Posted on Apr 28, 2006 in Bake | 0 comments

Better-late-than-never Anzac Biscuits

Better-late-than-never Anzac Biscuits
Being back in Ireland now, I nearly forgot all about Anzac Day this year on 25 April and it wasn’t until a few days later that I got round to making the traditional batch of Anzac Biscuits for the Boyfriend. Although late for the day itself, this baking stint was perfectly timed for the weekend as...
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Posted on Apr 26, 2006 in Do, Return to Ireland, Travel | 0 comments

Sunday wandering in Dún Laoghaire

Sunday wandering in Dún Laoghaire
With the unfamiliar sun putting on a show this past Sunday, it wasn’t a day to be spent indoors so the Boyfriend and I headed out to Dún Laoghaire for a walk. As we wandered along the seafront, I had to make the inevitable detour to the People’s Park for the Sunday market (check out...
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Posted on Apr 24, 2006 in Cook, Food for Friends | 6 comments

Gluten-free eating: Pizza-style Socca

Gluten-free eating: Pizza-style Socca
Nothing strikes more terror into the heart of a cook than being told that a guest is allergic or intolerant to certain foods. I find that it tends to concentrate the mind, not – as you may think – on what you can cook but, rather, what you can’t. Told that I need to avoid spicy foods, my...
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Posted on Apr 22, 2006 in Do, Travel | 2 comments

Cooking schools around the world

Cooking schools around the world
If you’re interested in learning about cooking, last week’s final RTÉ Winter Food radio programme focused on cookery schools in Ireland and abroad. Programme guest Sinéad Gleeson has more information on the programme over on The Sigla Blog. I haven’t yet embarked on any cookery classes...
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Posted on Apr 20, 2006 in Cook, Food for Friends | 2 comments

A simple Coconut and Peanut Curry

A simple Coconut and Peanut Curry
Ever since I’ve discovered the glories of butternut squash, there’s rarely a week goes by without it being added to a dish or several. As with pumpkin, I tend to use more Middle Eastern or Indian flavours in my squash dishes – cumin and coriander seeds are particular favourites –...
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Posted on Apr 17, 2006 in Cook, Storecupboard Specials | 4 comments

Confiture de lait

Confiture de lait
If there’s one thing nicer than Murphy’s Seacláid (chocolate) Ice Cream, eaten straight from the tub beside the fire (yep, it’s still cold in Ireland!), then it’s got to be that self same cold, intensely flavoured ice cream topped with great generous spoonfuls of creamy sweet/salty...
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Posted on Apr 14, 2006 in Cookery Books, Eating Out, Lovely Lunches, Travel | 1 comment

Books for Cooks, Notting Hill, London

Books for Cooks, Notting Hill, London
In London there is a wonderful shop called Books for Cooks. A bookshop, filled with – what else – cookbooks, it is situated at 4 Blenheim Crescent in Notting Hill and is the kind of place that Sunday supplements wax lyrical about. As does anyone who visits the shop. It is small, not so very...
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Posted on Apr 12, 2006 in Do | 0 comments

Blue cheese honours

Blue cheese honours
Congratulations to Whitestone Cheese company in Oamaru, New Zealand who took Cuisine‘s Champion of Champions Award for their gorgeous Windsor Blue. While travelling to Christchurch from a bach stay near Dunedin last August, the Boyfriend and I took the opportunity to call into the Whitestone Cheese...
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Posted on Apr 10, 2006 in Do, Eating Out, Return to Ireland | 5 comments

Coffee and cookies

Coffee and cookies
Last week I was running for a film preview screening at 10.30am but, in dire need of caffeine, I took a few minutes to grab a take-away coffee at the Butlers Irish Chocolate Café on Henry Street. I’ve been a huge fan of these cafés ever since they opened in Dublin – not so much for the coffee...
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Posted on Apr 10, 2006 in Work | 0 comments

Food & Wine: Clonmore Goat’s Cheese

Food & Wine: Clonmore Goat’s Cheese
Published in Ireland’s Food & Wine magazine in April 2006. Tom Biggane is quietly confident. “Let the cheese do the work,” he says. “If it’s good enough it will sell itself.” And Clonmore Goat’s Cheese has proven more than good enough. A gold and silver medal...
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Posted on Apr 7, 2006 in Do, Print, Work | 0 comments

Irish cheese in Food & Wine Magazine

Irish cheese in Food & Wine Magazine
If you’re interested in cheese, particularly of the Irish variety, it’s worth picking up this month’s edition of Food & Wine Magazine for a series of profiles of Ireland’s leading cheese makers, a piece by Sheridan’s Cheesemongers‘ Dan Fennelly on how cheese changes...
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Posted on Apr 6, 2006 in Do, Return to Ireland | 2 comments

Choice in the country

Choice in the country
In the Irish Times Magazine last Saturday there was a feature on Country Choice‘s Peter Ward. Prestigious American foodie magazine Saveur is about to publish an edition extolling the virtues of Ireland’s artisanal food industry. One of the people mentioned in their “detailed who’s...
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Posted on Apr 4, 2006 in Cookery Books, Read, Return to Ireland | 30 comments

An old favourite: McDonnell’s Good Food Cook Books

An old favourite: McDonnell’s Good Food Cook Books
One of the big advantages of being settled back in Dublin, with book shelves once again, is having all my old cookbooks to pore over and rediscover. Although I did manage to build up a fair collection in New Zealand, it couldn’t really compare to my beloved older stacks of books by Nigel Slater,...
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Posted on Apr 2, 2006 in Bake | 2 comments

Gingerbread for tea: Sticky Gingerbread

Gingerbread for tea: Sticky Gingerbread
As I finished up at work on Friday, I suddenly, as I looked out into the showery evening, got a yearning for gingerbread. No fancy stuff, I just wanted a damp and aromatically spicy loaf, the sort of teabread that would go perfectly with a cup of tea on a weather-swept Saturday. When I was younger, this...
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