Calabria update & some sweet recipes!
It's August.
Hello again! How are you doing?
We're currently preparing to move back to Calabria, Italy and like everything in 2020, it's proving quite difficult! Between canceled flights and other logistics, it's been a real treat. But if there's one thing 2020 has taught us, it's to be grateful. So as much complaining as we do (it's actually mostly Skyler), we are 5x as grateful.
Moving to Calabria?
We usually travel back to Calabria each September and stay until December. During this time we harvest, press, filter, bottle, and export. This year we're extending our trip until ???. Return date is to be determined! While we love Austin we moved here to connect with the local community and participate in in-person events. Unfortunately, all the events we love doing are canceled until summer 2021 at the earliest (and we don't blame them). Austin will continue to be our home in the U.S. and we're very sad to leave even though it's temporary.
We're going to use this opportunity to spend more time in Calabria with family: eating, drinking, and taking Giuseppe's parents on day excursions. We'll also be exploring new places and searching for new products (re: other than olive oil) to bring to you! Fun fact: Giuseppe's mom is the luckiest and friendliest person we know so she will be our official business negotiator. It's going to be an adventure and we're going to let it take us where it takes us.
Comfort in Baking
Gwenyth the Starter is great, thanks for asking! Weekly sourdough baking sessions are still in full swing. We aren't big sweets people so usually when we bake it's bread or something savory but quarantine has been testing that. Recently we've been making a lot of sweet breads. Our current favorites are Aaron Hutcherson's The Hungry Hutch Banana Bread and Jake Cohen's Chocolate Loaf Cake. We've been making them both regularly since June and they are delicious!
The Hungry Hutch Banana Bread
This is easily the best banana bread recipe we've tried this quarantine! In Casa EXAU, butter is often scarce (imagine that) so we usually sub butter in loaf breads for olive oil. We use the LINA for baking or an old harvest we still have. If you'd like to use extra virgin olive oil to bake but want to save your EXAU look for oil in a dark bottle, with a harvest date, and preferably one country of origin (or lot number). We do not recommend second press, third press, or light extra virgin olive oil because they can be highly processed.
We love this banana bread because it's dense (but not too heavy), rich, and the longer baking time ensures the inside cooks and doesn't collapse later. It also tastes eerily familiar to my (Skyler) grandmother's recipe! She used to eat Banana Bread with cheddar cheese (lol!). I get flashbacks to her cozy, bright yellow kitchen in drizzly SF just thinking about it.
Disclaimer: Olive oil does not allow loaves to rise as well as butter, but we love the flavor and have made the decision that our comfort is more important than going back to the store *choose your battles*.
The Chocolate Loaf Cake
This recipe is magical! Giuseppe thinks it 'super good' which is a major compliment, he is an extremely picky sweets eater. We use olive oil in this loaf cake as well and it's delicious! The only adjustment we've made to this recipe is adding 50% less sugar because we don't like our sweets too sweet. This is a personal decision and something we do with many cakes and sweet bread recipes. Try the original recipe first and then see how you like it : )
Sold Out Products & Restock Dates (?)
Thank you so much! The LINA, AVUS, & Memberships are sold out.
We still have the AVUS in stock if you'd still like to get some oil.
Unfortunately, we do not currently have restock dates. We can tell you that 2020 harvest oil will not be arriving in the U.S. until early next year. Please stay tuned for updates this fall.
Some Fun Press
Catch Skyler on the Hazard Girls Podcast
Read Skyler's Interview with Femme Revamp
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for more!
A presto,
-Skyler & Giuseppe
www.EXAUoliveoil.com