liquor store.

Sharon Streb:

Oh, that's so

Christine Van Bloem:

it's so funny and they do, Their food is incredible. It's so, so good. You should totally go if you're ever down there. They don't take reservations. It's, I try to go every time that I go down because it's just so good. But they do a ricotta with honey and almonds and I think there's a nice drizzle of olive oil in there. So I think there's so many like easy breezy things

Sharon Streb:

Oh yeah, yeah.

Christine Van Bloem:

let that olive oil kind of show off a little bit.

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, we get a lot of people who come in and see us because maybe they like their cardiologist sent them in to see us. Or they don't want to take statins or they can't take statins. And so they think, okay, I'm going to try olive oil. And yeah, you know. And yeah, because it's so good for your heart. And yeah. I know, believe me anyway so, so some, most of them say, okay, the doctor said I have to take three tablespoons a day. So they're so they're like, oh my God, how am I ever going to, I can't take a tablespoon of it. And so we always talk about ways of trying to get like that oil, which I find it really easy to do, but some people don't, don't find it that easy, but I'm like, Oh, just take some carrots and some salt and pepper and. Drizzle it with oil and just eat it that way. You know, or like a salad or even in the morning. Cause they, they maybe do it throughout the day. Maybe a tablespoon here and a tablespoon there. And I'm like, Oh, just drizzle, put it on your toast, you know, put a tablespoon on your toast and have it like that. Cause our oils are very, very good just on plain

Christine Van Bloem:

They're really good. Like they're, they're really fantastic.

Sharon Streb:

But oil is, olive oil is so good for you. Go

Christine Van Bloem:

it is. No, no, it is so good. And I know, you know, giving up the saturated fat and you know, a fat is saturated because it's solid at room temp, right? Like butter. And I will tell you honestly, truthfully, that I have made the switch in my life and now whatever I eat butter, I make sure I'm eating like good Irish butter or like I'm eating

Sharon Streb:

Me too.

Christine Van Bloem:

butter.

Sharon Streb:

I love butter.

Christine Van Bloem:

I, I can't totally give up butter, but now I'm like, I'm not going to use much of it, but it's going to be like high quality. And that's how I kind of feel about the oil. You know, I, I'm so thrilled that, you know, your shop exists. I just, I'm addicted, addicted to it, but I want to come back to that. Oh, the garden herb vinegar that you do. do your vinegars come from?

Sharon Streb:

From Italy. So if it says balsamic, I always tell people when they're standing in front of our giant wall with all the glass for us if it doesn't say balsamic in the name, then it comes from Germany. So we carry German vinegars and then we also carry vinegars from Italy too.

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay, hold on. I want you to go back. You said the glass what on the wall?

Sharon Streb:

They're amphoras, like Greek amphoras.

Christine Van Bloem:

What's that?

Sharon Streb:

yeah, so an amphora, so in ancient Greece or even Rome, they used to carry, it was almost like a commerce thing, a way of storing food. And, you know, they always find, they still find amphoras at the bottom of the ocean that are filled or in tombs that are filled with honey or whatever. So they're this long kind of container that's round, and I don't know how to explain it.

Christine Van Bloem:

And that's how you store your oils and your vinegars for people

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, that's how we display them. The oils are in foosties. Yeah, no, they're in those silver foosties

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh, yeah,

Sharon Streb:

don't get sunlight. And

Christine Van Bloem:

light. No heat.

