FIFTEEN? Or sixteen? We've been sitting here trying to do the math on just how many olives we can eat, in a row, before we get to thinking "are we eating too many olives in a row?" Like you, perhaps, we have boundary issues when it comes to small, pit-bearing fruit (as in, our boundaries are rather lacking). Our feeling is that olives don't have too much meat, per se, so eating a dozen, or over, equals one massive, peach-sized olive. Ohhh, if only we could find those at our farmers market. We know, we know; they're rich, and probably a few go a long way, but we're also of the school that pretty much any cocktail we drink is merely an olive-delivery system. You still with us? Our olive confessional has now wrapped, we're ready for more, and here's where we can get that: Paso Robles. The Central Coast-y wine burg is known for its grapes, but every year it pauses to fete that other small fruit it does love so: the olive.
THIS YEAR'S PARTY: It's set for Saturday, Aug. 18 in Paso's downtown City Park (which is, if we might say so, one of our state's most picturesque city-centered green spaces). There will be wine tastings and beer tastings, natch -- this is Wineland, after all -- as well as everything olive, too. Meaning? You'll be able to try olive oil samples and buy olive oils and snack upon small, shiny orbs. We also pre-like the olive oil ice cream idea. Right? The oil part probably works perfectly in concert with the everything-else-that-is-ice-cream part. Mmm, olives. We have no regrets about eating a dozen of you in one sitting. Did we say dozen? A dozen plus a few more.
