Take olive me

The Frantic Foodie invited food bloggers to celebrate the taste of olives last Monday at Diane's Market Kitchen. We reveled in snacking on French and Spanish olives, above, sipping sublime olive oils, not unlike tasting fine wines, and savoring the classic Italian olive oil cake.


The olive oil in the large container, above, was used for the olive oil cake while the other three bottles were vintages we tasted. These would be used in cold dressings or simply eaten with a good crusty baguette.


Diane LaVonne, shown above whisking the olive oil cake batter, built Diane's Market Kitchen on the corner of Post Alley and Spring St. with her own hands. It's a beautiful space for teaching her cooking classes that include shopping like a chef in the Pike Place Market and learning to cook from farm to table.


The flavors of the olive oil cake were redolent of a sunny Italian countryside, bright citrus from the orange zest, verdant from the pine nuts and buttery from the olive oil.

See here more olive action at Diane's Market Kitchen.