Sharon Streb:

No heat no light, no heat, and then no air. You have to be careful. Air is really tough on your oil. There are three things that will hurt your oil. Sunlight, so I always tell people you should keep it in the cupboard. Heat, because a lot of people keep their oil next to the stove, and I'm like, no, no, don't do that. You need to have it up in the cupboard, away from the stove, and then, of course, always keep the cap on real tight, or also don't put it in you know a dispenser that doesn't have a lid on it, because sometimes they're open to air, and then that will ruin your oil. It won't last very long. So

Christine Van Bloem:

have these cutie neighbors next door that I just, we just absolutely love them. They're the greatest. And they came over and were asking for a little kitchen advice. And I love when people ask me kitchen advice. Cause I am so good at spending other people's money. Fabulous set. And I said, well, whatever you do, cause they, they have kind of this cool stainless backsplash they're going to put behind their new stove. And I said, yeah, so on that shelf, you can't put any oils or spices. And they were like, what? And I said, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's a terrible place for them because of all the heat from your stove.

Sharon Streb:

And that humidity that comes off, too, for your spices, your herbs.

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah, I'm like, you gotta keep them. And of course, I have all these jars of spices behind my stove. And I know it's a terrible place, right? But I don't care. It's what I'm doing. I

Sharon Streb:

I'm kind of bad about that, too. I'm afraid if someone came to see my stove, they would be like, oh, is that Will right there? I'll be like, oh, I'm so sorry.

Christine Van Bloem:

do keep it in the cupboard. I do. I do have a spray bottle that I use that probably horrifies you, but I have a spray bottle that is stainless. I don't keep it next to the stove. I keep it a little further away. So no heat. No air, no sunlight, all that good stuff. And you should look because my friend Stacy, who is one of my best friends ever, she's fabulous. She moved into this new apartment and I went to the apartment and she had it set up. She's like you. She's got a great eye. You know, she, you know, she knows how to put things together. Lack that talent and I looked and where all of her oils and vinegars were the afternoon sun was coming in

Sharon Streb:

Oh, no.

Christine Van Bloem:

and I was like, ooh stays you can't do that And she was like well, and she's great because she's like, oh I can't okay And she makes the shift cuz I'm like you're spending money That's just gonna get

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, I know. And it's quick, too.

Christine Van Bloem:

It is.

Sharon Streb:

I always tell people when I lived in Italy, I never ate the olive oil on the table. You know,

Christine Van Bloem:

are a little snobby. I love it. I love

Sharon Streb:

It's so funny because when I came back from my, from Italy, my sister's like you are such a snob

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah.

Sharon Streb:

I can't help it. Even the coffee out of the vending machines were good. But yeah, I'm really particular about oil that I get when I'm out in restaurants and just I'm, I will, I never get an oil invention. Vinegar dressing if I'm getting a salad. I'm like forget that because then I'll just be judging it. So I don't do it. I just get the ranch or the blue cheese.

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay. So these vinegars, I,

Sharon Streb:

Oh

Christine Van Bloem:

know what it is about that garden herb vinegar. I don't know when I got it from you the first time. And I was like, holy bananas. And I would buy little bottles, and it's not inexpensive, you know, because you're importing, you're doing all this stuff, and you're getting such a high quality product, and it's got a little tinge of sweetness to it, and there's no sugar added.

Sharon Streb:

no, because balsamics are, so you can make vinegar in a couple different ways. Well, more than a couple different ways, right? So, balsamics are made, so they go from grape juice to, to vinegar. Right, where our German ones go from grape juice to wine and then from wine to vinegar. So what happens is the Germans add a little sugar back in because a lot of that sugar they lose that sugar so what they do is they add some of that back in where the Italians do not add any sugar and they're just, and that's why it retains a lot of its sweetness. And as it ages, like our, most of our vinegars, we have we just have one aged vinegar. And then we have one, a couple of reductions because a lot of people want something that's thick, but they don't want to pay for something that's aged because aged vinegars tend to be more expensive.

Christine Van Bloem:

They do.

Sharon Streb:

and then we have white. So in Italy here we call it a white balsamic. In Italy they wouldn't call it a balsamic vinegar. They only consider like the dark, like the, a true balsamic. And in Italy they would, it would be called a condiment. But then here it would be too confusing for people. So we do call it a white vinegar because it is a white vinegar to us. A white white balsamic. So yeah.

