The Passionate Olive (6 page)

In subsequent chapters, food recipes and formulas are shaded. An icon
with a bottle of olive oil surrounded by vegetables designates a recipe for you, your friends, or your pet—something to be consumed. The icon
with two bottles of olive oil surrounded only by olive leaves designates formulas for external uses only.

Now that you have learned about the many types of olive oil available, the stage is set for you to learn of the many uses for this golden liquid—many of which have been handed down in my family for literally generations. So, grab your favorite bottle (of olive oil) and let’s begin our adventure around the house, exploring the amazing diversity of this practical substance.

CHAPTER THREE
Around the House

EVEN AS A LITTLE GIRL
, I was aware of the many magical uses of olive oil. I often noticed my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles taking the gallon-sized can of olive oil out of the kitchen to use in various daily household tasks—whether the tasks involved cleaning, preservation, prevention, maintenance, repair, or just something that needed attention “in a pinch.” I marveled at the stories they told of the importance of olive oil—like the story of the famous Italian American baseball player Joe DiMaggio. It seems as if olive oil might have actually contributed to his fame. When he started playing baseball in 1981, an olive oil distributor named Rossi sponsored his first team. And as I understand it, Joe DiMaggio rubbed olive oil on his bat (his baseball bat, of course!) and often soaked it in olive oil for up to ten days. The treatment purportedly gave his bat greater spring!

To this day, whenever I mention my love of olive oil,
some people stare at me in amazement, while others gleefully tell me how they use it. At a recent dinner party, I sat next to a young woman who manages a furniture store. She told me that prior to the store’s professional photo shoots, the furniture is polished with olive oil. The extra sheen provided by the olive oil makes the furniture pop off the pages of their high-end catalog. The mahogany simply gleams! I listen to these stories and fondly remember my childhood and the glistening mahogany furniture in my grandparents’ homes.

I grew up in a large, colonial-style home in what was then considered the country; it is now part of one of the trendiest areas in Silicon Valley. Yet at the time, the house was quite remote from the city, with little traffic to disturb the stillness of the night. It had wonderful large rooms in which every sound would reverberate. Its heavy doors were characteristic of the fine 1928 construction. In older homes, creaks and noises can be a bit frightening to a young girl in the middle of the night. I remember my father using drops of olive oil (no WD-40 in those days!) to prevent the creaks and squeaks, thus assuring the family a restful night’s sleep. It worked! In fact, any gears or hinges around the house can be oiled with this magical substance. After all, if the Romans applied olive oil to the wooden and metal mechanisms of their weaponry, and if workers during the Industrial Revolution lubricated some machines with olive oil, why not oil the gears and hinges around your home with same golden liquid?

As an adult, I remember the day I had a “fashion crisis” and couldn’t seem to find anything in the house to solve the problem. I was on my way out the door to attend a family member’s wedding when I made one last quick stop
to check my lipstick in the hall mirror. I saw that the pearls I had chosen for the event had lost a great deal of their beautiful luster. Realizing that I had absolutely no cleaners around the house that did not contain some type of harsh chemical, I wondered what I could possibly do to revitalize my pearls. I was uncomfortable using anything harsh for fear of damaging them. It suddenly came to me to get out my trusty bottle of olive oil. I poured a small amount on a kitchen towel and rubbed it onto my pearls. To my delight and pleasure, they soon glowed the way they did when I first received them from a dear relative. I was so happy that I had thought to use my old standby, olive oil … it’s
always
there in a pinch.

Besides all the practical uses for olive oil, another major reason to reach for the golden liquid in lieu of the many commercial cleaning products currently on the market is our health. Consider for a moment the warning labels placed on chemical-based cleaning products—even the organic alternatives. Many of them clearly state that they can be quite dangerous if used “incorrectly.” Protecting yourself, your family, and the environment from toxic chemicals is much easier than you think. There is a safe, natural alternative to the many hostile chemical- and petroleum-based cleaning products and polishes. That’s right—just reach for the olive oil!

How many times have you walked down the cleaning products aisle in a grocery store and marveled at the sheer number of different bottles, cans, and aerosol sprays available for cleaning and polishing? Whenever I see people buying so many different products, I imagine their returning home and cramming the various liquids and sprays in their limited cabinet space. I want to tap them on
the shoulder and mention that one of the only products they need around the house (that is environmentally safe, effective,
and
simple to use) is olive oil. You can simplify your life, your shopping, and your housekeeping by adopting olive oil as a partner in your everyday routines. While olive oil cannot be used for every cleaning chore, it can be used on many of them as it does the job of cleaning, polishing, lubricating, waterproofing—and so much more. Another great reason for using olive oil? It can cost less than other store-bought chemical cleaning products. And it really works!

