There is something nice and relaxing about picking your own olives…

They say life is what you make it, so I will be picking my olives over the next couple of weeks, then preparing them in different ways so ready to eat over the next year. Or to add to recipes when cooking which is what I like to do. There is something nice and relaxing about picking your own olives, but I did get by with a little from my friends. ( Old Beatles song by Paul McCartney ) my friends being really my family, 4 German Shepherd’s who just love to help, we’ll they probably ate as many as I put in the basket, but they are very selective and prefer the ones a bit dried out so no problem, then after the basket was full we went for a walk along the lanes where I live to collect wild Fennel stems, which I will explain there use in a simple way to prepare your olives.

Nice simple way to prepare black olives. First of all select them and discard any you don’t want, then wash in cold water and leave them to dry, then with a mallet one by one smash them but not to much, or cut them with a knife this will let the water penetrate them, place them in boiling water briefly, then leave to dry, place in food containers along with some chopped wild Fennel and cover with salted water making sure that none are above the water, cover and leave in a dark place, changing the water every day for at least a week to 10 days depending on taste. After that you can do what you want with them. Like add them to oil and garlic a few days, cooking, or bottle them in oil or salted water for later. It’s a fun way to relax and eat.