Olive Oil Divine Podcast

Pasta, Balsamics, and Mosquito-Repelling Soaps: Oh My!

• Greg & Shirley Mueller • Episode 7

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Let's Take A Walking Tour With Greg And Shirley

Discover the unexpected treasures of Olive Oil Divine as owners Greg and Shirley Mueller take you on an engaging walking tour through their culinary wonderland. Far more than just an olive oil store, this boutique food emporium houses a remarkable collection of gourmet products that will transform your kitchen experience.

The journey begins among towering shelves of imported Italian pastas - over thirty varieties. These are complemented by small-batch craft sauces that Greg enthusiastically describes as "oh gosh, are they ever good." The tour continues past an impressive array of stuffed olives featuring unexpected fillings like blue cheese, feta, and habanero peppers - perfect for that "ideal martini" or to elevate a simple Greek salad.

Venture further to discover their innovative balsamic-based hot sauces that deliver remarkable flavor alongside their heat, and natural skincare products that Shirley personally tests before bringing into the store. "All of these are tested by me and my staff," she explains while showcasing her favorite Bug Plague Away soap that doubles as a mosquito repellent. Their commitment to natural products extends to pet care, health supplements, and hand-blended spice mixes like the truffle parmesan that's "great on asparagus, popcorn, and pasta."

Ready to elevate your cooking and gift-giving? Visit Olive Oil Divine to taste before you buy - their staff invites you to sample any oil or vinegar in the store to ensure you find products you'll truly love. Stop by their store or explore online at oliveoildivine.com and discover why they proudly say, "We're more than just an olive oil store."

To learn more about Olive Oil Divine visit:
https://oliveoildivine.com/
Olive Oil Divine
2517 N. Roan Street
Johnson City, TN 37601
423-707-7087

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Olive Oil Divine podcast, your go-to source for culinary inspiration. Join Greg and Shirley Muller, owners of Olive Oil Divine, as they share tips, stories and insights to make you a kitchen hero. From authentic extra virgin olive oils to rich-aged Italian balsamic vinegars, We've got everything you need to elevate your cooking. Live divine.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back everyone. Skip Monning, co-host, slash producer, back in the studio with Greg and Shirley Muller. Greg, shirley, how's it going? Hey, skip, it's great to be here.

Speaker 3:

Hi All right.

Speaker 2:

Oh hey, shirley, where are you at?

Speaker 3:

I'm behind the camera.

Speaker 2:

Oh, okay.

Speaker 4:

All right, oh, that's right.

Speaker 2:

I'm sorry.

Speaker 4:

She's my camera woman today.

Speaker 2:

All right. Well, she's doing a great job so far. I see we're in the store and I know in our last episode we talked a lot about the different things that you guys supply that are not just olive oil. I mean, you're not just an olive oil store Today. I'm thrilled that we're going to get to take a walking tour, so let's get going.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, come on, I'm going to show you Now. We talked about all the things we had and I'm standing in front of one of our newest selections of pastas. As you can see, we've got pastas galore, every shape and size. You've probably heard of nest pasta. We've got nest pastas now from Italy and, and they're even organic on many of those String pastas, shaped pastas. We've got organic matcha meaty. We got tomato basil radiatore, you know, you just name it. There's 30-some different pastas here. And then, of course, you got to have the pasta sauces to go with them. Nice, seven different pasta sauces that are all craft batch made and, oh gosh, are they ever good. This one right here is one of my favorites the Tuscan sun-dried tomato. It's kind of like a creamy Alfredo, delicious, and, believe it or not, we've got salsa too, for the Mexican friends that like to dip some chips which is me and pizza sauce. So come, get your pasta and, of course, skip on down here.

Speaker 2:

You're doing great, Shirley.

Speaker 4:

This is another new line that we have. It's called our Drink Mixers. We've got things from Citrus Agave, which is slash margarita. Now, these are all non-alcoholic but they're all again craft, handmade. They're small batch, so they're real juices. There's no preservatives, none of that junky stuff that you want in there Strawberry, lemon, sweet peach. And then looky here, look at all these olives. Olives stuffed galore with everything from lemon peels to cream cheese to feta cheese, blue cheese, pepper jack, jalapeno, habaneros for those who really like it, hot Me Garlic, spicy garlic cloves. I mean gosh, you want to make a perfect martini. We've got the dirty martini mix up here and the pimento they're somewhere here. There's so many they're hard to find Pimento for your martinis. And Greek salads oh my goodness, these kalamatas are amazing in a Greek salad. And then on down here.

Speaker 2:

I would imagine the olives are pretty good in a Greek salad as well.

Speaker 4:

Oh, any of these would be great in a Greek salad, especially the cheese ones.

Speaker 2:

Well, when you said blue cheese, you caught my attention.

