Spice Up Your Life: Oil & Vinegar’s Tips for Getting Healthy in 2010

January is always a good time to think about healthy eating and at the same time, do some experimenting in the kitchen. A great way to add flavor and keep things healthy at the same time is to add herbs and spices to any of your recipe creations. Herbs and spices are filled with anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals that are essential to a healthy diet. In addition, they are low in calories and while still packed with great flavor. Using herbs and spices is a great a way to get healthy in 2010, without compromising taste.

At Oil & Vinegar, we have a wonderful selection of herbs and spices to choose from and some great recipe ideas to go with them. Here are some fun facts along with some of my favorite ways to incorporate herbs and spices in your daily life:

• Rosemary has anti-inflammatory properties; Add this when making oven roasted potatoes with our Rosa Maria dipper.

• It is said that chili peppers speed up the metabolism; Add a sprinkle of crushed chili flakes to tomato soup.

• Garlic is heart smart; Add a clove to dips, omelets or just shake it on pasta with your favorite olive oil.

• If the gloom of winter is getting you down, coriander (found in our fish wish grinder, masala rub, Mélange de France); rosemary, (in our Rosa Maria dipper) and black pepper, (try our Italian black peppercorns), all have depression fighting properties. Make a delicious crudité and for the dip add Mélange de France to a thick Greek yogurt.

• Saffron is known to have a calming effect, so make some Paella and relax!

• Our Bruschetta mix is certainly the most popular and easy to use product in the store. Make some up, spread it on crusty bread, melt some mozzarella on top and enjoy the many health benefits of the tomato at the same time.

Hope you enjoy these tips as much as I do and just remember a delicious meal is only a couple of pinches away!

Oil & Vinegar Provides Hand-Crafted Turkish Pottery Line; Continues to Provide Unique, Gourmet Products to the Culinary Industry

Here at Oil & Vinegar, we have just launched a holiday-specific product line, hand-made Turkish Pottery, which is not only perfect for home decoration and special occasions but it is also a unique collectors’ item.

In addition to supporting the everyday foodies’ craving to become top-chef, Oil & Vinegar’s we pride ourselves in providing unique products to the culinary gift-giving segment. Our guests can create their own gifts or meal flavorings with the “on-tap” oils and vinegars, along with mustards, pestos, tapenades, honeys, fig spreads, fondue chocolates, dried herb mixes, as well as a fine selection of ceramic table ware, cruets, kitchen accessories, salt/pepper mills, international cookbooks and other culinary accessories fill the shelves.

This season Oil & Vinegar introduces Turkish Pottery designed by world renowned ceramic artist Nimet Varli. Each piece is handmade, hand painted and signed by the artist. Created using techniques from the 14th-16th century, the patterns found in the collection are typical, yet have definitely taken a new dimension in the hands of the contemporary artist. Nimet Varli is the first woman to ever professionally produce ceramics in Turkey and in 2002 she was named “Artist of the Year”. Each piece is customized and tells a strong and dynamic story. The pottery collection that is inspired by the grace and beauty of nature is reminiscent of snowflakes.

This customized gift is extremely exclusive and can only be found in the U.S. at selective locations, including Oil & Vinegar. Prices range from 9 to 120 dollars depending on size and style of pottery selected; styles include bowls, plates, vases, etc.

We are honored to be able to offer these one of a kind pottery collections. The beautiful artwork of each piece tells a unique story and sharing it with our guests as gifts is a great way to offer history and richness at each of our stores. This is a perfect gift to share with someone you care about and want to find something original and meaningful.

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!