Marinated Apéro Olives

A little spicy and full of flavor from garlic, lemon zest and herbs, these marinated apéro olives are perfect for serving with cocktails, beer and wine.

If you read my post from last Sunday, you saw the inspiration for this recipe in the photo of our shopping when we were in France last month. My husband chose some mixed marinated olives at a local market because when you are in France, you have to have l’apéro, short for l'apéritif - an aperitif, a drink that is meant to spark the appetite - in the evening. 

L'apéro is a daily tradition there and includes getting together for drinks and nibbles with friends and family to unwind at the end of each day, usually taking place between 5-7 p.m. The supermarkets all have generous sections devoted to l’apéro, with cold cuts, sausages, crackers, cheese cubes, olives, pickles and other snacky food. One of my favorite areas of some of the best supermarkets in the world.

Marinated Apéro Olives

I’ve given the amounts of olives I used for this below but you can certainly mix and match more than one type of green and black olives. Use your favorites. My one strong recommendation is to use unpitted olives. They always taste better than already pitted one. Simply set out a small bowl for the discarded pits when serving.

Ingredients 

1 lb or 450g good quality unpitted green olives 

8 oz or 225g good quality unpitted black olives

2-3 small chili peppers

3 cloves garlic

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 lemon

1 large chili pepper

½ cup or 120ml good quality extra virgin olive oil

Method

Mince the garlic and the small chili peppers and put them in a bowl that will be large enough for all of the olives.

With a sharp knife, pare the zest off of the lemon, taking care to leave the white pith behind as best you can.

Add it to the bowl. Cut the lemon in half. Squeeze the juice from lemon halves into the bowl.

Strip the leaves off of the rosemary and thyme. Chop them roughly.

Slice the large chili pepper and add it to the bowl along with the herbs. Give it all a good stir.

Gently warm the olive oil to about 100°F or 38°C. Pour it in the bowl and leave to infuse and cool for a few minutes. 

Add in the olives and give the whole thing a good stir. 

Leave to marinate for an hour or two unrefrigerated, then store in a glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 weeks. I put mine in a container and tossed it around to mix again the next couple of days, when I thought about it. 

Best served at room temperature with drinks of your choice! L'apéro at home! 

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 15th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter O. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the O recipes below:

• Apple Cider Old Fashioned from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• BBQ Deviled Eggs with Crispy Fried Onions from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Blueberry Orange Waffles from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Gumbo-laya Stew from A Messy Kitchen 
• Marinated Apéro Olives from Food Lust People Love
• Olive Oil-Cured Chevre-Filled Cigarillos from Culinary Cam
• Onion and Olive Oil Focaccia with Sea Salt from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Orange Cranberry Rolls from Blogghetti
• Pumpkin Olan from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Rhubarb and Strawberry Baked Oatmeal from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Here are my posts for the 2026 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Ají de Cerdo aka Peruvian Pork Stew

B: Baby Cos Peach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 

C. Traditional Cullen Skink 

D. Coconut Cream Date Caramel 

E. Edamame Summer Salad 

F. Lamb Feta Mint Patties 

G. Ricotta Gnocchi à la Poêle 

H. Hazelnut Vodka 

I. Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers - this post!

J. Jägersuppe - Hunter's Soup 

K. Easy Chicken Kapama 

L. Easy Lamb Shoulder Roast 

M. Miso Chocolate Cookies 

N. Duck Egg Narjissiya 

O. Marinated Apéro Olives - this post!

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Kirsebærkage - Danish Cherry Cake

This kirsebærkage aka Danish cherry cake is baked with fresh cherries. It is easy to make and even easier to eat, with a tender crumb and golden top.

Last month we spent a week in France reveling in the fabulous fresh produce, shopping and cooking and eating extremely well in our little cottage with a sea view.

The very first day, before we even checked in to the Airbnb, we stopped at a supermarket to pick up dinner supplies and came across a great sale on cherries. Only 4 euros a kilo! So about $2 a pound. Now, I know that’s not super cheap in the States where during the summer, cherries can get as low at $1 a pound but on the island of Jersey, we aren’t so lucky.

Anyhoo, all to say, we bought cherries and then before we headed home, we bought even more to take back. 

We’ve got builders in right now, working on an extension to the house so I baked this cake to share with them. Went down a treat!  

Kirsebærkage - Danish Cherry Cake

This recipe is adapted from one on BenedictesMad. She says it’s so easy, even her six-year-old can make it if she preps the ingredients.