Christine Van Bloem:

here's what I do with it. Because it, I'm serious. I made something that was so fantastic last week. I think my husband was going to poker. And for anybody who's listening, my husband goes to poker a lot. Especially during the summers. But it's good. Because I get girl night. I Fully support poker because it is this really incredibly nice group of guys. A lot of professors and Just a really good group and when he goes I get girl night and Don't laugh. It was our wedding anniversary. And he was like, he made the, you know, I'm going to poker. I said, hey, that's our anniversary. He said, I won't go to poker. I said, please go to poker. I will take care of myself. Don't worry. And usually I order Thai food, but I, you know, I had this gigantic liter bottle of the garden herb vinegar, and I said, I'm going to make a beurre blanc out of it, and I'm going to sauté, so here's what I did, I sautéed some shrimp, little bit of shallot, and for those of you that don't know what a beurre blanc is, it is a fast track to your cardiologist,

Sharon Streb:

Ha ha ha! I

Christine Van Bloem:

special

Sharon Streb:

guess it could be.

Christine Van Bloem:

it is, it's terrible, it's

Sharon Streb:

so

Christine Van Bloem:

It's so good. This is a special occasion sort of thing. Like when so I I don't know, I put a little something on the shrimp. I did a quick saute on them, pulled them off, a little shallot in the pan, and then typically you're gonna pour white wine in, and then you're gonna reduce it down, I took the garden herb vinegar and I put that in with the shallot and you're not sautéing the shallot you're basically putting the shallot and the liquid in at the same time and then you're reducing it and you're reducing it and remember in culinary school they said you're making it almost sandy like you're really reducing it so I had that garden herb vinegar in there and then I took half a stick of that Irish butter. I know, I know, I'm telling you guys this is

Sharon Streb:

isn't it?'cause

Christine Van Bloem:

It is. It is. It was so delicious. And then with the beurre blanc, the trick is you don't have the heat too high. Your heat can be like a medium heat and you cut the butter into little cubes. And it's got to be cold butter. Like it has to be cold. And you chuck a couple of cubes in at a time and you start whisking. And this is called mounting the butter. Right? And basically what you're doing is you're creating an emulsification with the butter and the reduced vinegar mixture. So that reduced vinegar or wine classically, that reduced wine or vinegar has tremendous flavor to it because you've concentrated all of it down. So then you're whisking that butter in and then a little splash of the heavy cream

Sharon Streb:

Oh God, that sounds so good.

Christine Van Bloem:

so decadent salt,

Sharon Streb:

pasta?

Christine Van Bloem:

I, okay, I had some of the lemon ricotta ravioli

Sharon Streb:

Oh, oh yeah. Yeah.

Christine Van Bloem:

So, I cooked those, I took those right from the pot, scooped them out, threw them in on the sauce, did a little swirly swirl, chucked the shrimp back in on it, and My son was my son was here and I said, Oh, I saved some for you. And my husband, I gave him a bite. He's like, Oh, I said, no, no, you're going to poker. This is, this is girl

Sharon Streb:

Girls Night.

Christine Van Bloem:

that vinegar. It just works so beautifully. I use it for so many things. And now that I'm vinegar rich, I have a whole liter of it. Now that I'm vinegar rich, I'm being wanton in my use of it. I mean, my goodness, I'm just using it on everything. It's so good. Like, you know, your whole goal in the summer, and I count September as summer

Sharon Streb:

Yeah. Now. Almost October now, too, with the seasons. Almost December these days. It

Christine Van Bloem:

All, oh my

Sharon Streb:

are moving forward.

Christine Van Bloem:

but I think when you have such good food available, your whole job is to just not do too much to it.

Sharon Streb:

Yeah.

Christine Van Bloem:

don't get too aggressive with it because it's, it's so good on its own, you want to be light. And that's when I love the really high quality oils. That's when I love the high quality vinegars. That's, that's my soap box as, you know, as a cook, I pay a lot of attention to that stuff. Now, you know, everybody knows now about my obsession with this gardener, what's your, like, what's your favorite of the vinegars that you have?