What follows are some practical and economical uses for the golden oil that olive cultures have used for centuries to handle some of the most common problems around the house. And now … on to the list:

Cleaning with Olive Oil

1)
CLEAN AND POLISH SLATE, TILE, AND HARDWOOD FLOORS

It seems as if I am always cleaning something around the house with the help of olive oil. And if your home is like mine, there is no end to the things that need constant cleaning attention. For example, let’s start with what is right under our feet every day—the floors. Whether they are tile, slate, or hardwood floors, they need to be cleaned on a regular basis to keep them shining. My cousin, Graziella, who lives near Genoa, Italy, has beautiful charcoal-colored
slate floors throughout her very modern home. She told me that she keeps them shining and clean with the regular use of olive oil. I have dark hardwood floors in my hallway and tile floors in my kitchen. After sweeping the floors to remove all of the large particles of dirt and dust, I apply several drops of olive oil and several drops of lemon juice on a dry mop or cloth broom and oil mop the floors. Any remaining small particles of dust will cling to the mop or broom. If you have just washed the floors, you can always use the oil as a follow-up treatment. Your floor will be positively gleaming and will be much cleaner with this process. Remember, only a few drops each of olive oil and lemon juice will do the trick!

2)
CLEAN PEWTER

Entertaining family and friends is a well-known tradition among Italians, Greeks, and other Mediterranean/olive cultures. Any excuse for a get-together is seized upon with great enthusiasm. Along with the all-important food preparation is the preparation of one’s home to receive guests. Both of these preparty preparation steps include the use of a great deal of olive oil. Whenever I give a party, I get out my
nonna
Jenny’s beautiful pewter serving plates and candle-holders. To make sure they are seen at their very best, I use her ancient recipe for cleaning them. Olive oil can clean anything in the house that is made of pewter, including chargers (those decorative plates, used under china dinner plates, which can often become stained).
Nonna
’s recipe for cleaning pewter will work for other types of metals, too, but more about that later.

Nonna’s Pewter Cleaning Formula

• Mix ½ cup of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of baking soda
  
• Dip a dry cloth into the olive oil mixture
  
• Rub the cloth onto the pewter and the spots will disappear. See your precious pewter shine!
  

3)
CLEAN WAX OFF CANDLEHOLDERS

Once the family pewter candleholders are clean and shining, my
nonna
also taught me a secret about how to prevent wax from forming on the interior of a candleholder with … what else … olive oil. Placing a few drops of olive oil into the interior of the candleholder will prevent the buildup of wax. We have all had the experience of removing candle wax from a candleholder the day after a party, and this trick makes this often time-consuming task a breeze! But let’s get back to the party—I’ll even share one of the recipes.

Nonna’s Famous Recipe for Chicken Fricassée

6 chicken thighs

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow or white onion

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon parsley Pinch of dried (or fresh) herbs (oregano, thyme, marjoram)

1 cup white button mushrooms (sliced)

½ cup salted dry black olives or Kalamata olives

½ cup chicken broth or water

½ cup wine

HOW TO PREPARE

Lightly flour and then sauté chicken in extra virgin olive oil until brown. Set aside

Chop onion, garlic, and parsley (or use food processor) and sauté in another pan

Add chicken to sautéed mixture

Add dried herbs

Add sliced white button mushrooms

Add olives

Add chicken broth (or water) mixed with wine

Cover pan and cook for 30 minutes

4)
REMOVE CORRECTION FLUID FROM ONE’S HANDS OR THE FURNITURE

Have you ever spilled paper correction fluid on your fingers when correcting a document and then tried to wash it off? Soap and water will simply not work. As much as you try, the stubborn white smudge just won’t disappear. To the rescue … olive oil. This correction fluid mishap plagued me recently when some of the fluid accidentally got on my six-month-old granddaughter, Christiana, while I was holding her and at the same time correcting a handwritten letter. I quickly massaged her arm with a soft cloth and extra virgin olive oil. Not only did the spots of correction fluid simply disappear, but my granddaughter thought this was all great fun—to be massaged with olive oil by me, her
nonna
. She is a true Italian! This whole process took just a few minutes and, of course, did not harm the baby. Also, if you spill correction fluid on furniture, use
the same technique, although you need not use extra virgin olive oil in this instance, just olive oil.