Thursday, July 30, 2009

Oil & Vinegar Surprise Gift Bags


The big question from our guests this summer is when are you doing the bags again?! Well, for those of you that are not familiar, twice a year Oil & Vinegar has fun with surprise bags and they’re starting next week! Created after a Japanese shopping tradition, ‘fukibukuro’ or ‘lucky bags’ are the highlight of every sale event. The bags are full of interesting items at incredible prices.

The surprise bags at Oil & Vinegar are filled with five items from the store. Usually it is a combination of three food items and two non-food items and it can be anything from oils, vinegars, dried herbs, sauces, dip dishes, kitchen gadgets, and more. You have to be adventurous, but it is a great way to try new products, and, if you’re lucky, you’ll find one of the four gift cards that are hidden in the bags in every store.

The bags are double the value, so a $20 bag has $40 worth of products in it, and so on. They are packed randomly, so not even the staff in the shops knows what is in each bag or where the gift cards might be. It is so fun to see the excitement about this promotion. Besides our guests who have experienced it before, asking “when are the surprise bags coming?”, when the promotion starts, some guests will buy one for themselves and one for a friend, or co-worker just to brighten their day. Everyone has their own technique in finding the perfect bag; it might be closing your eyes and picking, wandering around lifting them and picking by weight, or just grabbing the first one you see! Anyway, it is fun and exciting and our most popular promotion ever!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Spicing Up The Summer BBQ


With summer in full swing, whether you like the slow cooking of a low temperature barbeque or the quick, high temperature of grilling, we have expanded our product lines for both with great rubs, salt blends and flavorful sauces. We love to keep the grilling experience easy to enjoy, with delicious, high quality products and easy recipe suggestions. Why not enjoy your family and friends as much as you are enjoying the food!

One of my favorite suggestions is this easy to do grilled shrimp recipe with Allioli. Place shrimp in a Ziploc bag with a tablespoon of Allioli, a drop of garlic grapeseed oil and a spoonful of BBQ rub or Chili Fiesta rub, shake and grill. Our Allioli is from Catalonia, Spain. It is a traditional Spanish allioli of garlic, olive oil, and salt. There is no egg added like in French Aioli.

If you’re sticking to the old standards of burgers and hot dogs, jazz up your condiments with a selection of relishes or a balsamic onion topping from South Africa or a choice of mustards from The Netherlands. I love the jalapeno relish because it doubles nicely as a salsa with tortilla chips.