The Guardian recently ran a great story on how to bake with olive oil.  We love olive oil, and do just about everything with it, but we had not tried baking. So last Saturday, we rolled up our sleeves and start to bake with our olive oil. Turns out, it was better than using butter! And our special secret tip: don't skimp on the salt sprinkled on top, it makes the cookies.

The writer, Ruby Tandoh said she wanted a worthy alternative to butter. "...Something that can create the same melting tenderness as butter while contributing some unique flavour of its own. Olive oil does exactly that." We tried the olive oil chocolate chip cookies - there wasn't one left in the casa! 

Photograph:  Jill Mead for the Guardian

This recipe is easy and delicious. It serves four people and is easily doubled. Serve with a fresh green salad tossed with L'arte White Shallot Balsamic and olive oil or rice and vegetables and you have the perfect summer meal with friends or family. 

2 pounds chicken legs or thighs (or both)
2 tablespoons L'arte Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons L'arte white balsamic
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

With a paper towel, dry the chicken (otherwise, it will splatter when you put it in the oil) In a large skillet, heat the L'arte olive oil over medium-high heat.  Sear the chicken on one side until the skin is golden brown, about 5 minutes.  Flip the chicken over and sear the other side for another 5 minutes. Add the onions over the chicken.  Pour the vinegar, soy sauce, and water over everything, sprinkle with the paprika and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Allow everything to simmer for 30 minutes, turning once.

Olive oil is like a fine wine. It has its own guidelines, structures and terms. And, just like wine, it also has someone who knows what to look for in a good olive oil -- aroma, texture, hue. 

L'Arte's founder, Keith Von Barkenhagen is an olive oil Sommelier having received his credentials in 2013 from the International Olive Oil Academy. So, if you have any questions about our award-winning olive oils, consider Keith your own personal olive oil sommelier.

Because we won a gold medal at Olive Japan 2014, we thought why not give you something you can really use - a Japanese infused recipe featuring our L'Arte Olive Oil. You can toss this on just about anything -- meat, salad, grilled veggies -- the world is your palette. 

L'Arte Japanese Ginger Salad dressing
Put all these ingredients into a mixing bowl, and whisk until blended. Toss on anything you like and serve or grill! 

• 1 cup L'Arte Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• Juice of one lemon 
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 3 tbsps fresh minced ginger root 
• 1 tsp dijon style mustard 
• 2 tsps of honey
• black ground pepper to taste, add salt if needed but the soy sauce should cover that.

We're on a roll, or is that a pressing? Semantics. But, L'Arte has just received its first gold medal from Japan in the 2014 Olive Japan International Olive Oil competition.  The competition is considered one of the premiere Olive Oil events in the world and the judges are from key major olive oil product countries and Japan recommended by the Olive Oil Sommelier Association of Japan (OSAJ).

Don't hate us because we are beautiful, just enjoy our award winning olive oils on your table, in your favorite dishes or as the perfect gift for the foodies in your life.  

We were recently featured in Life Reimagined in March, "Under the Tuscan Sun, Two Expats Bring their Harvest Home"  and we thought we we would share it here. 

We bared it all here, even how we met! From an AOL chat room to our olive trees, we are still happy to bring to you the best and healthiest olive oil and vinegars out there! 

In the beautiful and competitive world of olive oil, nothing says success more than the hundreds of customers who write to us to thank us for making L’Arte Olive Oil. That makes us want to go out and hug our olives.

But sometimes we get another kind of confirmation about L’Arte Olive Oil that adds to our satisfaction of making an olive oil for you of uncompromising quality that’s genuine and direct from our olivetos near our home in Cortona, Italy. And, that’s an award

We are proud to say that L’Arte has received it’s third Gold Medal - Northern Hemisphere, Non Organic Blend -- from the New York International Olive Oil Competition. There were more than 451 entries from 306 producers from Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United States.

If you take one look at our website or you have ordered one of our award-winning olive oils, you will know by now, we're crazy about olives. 

We confess, we love everything about them. Growing them, watching them grow, harvesting them and having them pressed into the highest quality, aromatic, rich olive oil you can put into your mouth.  So, we figured it was time to create a blog dedicated to the epic adventures of making our olive oil and putting it in your hands and mouths. Recipes, awards, trials and tribulations of what has become our life and our passion - L'Arte Olive Oil.   

Stay with us here and follow us on Twitter @lartedellolivo and as always, we welcome your comments and stories and recipes!