$16 Olive Oil

Craft beer. Boutique wines. Local, small-batch cheese. Every time I turn around, someone is making specialty something-or-other edible that I just HAVE to try. And even better for me if I get the chance to see how/where it is made! You make sausage? Let me see your butcher shop. I go on brewery tours just to say that I've been to a specific brewery- I can already explain the brewing process in detail. I am a nerd for this kind of thing, and if you let me I will get all up in somebody's cheese cellar to poke around.
These days, I'm noticing olive oil is making a more definitive footprint. Food magazines rave about it,  and the grocery store shelves are bursting with variety. When I was younger,  I thought it was overkill- oil was oil was oil, right? And when I did discover olive oil imparted a different flavor,  I was still unimpressed. I was using a very generic brand, and all it did was give it a skunky flavor. A friend of mine tried to turn me on to using olive oil as a dipping sauce for bread- I remember thinking he was off his rocker. I just could not get my head around the idea that this weird greenish grease could not suck. I don't even remember what changed my mind- sometime in the recent-ish past, I gave it another shot. That time, I got it right. The subtle,  nuanced flavors of a higher quality oil opened my eyes... and gave me another expensive flavor hobby.
Now I find myself sipping on straight oils during tasting events. I experiment with infusions.  I spend twice as much on an 8oz bottle than I do for my eyebrow waxes. And now, I'm contemplating dragging J four hours south of Atlanta to tour an olive farm. Fun fact- apparently Georgia grows splendid olives! There happens to be a pecan farm near the olive farm, too, so maybe I can get more into nuts while I'm there...