The Passionate Olive by Carol Firenze Read Free Book Online

unpleasant odor. People with asthma or chemical sensitivities can burn olive oil lamps without discomfort. Additionally, it is safe; it does not burn if it spills. On the other hand, if burning kerosene is spilled, the fire spreads rapidly. Burning olive oil will smolder and put itself out or give you time to smother it with something. Of course, all flames are potentially dangerous, so keep flames away from children and pets.
    Olive oil lamps are commercially available today. I have two. One is called an olive oil chamber lamp and is from Lehman’s in Ohio. It is a very practical jarlike lamp with a handle, which makes it easy to move from room to room. The other is a handmade, decorative lamp, which was a gift from my friend Marilee. This lamp is an Elazar olive oil lamp, made of copper and bronze. The woman who makes these unique lamps uses only fire, welding, and water for the patina coloration. Each lamp is unique and quite beautiful. I have referenced these lamps in the Annotated Selected Websites section of the book.
    One more bit of advice regarding olive oil lamps. For those of you who think olive oil is an expensive “fuel,” it isreally quite a reasonable value. The same amount of olive oil that you would use in a salad dressing burns in your lamp for about eight hours. You can also burn the least-expensive olive oil or even one that turned rancid hidden in the back of your cupboard.
    Only use an olive oil lamp when burning olive oil. You should not burn olive oil in a kerosene lamp, nor should you burn other types of oil, like petroleum-based fuels or lamp oils, in your olive oil lamp. It is interesting to note that until the 1950s, olive oil lamps were used in Mediterranean towns not yet wired for electricity. Thus illuminating a room as well as cleaning the air are on my list of highly recommended uses for this precious oil.
8) REMOVE TAR SPOTS
    Tar spots can really ruin the appearance of a patio or garage. Rubbing an olive oil and baking soda mixture onto the tar spots will take a bit of time, but the results are worth it. Remember my nonna Jenny’s recipe for cleaning pewter? That same recipe can be used to remove tar spots on concrete or cement.
Tar Removal Formula
     
Mix ½ cup of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of baking soda
Dip a dry cloth into the olive oil mixture
Rub on tar spots, resaturating the cloth as needed, until the spots disappear
9) HYDRATE PEARLS AND POLISH DIAMONDS
    According to Isabelle Yao, a pearl specialist in Hawaii, the word hydrate should really be used in explaining the effect of olive oil on pearls. Put a small amount of olive oil on a soft cloth. Rub the olive oil on the pearls and then lightly buff them with the dry portion of the cloth to remove any dirt and residue and make them shine. Indeed, olive oil will do wonders for all of your precious and semiprecious jewelry. Because I have seen such fabulous results with olive oil on my pearls, I now rub a drop of olive oil onto my diamond jewelry. When my diamond ring catches the sun, its brilliant shine often casts rainbows throughout the room. Your pearls and diamond jewelry can do the same thing.
    Preservation and Prevention
10) PRESERVE WOODEN UTENSILS AND CUTTING BOARDS
    In my family, it has always been important to ensure that the life of everyday tools is extended through proper care. I remember watching my grandmothers lovingly preserve all of their wooden utensils and cutting boards. They instilled in me the love for and an appreciation of a well-used kitchen tool. Each and every useful item had a purpose and an intrinsic worth. In my home, I proudly display a very large rolling pin (about forty inches in length). This rolling pin was originally an oar (made out of olive wood) from thetime my bisnonno (great-grandfather) spent working on a ship in Genoa. In the late 1880s, my bisnonno Giovanni was a mariner and traveled the world, often on the seas for more than two years at a time. My great-grandmother died during one of