I love Olives!

Keep in mind that olives are fruit - so olive oil is a fruit juice. Like any fruit juice, keep it in the fridge.

When it's been kept in the fridge, or sometimes on an extra cold day, olive oil will turn a cloudy colour. If the weather is really cold, the oil may even congeal. Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with your oil and it will return to its clear and lovely liquid state when it regains room temperature. Being kept in the fridge will lengthen the life of your oil.

In the warm climate where I live, olive oil must always be kept refrigerated. My neighbour, an older lady who came to Australia from Greece over 50 years ago, refuses to keep her extra extra virgin olive oil in the fridge as she says it removes some of the flavour. She keeps hers in the wine cellar instead.

When I buy a large amount of olive oil it's in a tin. I pour some off into 2 or 3 bottles and keep the tin down the bottom of a dark cupboard in the laundry. (Next to my mushroom boxes). If I had such a thing as a wine cellar instead of a small wooden rack on my kitchen bench, I would keep the tins of oil down there too. But the oil that I decant is always in the fridge.

Light and heat will damage your olive oil. Don't put your bottles of liquid gold on the windowsill and never, ever pour olive oil into plastic containers.

Four tomatoes
One sliced onion,
1/2 sliced cucumber
olive oil
feta cheese
Salt, pepper and oregano

Mix the ingredients together and spread the oil over them. Sprinkle some salt, pepper and oregano.

You can make this the day before

What you Need

* 6 cups mixed olives
* 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
* 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

What you do

Combine the olives, rosemary, and red pepper flakes in lay on a large sheet of aluminum foil.
Fold the foil to enclose the olives in a pouch. You can now put this in the frig if you're making the day before.
Heat oven to medium Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm.