Musco Family Olive Co. Review & Giveaway

From the time I was a child, I remember my mother fixing the relish tray for Thanksgiving dinner. It was loaded with all kinds of pickles, olives and hot peppers. My family as a whole was not too fond of olives but I was and always insisted that they be on EVERY relish tray. Before dinner, I would sneak an olive or two when mom wasn't looking and my oh my...were they ever GOOD! Today, I am still a huge fan of olives. With this last pregnancy, I actually craved the pimento stuffed green olives and could literally eat a whole jar in one sitting. However, I never did eat an entire jar due to the sodium content. Pickles and olives make wonderful appetizers for any meal or occasional...just make sure you have plenty to go around or your will run out quickly!

Today, I am going to introduce you to a fantastic company that is based in California and they specialize in the Early California and Pearls brand of olives. Musco Family Olive Co. also has some lovely reduced salt olives that will ensure you are getting flavor without loads of sodium! Before I continue on with this review, here is a bit more about Musco...

From the time he was a young child in Italy, Nicolo Musco worked in his family's merchant business, peddling olives, cheese, and other food from village to village on his donkey-driven cart. Nicolo started his American success story in 1922, moving from Italy to New York to start an Italian food distributorship. Nicolo's entrepreneurial spirit combined with a heritage that spans back many generations as a long-standing merchant of Italian food products, led him to seek his future and fortune in the olive groves of California.

Nicolo brought with him from Italy a quote and a belief that "when the sun shines, it shines for everyone." Taking this to heart, he and his young family left New York and moved to Northern California to realize a dream and produce olive oil and specialty olives. They settled in the fertile valley town of Orland, California, finding the land similar to the Mediterranean climates of home. He opened an olive oil and specialty olive facility and incorporated Musco Family Olive Co.

Now that I am married, I am still the only one in my house that likes olives...until today!! I am very excited to be given the opportunity to review Musco Family Olive Co., and share it with my family and with all of you today! These family-owned and operated companies are some of my favorites!!

So, for this review I was sent a fantastic olive sampler, complete with a can opener, appetizer napkins and olive skewers! In my sampler I found:

PEARLS Reduced Salt Large Black Olives

PEARLS Reduced Salt Pimento Stuffed Green Olives

PEARLS Fresh Cured Green Olives

Early California Reduced Salt Large Black Olives

Early California Reduced Salt Pimento Stuffed Green Olives

Early California Fresh Cured Green Olives

Being the olive lover that I am, I dove right into my sampler as soon as the children were down for their naps.

First off, I would like to point out that some of the cans had pop-top lids which I love. It makes life so much easier if you can just pull the top off rather than go digging for a can opener. This is also really nice if you are taking olives to a party and you don't want to bother the hostess for a can opener...or, if you go camping and  forget your can opener you can still enjoy your olives!!

I had a fantastic time tasting the different olives that were in this sampler! I loved the Fresh Cured Green and black Olives as they had a great taste to them. When the Musco Family Olive Co. cures their olives, they remove the bitter taste. Their curing process involves water and sea salt and preserves the natural color, texture and flavor. The reduced salt varieties are sooo great too!

I love how you can still have the wonderful taste of olives without feeling like you are consuming loads of salt. I wasn't sure I would like them with less salt but I was very surprised that they were still just as good as the salted varieites!

 

My son is my adventurous child and so I gave him some olives just for fun to see if he would like them. The little stinker LOVED them! He thought it was so funny to put them on his fingers!! (Mommy did help get them on there) After admiring them for a few seconds, he promptly devoured every one of them.

Ahh...a boy after my own heart!! My daughter did not want to try one but her brother, he loved them. You can find Musco Family Olive Co. olives at local stores and you can also use their store locator to find a retailer near you! Also, besides their website, Musco Family Olive Co. can be found on Facebook...be sure to stop by and "Like" them there and check out what is new and exciting there. They will LOVE to meet you!

So, in my opinion...Musco Family Olive Co. has some really great tasting olives!! I love the quality, the flavor and the texture of these olives and would definitely recommend them to any olive lover out there. Fantastic product!

Musco Family Olive Co. has offered a very generous giveaway...here's the scoop:

• GRAND PRIZE: A fun olive sampler from Musco Family Olive Co., which contains six cans/jars of their newest Fresh Cured and reduced Salt olives, plus a nice Musco branded can opener (sampler pack ARV = $25)
• 3 Runner Up Winners will receive Free Product Coupons!

Here are your entry options...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received no monetary compensation for this post. I did receive Musco Family Olive Co. products for review purposes. All quotes and stock photos are from the  Musco Family Olive Co. website and email. Prize is being provided and shipped by the sponsor. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.