Olive, You Crazy? { Olive Bites, Sriracha Mary, Olive Love…..}
I love olives. Not just snack on them every once in a while; but all out I go through periods where I will go through an entire jar of olives in a few days. They are the perfect little snack that battles all of my crazy cravings. I love green olives. I love black olives. I don’t discriminate between pitted or unpitted. I love them stuffed with garlic or blue cheese. I put them on just about everything. Chicken, burgers, salads…..oh my!
When I was younger, about 6 and we had just moved 1600 miles from Michigan to Oklahoma. To try to make my transition a bit easier, a few months later for my 7th birthday my parents brought home a black cat. We named him Squeaky. Squeaky was my best friend. While I shared with him my deepest, darkest secrets. He showed me unconditional love. Squeaky stayed with me all through elementary school. He was there when we moved from town to town and I struggled to fit in. He was there through junior high when I had my first heartbreak. He was there for me in high school as I learned how to drive, had my first long-term boyfriend and chased my dreams. He saw me through graduation and hung out with me when my parents moved back to Michigan and I was still in Oklahoma – all on my own. Things didn’t work out well for me and I eventually moved back to Michigan. Squeaky took the drive with me. But, Michigan didn’t have enough for this wild 18 year-old and a year later I promptly packed up my life and moved back to Oklahoma; where I stayed until 7 years ago. Because Squeaky was aging quickly in his last few years, a few months prior to my Oklahoma-bound departure my old friend had to be put to sleep.
Do you know what I did?
I ate an olive in his honor.
And do you know why?
Because olives were his favorite food.
Not tuna. Not cheese. Not a bowl of milk, but olives.
Olives were a special treat in our house and not something we bought all the time since they were not a necessity. My mother would buy them for special occasions like Christmas and we’d always make sure to share a few with our feline friend.
Now, whenever I break open a jar of olives, I’m transported back to those happy memories.
I’ve never had another pet enjoy olives the way Squeaky did.
Unless you count my husband 😉
Mr. Yum never really cared for olives until I showed him all the many and wonderful things you can do with them.
First, we can enjoy these Mezzetta olives right out of the jar, along with their pepper friends.
One of my favorite things to do with Mr. Yum is have a nice night in with some wine and a snack tray. That means I get to rest on the couch and not think about cooking for once. These little olive bites would make a great appetizer for your party or event, too.
First, I buy some rye loaves that have already been pre cut by my bakery. You can use French bread or sourdough if you prefer either of those.
Then, I use a brush and put a little extra virgin olive oil on them. I place them under the oven broiler for just a few seconds.
While I worked on that, Mr. Yum worked on cutting up some summer sausage.
Then we cut up some cheeses and prosciutto to begin arranging our tray.
I put the peppers on small plates. We love small plates.
And in case anyone was wondering, these olives and peppers are YUMtastic!
To assemble the snack bits, on top of the snack toast I placed a strip of prosciutto, then some Sargento Brushetta Jack tastings cheese along with some Sargento New Zealander (OMG my new fave!) tastings cheese. Then, some Mezzetta Olives which I had sliced. Mr. Yum sliced the peppers and put them on his olive snack bites. I enjoyed them along with a piece of summer sausage. So many yummy flavor explosions. He paired his with a dark blackberry sweet wine. I paired mine with a white crispy made in Michigan wine.
As we sat in the living room enjoying a movie on Netflix, this is how my little plates were starting to look.
I just love how all the pops of color tend to reflect off each other. If we had a house party, these all would make wonderful appetizers.
It had been a while since I enjoyed some large delicious green olives. The moment I bit into that first olive bite, I was transported back to being a little girl and sharing the fancy jar of olives with my mom – and Squeaky. I giggled a bit as I told Mr. Yum the story. Happy times.
Our movie ended, the tray was empty, but the olive fun didn’t end there.
Let me introduce you to Siracha Mary.
1 shot of vodka, fill the mason jar with tomato juice, give it a squirt of Sriracha and stir. I dipped the olive in and ….mmmm…the blend of spicy with the tart of the olives….heaven.
It’s funny that I like Bloody Mary’s now. They were my mothers favorite growing up. She never drank anything else. When I became of legal drinking age I never wanted to try one. Not sure what the rebellion was. Maybe I thought they were an old lady drink or something. Well, I am almost 40 now! LOL. Now my bother, who is almost 60 would rather enjoy Grey Goose Vodka and cranberry juice over her once beloved Bloody Mary. I wonder if that will be my drink of choice when I’m 60.
If you liked any of these recipes or if the thought of having your own basket full of olives and other Mezzetta products appeals to you then you should enter the giveaway! If you can’t wait for the giveaway to end, Mezzetta is offer YUM eating readers a 50 cent off coupon.
Olives. They make me happy. Got a memory to share? What about an olive story? I’d love to hear them.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from Linqia and Mezzetta. I’ll compensated for the products, this post, my time and effort. All recipes are my own. All opinions are 100% true , honest, and all mine. Thank you to Mezzette for the sponsorship and bringing back some wonderful memories while creating some new ones.
Now that is an awesome idea for an app. I might make some for the Christmas party I am going to on Saturday night.
