Birthday Event Preview: Mooney Farms

What a gorgeous building, don't you agree? It reminds me of a place I have visited often in dreams, a serene Mediterranean villa in the Italian countryside, brimming with beautiful landscapes, wonderful conversation, and of course only the freshest, most flavorful foods, like pestos, sun-dried tomatoes, and wonderful, fresh olive oils to dip a crusty loaf of Italian bread in....Ahhh, one can dream!

But this gorgeous setting is not in Italy...It is the Tuscan inspired headquarters of Mooney Farms, a well-known gourmet food manufacturer based in sunny Chico, California. This family owned business has recently remodeled and expanded, the 100,000 square foot facility reflects their family’s rich history of the Mediterranean with 200 year old olive trees planted among the rows of lavender and rosemary. Sounds like heaven to me!

The Mooney Family originates from Sonoma County and has always appreciated the natural beauty and style of Sonoma’s Vineyard landscapes and wineries which line the beautiful farming valley’s. Reminiscent of this area, they have created a beautiful rustic Italian style tasting room and storefront, which welcomes you to their family business. If I ever make my way to Cali, I will certainly add this to my stops, as I would love a tour of this gorgeous, rustic facility! And maybe I would beg for a taste of whatever delectable concoctions they had available!

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Mooney Farms has a HUGE variety of Mediterranean-inspired food items, such as sun-dried tomatoes, available in halves and julienne cut in a few mouth-watering flavors, AMAZING pesto sauce, pasta sauces, olive oils, even a sun-dried tomato risotto and some of the most delicious marinades I have ever had the pleasure of tasting!

Their foods are so good, their Italian Basil Sun Dried Tomatoes even won the distinction of being featured as one of the BEST prepackaged foods of 2010 by Women's Health Magazine! That is quite an honor, and one well-deserved, if you ask me!

 

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I have the opportunity to sample several of their fabulous products, and let me tell you, they are GOOD. The flavors are clean, simple, and very, very fresh. I especially loved the Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce With Whole Pine Nuts. I LOVE a good pesto, but had never tried a tomato pesto before. I made some homemade crusty bread and used this as a spread, and I also served this with a nice linguine. The flavors were delightful! The tomato marries perfectly with the pine nuts, and creates a flavor explosion that makes me think of only the finest Italian restaurants. But with Bella Sun Luci products, you don't need to spend a ton of money on a sitter and hefty dinner bill...You can recreate these fantastic dishes right at home, in your own kitchen! My kids LOVED this pesto sauce, as did I. My husband didn't care for it. (Surprise!) But he doesn't like tomatoes in general. Hey, you can't win them all!

I also tried their julienne cut sun-dried tomatoes and they make for a wonderful addition to pizzas, bruschetta, and for pasta dishes. I even used these in a stuffed chicken breast recipe that included these tomatoes, ricotta, mozzarella, fresh garlic, and kalamata olives. It was spectacular! The husband did eat this with no complaint, too!

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While I absolutely LOVED their tomato products, I have to say the star of the show was their Basque Norte Meat Marinade. Oh. My. Goodness. I used this to prepare some thick, juicy Ribeye steaks. I usually prefer to make my own marinades, but decided I would give this a try. I am SO glad I did! I marinated my steaks in this product for about 4 hours and then let my meat come to room temperature before grilling them.  Let me just say, these were by far the BEST steaks I have EVER had outside a restaurant. Heck, they were even better than most restaurant steaks I have had in the past! As a matter of fact, the ONLY steak I have had that compared was served at a restaurant in Mississauga, Ontario Canada called The Keg that I had the pleasure of visiting almost 10 years ago!

The marinade truly helped bring out the natural flavors in the beef, and lended a savory, delicious kick as well. I like my steaks well-done, (I know...This is considered a crime by many!) and the steaks were tender, juicy, and flavorful...Even though they weren't still "moo-ing" at me! It is so easy to ruin a steak by preparing it well-done, but this was not the case when using the Basque Norte Marinade. My steak was beautifully seared and the burnt edges that I LOVE had a wonderful caramelization to them that tasted utterly to-die-for!  Even my husband agreed, these were THE BEST steaks he had ever eaten, too!  Mooney Farms also has a Carne Asada Marinade that I plan to use very soon for a potential dinner date with friends.

Overall,  I LOVED the assortment of products I received from the nice folks at Mooney Farms. They were all fresh, delicious, and very reminiscent of the finest Italian dining experiences. The flavors are rich, bright, and with Mooney Farms, the culinary possibilities are endless! If you can dream it, you can make it! And Mooney Farms, like a nice old Italian lady, is there to help perfect it.

And I am so tickled to announce that Mooney Farms is contributing to my Birthday Bash as well! One winner will receive this fantastic Mediterranean Gift Basket packed full with a vast selection of their oh-so-yummy products! This will be a part of my For The Home prize package, worth hundreds of dollars! Stay tuned, because the giveaway will begin on June 1st! 

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In the meantime, let me tell you how you can connect with Mooney Farms and learn more about these amazing products.

HOW TO CONNECT:

You can purchase Mooney Farms products on their website, as well as find mouth-watering recipes and more!

You can also follow Mooney Farms on Facebook and on twitter to stay on top of all the latest news and promotions! FYI: Doing so NOW will put you one step ahead of the game once my Birthday Bash begins!

***Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***