Sharon Streb:

hard because it changes all the time. Like right right now with the vinegar, I love peach. I could Because peach A lot of those, so a lot of the white balsamics, a lot of people use those for cocktails in the summer. And a lot of people do mocktails in the summer. So they add them to seltzer water. We, A lot of times we'll have just some seltzer water in the store and I'll add a little to peach vinegar or strawberry or something else to seltzer and they try it and they're just like, oh my god. So instead of buying their flavored water, I mean, you know, flavored the cans, they can make their own and then they also have something for a salad. So, so for me, peach. And then I also love champagne. I love the Marta champagne. I love that because it makes everything fresh. Tasty. And that's it. I think champagne and peach right now. But is this changed? Like in the winter? Like though I do, I do love chocolate. We have the, we just have it for a short time. Raspberry dark chocolate and I put that on Greek yogurt. So I do eat That. Like for breakfast, granola, greek yogurt, and a drizzle of that. I mean you have to get used because it is, it is sweet but it doesn't have that kick of a vinegar. So you have to be used to that. But I love that. I'm a girl who loves pickles. Like I will.

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay. Ha

Sharon Streb:

a kid I ate all the pickles out of the refrigerator. My parents hated me because it was like pickle juice all over the floor. I was a, I was like a pickle loving kid.

Christine Van Bloem:

That is so funny. So, isn't a shrub like a, like a vinegar? You do something with

Sharon Streb:

it's

Christine Van Bloem:

to make a shrub, and that's

Sharon Streb:

yeah, it's a, it's a like a, it's a shrub. I think they define it, I think, and I could be wrong, a fruit flavored vinegar that has had sugar added to it. And I think they, but I always tell people that, I always tell people, yeah, you know how if you're getting a cocktail and they say they use a shrub, it's just a vinegar. You know, they're just adding a vinegar to it. So we have a lot of like our lemon cucumber, you can add to gin and tonics. Yeah. That's a, the lemon cucumber vinegar is really nice. Yeah. Yeah. That is,

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah.

Sharon Streb:

that's the second most popular vinegar we sell. People absolutely love it.

Christine Van Bloem:

Alright.

Sharon Streb:

Mango is our number one seller.

Christine Van Bloem:

Mangoes!

Sharon Streb:

Mango has been our number one, mango pulp vinegar, and that's from Germany, has been our number one selling vinegar for the last 10 years. That's what we, and it's actually what we sell the most of in the entire store. Of all the products we sell, 300 Courvée Futum products, we sell mango the most.

Christine Van Bloem:

my garden herb. My

Sharon Streb:

No, Gardner is probably about number, I think it's about number six. So mango is one, lemon cucumber is two. The traditional, because the traditional balsamic vinegar is like a reduction. So a lot of people, especially this time of the year, People are using for Caprese salads or they're using maybe a little ungrilled meats a lot of different things. And then four is champagne and then number five, number five is always, I always think it's funny cause it's all year round. It's always number five and that's cranberry pear. Cause you would only think cranberry pear and vinegar would be popular during the holidays,

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah. I have some in my cupboard right now.

Sharon Streb:

that is, you should try that in Prosecco. That is so good. Use about. Two to three teaspoons of it in a, like a flute. And it's really, it's really, really good.

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh, I love this. You're opening my whole

Sharon Streb:

Yeah. And just put some frozen, like frozen cranberries or, I don't know, a spri of rosemary or, it looks pretty and it tastes really good too.

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh, that well see and that's so important because a lot of people will do especially in this whole social media age Things will look really pretty and then if you taste it, you're like You know, so that's not good. Here's a question for you So let's say of my four listeners one does not live locally here. Do you

Sharon Streb:

Oh yeah, we do, we do

Christine Van Bloem:

do?