Ingredients

8 oz or 225g fresh cherries

3 eggs 

1 1/2 cup or 150g sugar (I used golden caster)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ cup or 113g butter, softened, plus extra for the pan

1 ¼ cups or 156g flour, plus extra for the pan

½ teaspoon baking powder

2 pinches fine sea salt

For topping:

1 tablespoon sugar

Method

First, the hard job. Pit the cherries. Even if you have a cherry pitter, this is a messy job so protect your clothes and work surfaces. We are still in a relative construction zone, cooking in a makeshift kitchen and I couldn’t find mine so I just cut the cherries in half around the pit and removed the pits by prying them out. 

If you pitted yours whole, cut the cherries into halves.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Butter and flour a round baking pan about 9 inches or 23cm in diameter. 

With electric beaters or in the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until light and aerated. 

Add the softened butter and beat again. The batter will look a bit curd-ly but don’t worry. It will turn into a lovely, creamy batter once the flour is added.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt.

 Beat again briefly.

Spoon the batter into your prepared pan. Distribute the cherry pieces over the batter. I put them round side up because I thought that would be prettier. If you can’t be bothered, don’t. Taste will be the same! 

Sprinkle with the extra sugar for topping

Bake in your preheated oven for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. The aroma while it bakes it ah-mazing! It brought my husband through to ask how the cake was going. 

Turning it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool before cutting into wedges to serve. 

This cake is often served with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. We enjoyed it just as it was. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing cakes from around the world in celebration of International Cake Day tomorrow. Many thanks to our host Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below. 

• Carlota de Limon from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Kirsebærkage - Danish Cherry Cake from Food Lust People Love
• Kyiv Cake from A Messy Kitchen
• Madeira Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Persian Love Cake from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Taiwanese Castella Cake from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Topfen-Obers-Torte from Culinary Cam

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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Mount Vernon Breakfast Gems #BreadBakers

Slightly sweet and nutty from the addition of grits, these breakfast gems are essentially fluffy cornbread muffins baked from a recipe from Mount Vernon, home of George Washington.

I need to preface this post and recipe with the fact that George and Martha Washington, the first president of the United States and his wife, were in fact enslavers of people. When Washington died in 1799, he owned 123 enslaved people outright. He stipulated in his will that they were to be freed following the death of his wife, Martha. 

The majority of the enslaved population at the estate—153 people at the time of his death—were so-called "dower slaves." These individuals belonged to the estate of Martha's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. Because Washington did not legally own them, he had no legal authority to free them in his will.

I’ve never been to Mount Vernon but many of the facilities you can tour do seem show the enormous backbreaking work of those people, who made it possible for the plantation to function and be profitable. This includes the kitchen. 

According to the website, “George and Martha Washington welcomed thousands of guests to Mount Vernon and were well known for their boundless hospitality, frequent and memorable parties, and the wide variety of culinary treats served.

This was only possible because of the work of enslaved butlers, housemaids, waiters, cooks, and others.”

Whether or not George Washington actually ate breakfast gems is debatable but we do know from records that his favorite breakfast was hoecakes which are small cornmeal pancakes. He ate them smothered in butter and honey. I think he’d have liked these breakfast gems too which have the same cornbread vibe. 

Back then, a gem pan looked like this:

You can buy them online at Ebay and Etsy but they can be quite costly. I used silicone muffin cups. 

Mount Vernon Breakfast Gems

As mentioned above, this recipe is adapted from one on the Mount Vernon website. The ingredients are the same but I’ve attempted to clarify the sketchy method. For instance, the original gave no prior warning that the egg whites needed to be beaten till stiff, until the instruction to add them. 

Ingredients

1/4 cup or 40g grits

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup water

1 cup or 240ml milk

1 cup or 130g cornmeal

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons butter

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

Method

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and either line your 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or use silicone muffin cups. 

Bring a ½ cup or 120ml water to the boil. Add in the grits and salt and cook for a few minutes until thick. Set aside. 

Heat your milk to a simmer. Just as you start to see a little bubble or two, add it to the cornmeal in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine. 

Add in the sugar and butter. Stir until the butter is melted and both are fully incorporated.

Add the grits to the cornmeal mixture along with the baking powder. Stir well and set aside to cool. 

Separate the eggs and lightly beat the yolks. 

In a large clean bowl, whisk the whites until stiff peaks form. 

Add the egg yolks to the cornmeal mixture and stir well. 

Gently fold in the egg whites a few spoons at a time until all are folded in.

First addition.

Third and final addition.

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the gems are lightly golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean. 

Take the pan out of the oven and leave to cool before removing the gems from the pan and cooling further on a wire rack. 

These can be eaten warm or at room temperature. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s Bread Bakers day, when my fellow bloggers and I share recipes on a theme. This month it’s American bread, in recognition of the semiquincentennial. Check out the links below.

• All American Batter Bread with Discard from A Messy Kitchen
• American Parker House Rolls from Sneha's Recipe
• Mount Vernon Breakfast Gems from Food Lust People Love
• Spoon Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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