Olive Oil Taste-Testing in Verona

Hi guys!! I’m back from Italy! Kevin and I just returned from 16 wonderful days in Italy. I woke up this morning and had no idea where I was. I dreamed in Italian last night. I instinctively said Sì to the American cab-driver taking us home yesterday. All in all, I actually feel surprisingly well rested today, especially considering I got up at the ungodly hour of six this morning. But only because I’m still on Italy time, and it was one in the afternoon there, which is way more on par for the course for me. People who know me in real life are shaking their heads and nodding along. People who don’t know me in real life — I was totally just kidding about that last part. I don’t really sleep until noon everyday. Really. Anyway!

I am so excited to be partnering with Michael Angelos for the next couple of posts! We had this incredible opportunity to travel to Italy all thanks to the wonderful and sweet family at Michael Angelos, who make the Michael Angelos Frozen Italian Meals in the freezer section of your grocery store. They are so, so passionate about food and cooking, and using only the freshest, all natural ingredients in their meals, with absolutely no chemicals or preservatives, that they wanted to show us, and you guys, the orchards, vineyards, and farms where their ingredients come from. In Italy. Because they think Kevin and Amanda readers are awesome. And so do I!

Our first stop was the Redoro Olive Oil orchards in the hills just north of Verona. Redoro is another family run business that has a genuine love and passion for their product. They have produced extra virgin olive oil in this region since 1895. This is Daniele, the owner of Redoro with the Michael Angelos family, Mike (Michael Angelo himself!) and his mom Sara, the chef behind the Michael Angelos line.

We got to see for ourselves and walk up and down Redoro’s gorgeous, massive orchard in the rolling hills of Grezzana. Some of the trees were over 500 years old!

Redoro’s extra virgin olive oil is D.O.P. certified, a tribute to the love they have for their olives and their passion for producing only top quality extra virgin olive oil.

The certification recognizes and guarantees that their olive oil genuinely originates and is produced in this specific region.

I couldn’t stop snapping photos of Daniele talking about his olives. He was just so charismatic! :)

Our view from the orchard.

After soaking in the beauty of the fields, we stepped inside this lovely antique home on the property.

Loved this little secret picnic table!

The Redoro family truly opened up their home to us.

After our beautiful morning at the orchard, we stopped for a fabulous lunch at La Fornace in Grezzana. The chef here is working with Michael Angelos for a new dish to add to their line!

After lunch we got to go back to the Redoro factory and do some taste-testing. We also got to make our own bottle of Redoro olive oil! I put this little bottle on the conveyor belt and got to watch it being made from start to finish :)

Each bottle is personally inspected by hand, and then packed off for shipping.

Daniele and the Redoro family with the Michael Angelos family. It was truly an honor to spend the day with these two amazing families! They truly opened up their hearts to us and showed us their passions — serving their families and their customers only the best food possible.

Can’t wait to show you guys more :) Have a great Tuesday!