Speaker 4:

And feta, I love feta, you know the blue cheese, the sweet, what we call sweet jihadis. The blue cheese and habanero. There's a little sweetness in them. Oh, they're addictive.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, Very nice.

Speaker 4:

And then down here here we've got our balsamic based hot sauces and barbecue sauces. These babies here are mixed with ghost pepper and scorpion pepper, so they are hot, but you know what, since they're balsamic based, the flavor just carries through, so deliciously. I mean, these are going to set you on fire, for sure, for those who are not accustomed to it, but you're going to taste the flavor and we get comments all the time about how flavorful ours are. They're not just scorching hot. But the balsamic barbecue sauces, again very flavorful. They are a little bit thinner than they're, not pasty and full of sugar. They're going to be a little bit more natural, a little bit healthier for you, but the flavor just carries through.

Speaker 4:

And we've got a wide selection of those, and one of Shirley's favorites is the teriyaki that she mentioned in the last one. This teriyaki is amazing. It's again, it's gluten-free, balsamic based, so the flavor is just outstanding. And then, for those who would like to bake, we have creme and white truffle creme. These are reduced balsamic for glazes. Of course, you could take our Cas25 and do the same thing, which is right here behind me. See all these beautiful fusties that we have. This is where we fill from all these fusties, these are the balsamics. We also let you taste from these fusties. You come in and our team will walk you around and let you taste any and all of them right here, from the same spout that we bottle from, of course, we use little cups.

Speaker 4:

you know we're sanitary about it. And then on down here we've got our six packs, which are a really popular gift. These are three oils and three vinegars. This is just a sample of what they look like inside, but these are great for Christmas time and Christmas gifts. And there's all kinds of themed six-packs that are grilled towards Grilling Boss is, you know, obviously themed towards the Grill Master, which is coming up, Gourmet Deluxe, which is going to be some of our higher-end balsamics and oils, and, of course, pasta and salad-based six-packs. So that's some of the items. I think I'll turn it over and let Shirley tell you about some of the rest of them.

Speaker 2:

All right. Well, now we have Shirley in front of the camera. That's going to continue our tour. Shirley, tell us what's behind you.

Speaker 3:

Hey, skip, these are all of our prepper nutrients. If you're having some health issues and you want to go a little further and adding some good, healthy products in your diet, these are great too. Like the beetroot, it's good for people with high blood pressure. You also have the kiwi. It's great for several reasons too. Blood pressure is another reason and on each one of our prepper nutrients it'll kind of guide you of any health issues that you're having that these would be a great way to help you assist in those, to reduce some of those issues that you're having. These are great. We've had them now for a couple of years and our customers are loving them. And Vince will come in, the actual owner of this company. He'll pop in and see us and he'll be in the store and work the store with us one weekend. Oh, wow.

Speaker 2:

Well, that was awfully nice of him, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Another product that we talked about earlier is my skincare. These are soaps, these are the sugar scrubs that I mentioned earlier, and also the shampoo bars and conditioner bars. All of these are natural. There's no chemicals at all. They have essential oils in them. And here's one of. These are natural. There's no chemicals at all, they have essential oils in them. And here's one of my favorite ones it's called Bug Plague Away. When I'm out in the yard doing flowers, I always put this on because it's a good mosquito repellent. It's good for fleas and ticks.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

And another new product I just brought in is our face mask. They're all clay based. I have a calming to help you calm that face down a little bit, or your skin a little bit, to take some of that redness out. I have a soothe for everybody or anyone that is hypoallergenic, that has very sensitive skin. We have a glow and that just makes your face get a little bit more radiant. I've used this one. It's really good. Like I said, I actually try them before I bring any products in, so all of these are tested by me and my staff, so it's a great way to get some natural stuff on your body as well.

Speaker 2:

And those are all olive oil based.

Speaker 3:

The only thing that are not are the clay mask. The clay mask does not have olive oil on them. You can, when you mix your clay mask up, I use a rose water. I also use for the younger ones. They can use a witch hazel and you get about 20 applications out of this packet wow now.

Speaker 3:

Another thing we did talk about is our gift sets that we do a lot of. We'll do corporate gifts. We'll just have gifts here in case someone has a birthday. Mother's Day is coming around the corner. We do Mother's Day gifts as well.

Speaker 2:

Well, and you guys package those. I think we talked about in another episode. You guys package those yourself, right?

Speaker 3:

Yes, we do. We actually set and we make these little gift sets up for you. We can be olive ells, we can do whatever you need us to do is there a price range for those gifts? It really depends on your products and what you pick very good we also have gift bags as well, too. These are handmade. I have towels with olives on them. Those are great. This is a new addition I brought in last year.

Speaker 2:

Wow gift bags.

Speaker 3:

Now I mentioned pet shampoo. All of this comes from my same maker of my shampoos and conditioners and the body scrubs as well. These are all pet shampoos. I have a pet shampoo with cedar wood and sage. I have a pet shampoo for chamomile and aloe, and these are all made 100% natural as well.

