Comments on: Queen Creek Olive Mill

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:48:23 +0000

Cara, I completely agree with you about their olive oil – it tastes so incredibly different! And I am smitten with their Mexican Lime EVO!

I too, missed the Dirty Jobs episode – still looking forward to it though.

Wow – you cured olives? I think that sounds like a ton of work. I graduated from the UA in Tucson and the campus boasts dozens of olive trees. Every year the fruit would fall to the ground and rot, it seemed like such a waste! So, I thought I’d harvest some and make my own olives, until I read all the steps involved.

Recently, one of the UA students groups has started harvesting the olives – curing them and I think even pressing some. They sell their products to fund other campus events. Come to think of it, I should find out where they sell their olive-wares so I can try them and see how they rate.

Thanks for sharing, Cara. Keep on dipping!

By: Bob and Cara B.

Bob and Cara B. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:14:31 +0000

About Queen Creek Olive Mill:
My husband and I found the mill on a tour with our snowbird comrades in 2006. I no longer buy olive oil at a grocery store. All the other brands I have bought since then, maybe two times, tasted old, even rancid, in comparison to the wonderful, fresh light flavor of Queen Creek. I buy it by the gallon, about $80 including shipping. We use it on salads, instead of butter on bread, sautes (after it is cooked lightly), helping out some dry salmon, even baking or straight from the decanter at times. It is so healthy. It’s a treat comparable to being treated at a wonderful restaurant, worth the cost.
I am so sorry I missed the dirty jobs special on the Mill. I grew up on a farm with a few olive trees, and from gathering to curing, we never pressed for oil, it was a messy job. I think Dirty Jobs got a wonderful treat being at the mill, and I know they enjoyed wonderful edible treats when they finished filming.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:12:55 +0000

This just in: During our visit the cashier at QC mentioned that the folks from the Dirty Jobs TV show had recently been there filming an episode.

If you are interested the Queen Creek Olive Mill episode airs on February 3rd, 9pm MST on the Discovery Channel.

We don’t have cable but we are going to try to find a way to watch it!

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:23:37 +0000

You hit it right on the head, Martha. I was disappointed in the development – of course, we didn’t drive all the way through it but what we saw seemed rather “California-esque.”

I should change my description from “ugly” to less than gorgeous – we are so spoiled with the lushness of the Sonoran Desert here in the Tucson area that the lower elevation creosote flats seem almost barren in contrast. Though those creosote flats do have an amazing array of diversity when one takes the time to look closely.

Thanks for your comment!

By: Martha Retallick

Martha Retallick — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:15:33 +0000

Erin, this part of your post got me going:

“It occurred to the three of us that the entire community was designed to ignore the local landscape. And looking around at that low-lying hot desert land I could see why. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Sonoran Desert but there are a few areas, such as that one, that are rather ugly.”

Just because the local landscape is ugly doesn’t mean that the community couldn’t improve on it. The Sonoran Desert plant palette is one of the richest in the world.

And there’s plenty of local talent that could have guided Anthem in a locally-focused landscape design and implementation.

Too bad. I think Anthem really missed an opportunity.