I love any kind of olive. Your snack tray looks really good. I need to make one for a Christmas party.
Awesome ideas! I love olivada crustinis too so I am making those today! I haven’t made bloody mary variations in ages so I need to get that going this weekend 🙂
Those are the kinds of quirky memories that really make life great. It’s hard to believe olives were his favorite.
I stumbled on some pictures of him the other day. I had an awwwwww moment.
Yummy olive appetizer! This comes at a perfect time since I think this would be great for holiday dinners.
Me and my daughter love olives. I’m so into these treats!
Those look delish. Will have to make for hubby!
That looks so good. I’ve never tried olives though and have told myself since I was a kid that I didn’t like them. One day I will have to try!
I’ve never heard of a cat liking olives before! That’s too funny. I love the appetizer idea.
That is so funny that your cat loved olives. Your snacks here look scrumptious!
I love olives. I am similar in the way that I can eat a whole jar. I do love them as an appetizer.
A cat liking olives?! That is an odd thing. I like to eat them as an appetizer or in dishes.
He was pretty odd!
This looks so delicious and simple to make. I love olives on my pizza.
What a nice spread! I love the banana peppers!
My husband always gets these olives. They are a must have.
I have never been a big olive person… but I never minded peppers! I might have to try out that appetizer around the holidays!
The peppers surprised me. I normally just eat raw peppers. None in jars. These were so good.
Wow, you can do so much with olives! These are good to serve when I have visitors coming over.
We love olives too, but usually only eat the black ones. My girls will eat an entire jar in one sitting if I let them!
I’m with you, I love olives! Green and black, and bleu cheese stuffed are a MUST in a good martini!
Aww that’s sweet that olives were his fave. And I agree Michigan’s not very busy…my 21 yr old moved back to Florida the second he was grown. 🙁 He’s the olive lover in our family, esp. the black olives. 🙂
Hubby loves olives just like you do! He buys them all the time- special ones, plain ones- any type he can get his hands on. There are probably 4 varieties in my fridge right now. I hate them, lol.
I love olives as well and those sweet banana peppers are my favorite. That snack tray is perfect to go with a glass of wine and a good book!
Looks like a great snack! My husband loves olives
I love olives <–haha! I tend to only like green in certain things, like martinis 🙂
I can do green olives occasionally, but I’m more of a ripe olive kind of girl.
we are big on olives too, great find you have there. your anitpasto platter is amazing too
We literally just finished dinner and this post made me SO HUNGRY! LOL.
Great and awesome pictures. My older kids are olive and banana pepper lovers. I can’t do it so I pass the olives to them.
My husband is the olive eater in our house. I checked out the website and will be searching for these for him. He would love them!
Oh goodness I love all of your ideas with olives. These will be great for my up and coming holiday parties. Merry Christmas.
I’m going to have to try some of these. we have friends coming over next week. perfect timing
This all looks very delicious. I’ve been craving olives for weeks.
I love olives so I know that I would enjoy this recipe. They are good for you too.
I like olives but you’ve given me a few new reasons to love them. I love the snack trays you made. I’m pinning this. 🙂 I would love them for a New Years party.
I was never a fan of olives. I can tolerate it on pizzas, but otherwise it’s a no. That bloddy Mary sounds good 😛
What a magnificent idea for olives. They all look so great. Personally, I am biased towards Pepper jack cheese and Spanish olives on Rye Bread! Then, I cuddle up with some cheesy biopic on Netflix and my night is complete! 🙂
Olives always don’t agree with me, though I do like the cheese and meat!
I love olives and am constantly eating them as a snack! The other day I ate a whole jar while watching my favorite movie Fried Green Tomatoes! I love those things doesn’t matter if they are green or black!
I’ve never been a huge fan of olives, but your creations look so good that I would definitely be sampling!
These all look great! I always ask for an extra olive in my drink! 🙂
Hi Crystal.
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Thanks so much and hope to see you at the party again next week!
My husband is a huge olive fan. He would love this! So yummy!
I love olives! Mezetta makes some great varieties! Love the tray you made as well!
I love platters like these, I tend to indulge on thme!
Oh my! Those appetizers look amazing. We usually skewer olives on a toothpick with a round of salami and a cheese chunk. I am feeling so unsophisticated now after looking at your creation lol.
I’m not a fan of olives, but I do consume my fair share of Mezetta’s pepperoncini’s & roasted red peppers. YUM!
I love olives too. I recently bought me a jar of the green olives thinking my kids wouldn’t like them, but they finished it off in less than 24 hours.
I love black olives but I don’t know if I’ve tried green olives.might have to try these recipes.
My 7 year old just LOVE olives. He could eat an entire jar in one sitting if I’d let him.
What a cute snack idea. My daughter and husband love olives too and go through an entire bottle in one sitting.
I love Olives too and I’ve always just eaten them plain! I love thes ideas 🙂
What a great ideas for an appetizer. We have so many holiday guests that I always like to have something that I can just throw together quickly.
I’m not crazy about olives but I’d be willing to give them another shot with your creations. Thanks for linking up at the #HomeMatters linky.
~Bonnie
I m not a fan of olives, at all. But you make them look so yummy. 🙂 I may have to try this for my family members who like olives.