Sharon Streb:

We ship, yeah, we, yeah, we ship, we ship, oh my gosh, we just shipped to Puerto Rico the other day, but I know we have a customer, she, they, I don't think they might be park rangers maybe, so they were living in, I think they lived around the Grand Canyon, and we shipped to them there, and they just moved to Puerto Rico, and they're like, can you ship to us? And I'm like, yeah, so we shipped to them, so.

Christine Van Bloem:

Okay, so what's the, what's the website?

Sharon Streb:

W W W Oliven Basket. So it's O L I V E A N D and then basket. com. Yes.

Christine Van Bloem:

what I'll do is I'll put a link.

Sharon Streb:

thank you.

Christine Van Bloem:

Oh yeah, in the show notes I'll have a link so anybody can find you on social. And then if anybody wants to check it out and

Sharon Streb:

media.

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think this is fantastic. I am so grateful for your time today, Sharon, because this has been just, you are a font of information. And we didn't even get into all of the stuff with being a woman of a certain age who owns

Sharon Streb:

now,

Christine Van Bloem:

business and kicks butt.

Sharon Streb:

I could talk about that for an hour, how, like, I, because I started in, I'm like 62 now, and I was like, all the things you have to learn as an older entrepreneur, like all the technology stuff, and you're, it's a, yeah, there's a big learning curve there, so

Christine Van Bloem:

There, there is, but are you glad you did it?

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, it keeps you young for sure, but because you have to learn so many things. I mean, I manage my website and I do a lot of things. That's the thing about when you're a sole entrepreneur, when you're just you by yourself, you do juggle, I mean you wear a lot of hats,

Christine Van Bloem:

All the

Sharon Streb:

Yeah, like you're, not only are you working in the store, but you're doing everything behind the scenes, and you're shipping orders, and you're doing all the social media stuff. So, yeah, there's a, there's a lot. Yeah, that's a whole show in itself. Laughter

Christine Van Bloem:

I'll have you back and we can talk all about that because I, I think I say this almost every podcast. I believe that every, every woman should, it, Over 50, I think everybody should do a side hustle or find a hobby that makes them like just light up. I love business and entrepreneurship and all of that and they don't have to go as far as opening a store like a physical store like you have but I just think there's so many cool opportunities out there.

Sharon Streb:

I think so too. There's a lot of, there's a lot. Oh, and I, you know, I just, can you squeeze that in this somewhere that we also do gifts? I didn't, we didn't

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah.

Sharon Streb:

but we do a lot. I forgot to say that too. We do a lot of gifts because a lot of people don't want to give things. And it's, I feel like we're in that, right. They want to give something that goes away and who doesn't want a food gift? Everybody wants a food gift.

Christine Van Bloem:

I am, I want a food gift. I, I always want a

Sharon Streb:

Me too! I always tell my friends, give me chocolate, please!

Christine Van Bloem:

Yeah. I think, I think that's so great. And it's oliveandbasket. com. And like I said, I'm going to have this in the show notes, so it's going to be fantastic. And then for All of my four listeners, you guys can check it out and drop a note to Sharon and let her know that you heard about it here. And really, oh my gosh, and everybody, I'm sorry, I know it's number six, but we can get it to number one. Garden Herb Vinegar Baby. So, you can make like a little special collection, like a little CVB connection, or an Empty Nest Kitchen,

Sharon Streb:

Yes, I'll put it on there. I'll put a little note on there. Not a little sticker that says, Christine's favorite.

Christine Van Bloem:

It's just so good, and I'm telling y'all, That beurre blanc, it is, I mean, you can have it once a year, once a year, but those vinegars work so well for it. And I'll do a, you know, vinaigrette all day, but that's,

Sharon Streb:

we hear that a lot.

Christine Van Bloem:

So good. Sharon, thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge, so much knowledge about all of the oils and all of the vinegars and everyone, and Be sure to check it out, and as always, I'll see you in the kitchen.