July 2008—Examiner.com:
Beauty on a Budget Examiner | Author of "The Passionate Olive" Shares the Secret to Beautiful Hair
Organic "Beauties on a Budget" can multi-task this "liquid gold" for household, health, beauty and sensuality purposes to stretch their dollar. It's a great resource listing several natural recipes for beauty mixtures as well as a "Love Infusion Formula." .... Click here to read more...

February 20, 2008—Miami Herald:
Fashion/Beauty Rx | The Problem: Straw Hair
Ever wonder how ancient Egyptian beauties had such sleek, shiny hair? The secret is out: They used olive oil. Here is how: Lightly warm oil in the microwave and comb it through your dry hair, avoiding the roots. Wrap your locks in a towel for a few minutes. After you have had enough of smelling like tapenade on toasts, shampoo it out, then repeat. Your bathtub will be slippery, but your hair will stay shiny and moist for several days without the damaging effects from chemicals. As an added bonus, the olive oil will soften cuticles. Find more uses for olive oil in The Passionate Olive by Carol Firenze.... Click here to read more...

November 2007—Salute Magazine:
Olive Oil…The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly News... Click here to read more...

August 2007—DHC for Beauty and Health :
Gigi’s Olive Oil Biscotti served with Lemon Olive Oil Ice Cream... Click here to read more...

February 6, 2007—View from the Bay:
Heart Healthy and Passionate... Click here to read more...

January 2007—California Country
There are more things to do with olive oil than simply cook. Just ask Los Gatos author Carol Firenze, who has written a book on 101 of her favorite uses. Here are a few: Click here to read more...

November 2006—Santa Cruz Style
Perfect gifts for your favorite cook
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. Millions of us will heat our credit cards to the melting point while we get a jump on our holiday gift giving. And most of us won't have a clue about what to buy. Click here to read more...

October 2006—DHC For Beauty and Health
Health | HDC recommends... The Passionate Olive: 101 Things to Do with Olive Oil
At DHC we're extremely enthusiatic about the benefits of olive oil. And we're not the only ones singing the praises of this liquid gold. In her delightful book The Passionate Olive: 101 Things to Do with Olive Oil. Click here to read more...

September 2006—Sacramento Bee
Your health: Olive oil's many uses
by Dan Vierria, Bee Staff Writer
Olive oil, at its best in a vinaigrette, also is renowned for its medicinal uses, according to Carol Firenze, author of "The Passionate Olive: 101 Things To Do With Olive Oil" (Ballentine Books, $17.95, 244 pages). Believe them all? That's up to you. Click here to read more...

April 2006—The Gilroy Dispatch
'Liquid Gold' Should be Included in Easter Traditions
With all the traditions of Easter, such as bunnies, eggs, the holy cross and sunrise services - it's interesting that olive oil isn't really considered all that important of a symbol during the holiday. And yet without olive oil, we would have no Easter celebration this weekend. Click here to read more...

Spring 2006—AWIF Newsletter / Book Review
The Passionate Olive: 101 things to do with Olive Oil by Carol Firenze
by Gerry Furth-Sides, Media 8

Vivacious, beautiful Carol Firenze may be the best advertisement for her own charming and clearly written reference book packed with history and how-to information. The professional member of the AIWF looks like a young professional but is actually a grandmother of four. Click here to read more...

May 2006—Fine Cooking Magazine
What's the difference between extra-virgin, virgin, and other olive oils?
by Trish Healy, Baltimore, Maryland

Carol Firenze responds: the difference is essentially qualitative. Extra-virgin is the highest-quality olive oil: It tastes better, has lower acidity levels and retains more nutrients than other olive oils. Click here to read more...

March 2006— San Jose Magazine, Get Perspective

The Passionate Olive: 101 Things to Do with Olive Oil, by Los Gatos writer Carol Firenze extols the many virtues of olive oil. Called "liquid gold" by Homer, Click here to read more...

January 2006—Channel 5, Eye on the Bay

Carol Firenze co-hosted this show with Brian Hackney. Click here to read more...

November 2005—Radio Interview
World Talk Radio:  The California Cook

November 2005—Gilroy Dispatch
Picking the Passion

You might say Carol Firenze has an obsession with olive oil. To her, the precious stuff that has venerated throughout more than 4,000 years of civilization makes life flow just a little more smoothly. Click here to read more...

October 2005—Honolulu Advertiser.com
A World of Olive Oil

When she was just a girl, Carol Firenze's grandparents, first-generation immigrants from the Liguria region of Italy, used to tell her how long and hard they had to work to earn enough money to afford good olive oil during the Depression years, and how precious this ingredient was to them. Click here to read more...

July 2005—California Olive Oil News
The Passionate Olive 101 Uses for Olive Oil

Did you really think that salad was the only place you could use olive oil? How about as a furniture restorative, moisturizer for baby's nostrils, magic potion or ingredient in dog food? Click here to read more...

June 2005—Italian Cooking and Living
Drizzle Away

If all you're doing with olive oil is cooking, you're foolishly missing out on at least 100 other uses. Click here to read more...

May 2005—The WAVE Magazine
101 Things to do With Olive Oil

Los Gatos resident Carol Firenze loves olive oil. Her website, The Passionate Olive, is dedicated to all things olive oil, from olive oil recipes to olive oil education to listings of olive oil museums. Consider this line from the website: “Olive oil is an amazing substance; as a global community, it is the one thing that truly binds us together. Click here to read more...

April 29, 2005—Dallas News

Throughout history, olive oil has been used for everything from treating leprosy to lighting lamps. Today, we think of it merely as a cooking ingredient.

The Passionate Olive: 101 Things to do With Olive Oil By Carol Firenze (Ballantine Books, $17.95) BOTTOM LINE: A slippery feast of tips and trivia, sure to land in many an olive oil gift basket. Click here to read more,,,

April 27, 2005—Los Gatos Weekly
Olive Me: Carol Firenze is passionate about olive oil by Lisa Toth

Instead of bringing a plate of cookies, a bunch of flowers or a bottle of wine as a gift to a dinner party, Carol Firenze has a new and trendy alternative. Try bringing along a bottle of olive oil along with a copy of her latest book, The Passionate Olive: 101 Things to Do with Olive Oil... Click here to read more...

March 2005—From Publishers Weekly

"Food's cheaper than medicine," claims Firenze in this charming book about the practical uses of olive oil. Firenze shares her passion for the staple ingredient by recounting warm memories from her Italian-American childhood, divulging tasty family recipes and detailing olive oil's fascinating history as a common Mediterranean health aid and an ingredient in food preparation. For those new to olive oil, Firenze explains the different classifications, the best ways to cook with it (marinating, frying, baking, etc.) and how to throw a great Olive Oil tasting party.

The book covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from olive oil's historic role in religious rituals to its more sensual role as a rubbing oil for massages. Firenze also details the practical uses of olive oil: it can be employed as a Diaper Rash Remedy to sooth babies' bottoms; an added ingredient to dog or cat food to give one's pet a healthy, shiny coat; and a homemade Shoe Polish. Most importantly, the book is filled with delicious recipes such as Gigi's Eggplant Parmesan and Massimo's Tomato and Potato Side Dish.

This delightful book will not only make readers' mouths water, but will provide them with a greater understanding of an under-appreciated domestic and culinary ingredient.

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