Speaker 2:

Well now, you mentioned earlier a mosquito repellent. Does that apply to animals as well, or is that strictly for humans?

Speaker 3:

It's for humans.

Speaker 2:

Okay, very good. Well, I would imagine you've got some shampoos that help with that as well.

Speaker 3:

Yes, the cedarwood sage would be good for that too. Even the lavender, because lavender is known to repel fleas, so that's another good one.

Speaker 2:

Oh, wow.

Speaker 3:

And here's more gift sets that we have out. Also, we want to talk about spices. All of our spices are hand-blended. They're all natural. The truffle parmesan is one of our favorites. It is great on asparagus, it's good on popcorn. It's good over pasta.

Speaker 2:

What are your other favorites?

Speaker 3:

It's one of our favorites, yeah, and then the Tuscany bread dipping. This has been the number one seller ever since we've opened, so for 10 years. Everybody loves this. I use it as a dipping and I also put this on saltine crackers as well.

Speaker 2:

Now, is that a? Is that a? You mix it with a lick with water, or is you just you can?

Speaker 3:

use it. You just mix it with your oil.

Speaker 2:

With oil, of course. What am I thinking? Water?

Speaker 3:

Now, the Italian herb goes really well with that Tuscany bread dipping. You put those two combos together and it'll go on anything.

Speaker 2:

Wow, Now you're standing in front of the tasting area.

Speaker 3:

Yes, that's where you fill bottles yes, Anytime you come into the store, we always give you a little tour and we ask you, if there's something that you want to taste, to let us know, and we just come over here with a little tasting cup and we'll give you a little bit of it and you'll taste it.

Speaker 2:

Oh, wow.

Speaker 3:

I would hit every one of those Any oils and vinegars. Yes, you can taste here in the store. We want you to taste it before you buy the product to make sure that you're happy with that product.

Speaker 2:

Wow, well, I was going to ask how does that work, but apparently you get to try anything when you're there.

Speaker 3:

Yes, you do. And something else too, skip, we do. We have a lot of olive wood products too. We have cheese boards, we have olive dishes, I have salad bowls. All of this is our olive wood, and there's a lot more. In the store I probably have about 30 or 40 different olive wood products, and these come from Tunisia. They are also made with the olive trees that no longer produce, so they're recycling the olive trees.

Speaker 2:

Wow. Now olive trees. Now this is a whole other subject. Olive trees grow to be extremely old, right?

Speaker 3:

They do.

Speaker 2:

Any idea how old the wood is on those plates?

Speaker 3:

I do know there is still an olive tree in jerusalem that is still producing olives from the time christ was on this earth I've read that as well.

Speaker 2:

Wow, so that now that's amazing. What is there a price range for the boards?

Speaker 3:

yes, there is some of them. It depends on what size you get, like this is a 17, this is $69. This is a 20 by 22 and this one is $99.

Speaker 2:

Wow, very nice. Greg's got a lathe and he carves this thing out.

Speaker 3:

These actually come from our growers as well. Like I said they come from Tunisia and I will say not one of them are the same size, same shape. They're always different.

Speaker 2:

Wow, because the trees are different sizes and shapes. That's correct, and I was just joking about Greg using a lathe. Sorry.

Speaker 4:

I'm a good cameraman, though.

Speaker 3:

And sometimes Skip will get. I'll show you these as well. These are the bread baskets that we get, and sometimes we will get in the wood the actual shape of a cross, and every time we get a new shipment in, we all stand back there looking for the crosses wow, so is the cross.

Speaker 2:

Is that just part of the natural wood, or is it?

Speaker 3:

That is part of the natural wood.

Speaker 2:

Wow, that's fascinating. And we look perfect too.

Speaker 3:

We'll stand and we'll look at these and see if we can find us a face of an animal. Sometimes we find them, sometimes we don't Like this looks like an eye in the wood, if you can see that.

Speaker 2:

Wow, beautiful.

Speaker 3:

But that's just some of the special touches that we do here at Olive Oil Divine and we enjoy doing it. We have fun.

Speaker 2:

I would imagine you're definitely more than just an olive oil store, no question.

Speaker 3:

Yes, we are.

Speaker 2:

Well, guys, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the tour and what a great job both of you did as a cameraman. So I appreciate that too, and we'll catch you in the next episode.

Speaker 3:

Have a good day, Skip.

Speaker 2:

See you, skip. See you, greg, surely. Have a great day, you too. See you, greg, shirley, have a great day.

Speaker 3:

You too.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to the Olive Oil Divine podcast. Don't forget to visit us online at oliveoildivinecom for our exceptional olive oils, aged balsamic vinegars and more. If you're local, stop by our store and discover how we can make you a kitchen hero. Until next time, live divine.