Posted on Sep 29, 2009 in Food Events | 0 comments

Irish food awards shortlist announced

Blas na hÉireann National Irish Food Awards have announced the shortlist for 2009. The products in each of the 28 categories – ranging from soups and cheese to biscuits and sausages – were chosen from a blind tasting of almost 800 entries, which must have been a whole lot of fun for the first...
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Posted on Sep 28, 2009 in Food Events | 3 comments

The Restaurant: looking for diners

Just got a message from one of the researchers on RTÉ’s The Restaurant. At the moment they are looking for diners for the next series of the television show. If you’re interested, read on! Do you want to dine in RTÉ’s The Restaurant? Are you a foodie who loves to eat out? Do you know...
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Posted on Sep 26, 2009 in Grow, Life | 2 comments

Blackberries for babies

Blackberries for babies
The Little Sister, who finishes college early on Fridays, was around yesterday so we took Little Missy for a walk that turned into an impromptu blackberry picking expedition. Not being very organised, we had to use LM’s hat for a basket, gathering (and eating) the berries while we strolled down the...
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Posted on Sep 24, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends | 5 comments

In season: Rhubarb Rosewater Cake

In season: Rhubarb Rosewater Cake
When I was small, we had rhubarb growing in the back garden. Whatever variety it was – we had sourced the crown from some friend or relative so there were no labels – it grew gigantic stems, as thick as a baby’s wrist, topped by enormous leaves that we thought looked like child-sized...
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Posted on Sep 23, 2009 in Food Events | 0 comments

Sargent: restaurants are farmers’ ambassadors

Speaking at yesterday’s Good Food Ireland Awards, Minister for Food and Horticulture Trevor Sargent made the point that restaurants and hotels are ambassadors for Irish farmers. This is something which can be simply ignored, taken for granted – or, more proactively, celebrated, with those in the...
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Posted on Sep 21, 2009 in Food Events, Read | 2 comments

Rachel’s return to RTÉ

Rachel’s return to RTÉ
I’m loving the new RTÉ player. We don’t have a television at the cottage but at least I can check out the latest food series, normally at the same time as feeding Little Missy! While she chews and hums her happy way through dinners of mashed avocado and beetroot or potato and courgette,...
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Posted on Sep 21, 2009 in Food Events | 2 comments

Organic award for Sowan’s Gluten Free bread

Sowans Organics produce baking mixes. But not just any old kind of mix, but a thoughtful and well-flavoured blend of organic ingredients, from breads and pancakes to ginger cake and brownies. Spelt flour features strongly: Super Spelt Bread is a great favourite around here, I loved the spelt pancakes and the...
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Posted on Sep 21, 2009 in Food Events | 0 comments

Urru nominated for Good Food Ireland Award

Urru Mallow may be gone – and is still very much missed – but Urru Bandon is going strong and has been nominated in the Top Regional Member (South) category for this years Good Food Ireland Awards, along with other Bibliocook favourites Glebe Gardens and Café in Baltimore and Cork city’s...
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Posted on Sep 19, 2009 in Grow | 0 comments

Eating with the seasons

Eating with the seasons
Seasonal? What is seasonal? If you were to look in my garden at the moment, you might think that courgettes (and a few caterpillar-eaten cabbages) are the only things that are in season but my shortcomings as a gardener might not be best representative of what vegetables are available at the moment! Take a...
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Posted on Sep 17, 2009 in Cookery Books, Read | 2 comments

Basket Case: What’s Happening to Ireland’s Food? by Philip Boucher-Hayes and Suzanne Campbell

Basket Case: What’s Happening to Ireland’s Food? by Philip Boucher-Hayes and Suzanne Campbell
For generations, perhaps scarred by the shared memory of starvation, Irish eating habits were simply about having enough. Food was plain, but plentiful: steaming piles of potatoes, well-boiled vegetables (often home-grown) and meat from the local butcher. But in the last 20 years Ireland has become a...
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Posted on Sep 15, 2009 in Grow, Storecupboard Specials | 3 comments

Going green: Green Tomato and Apple Chutney

Going green: Green Tomato and Apple Chutney
I started growing my own vegetables when I was about 11. After a long winter hording my pocket money, poring over seed catalogues and haunting the seed display in our local hardware shop, I bribed my younger brother to help me dig a few beds in the overgrown back garden. An early adopter of raised beds, my...
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Posted on Sep 13, 2009 in Grow, Work | 0 comments

The Irish Mail on Sunday: If you go down to the woods today…

The Irish Mail on Sunday: If you go down to the woods today…
…you just might find there really is such a thing as a free lunch. Discover wild mushrooms, or berries for a juicy jam in the untimate foodie treasure hunt. By Caroline Hennessy for The Irish Mail on Sunday on Sunday 13 September 2009. No matter how busy things were for my Grandad, there was always...
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Posted on Sep 11, 2009 in Bake | 4 comments

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf
There are days when nothing but a loaf cake will do. When I’m calling round to a friend or heading to stay with a cousin, I like to bring something with me and these days I’m going through a phase of loaf cake making. I normally make a pair so there’s one to take and one to leave at home...
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Posted on Sep 11, 2009 in Food Events, Life, Read | 2 comments

Stop press: Julie & Julia screening at The Big Scream!

Stop press: Julie & Julia screening at The Big Scream!
I’ve only managed to go to the cinema twice since Little Missy arrived on the scene, an enormous drop off when compared with the four or five films a week I might go to see when I reviewed films for the RTÉ entertainment website. I used to go see those films during the day, and for free. That was a...
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Posted on Sep 7, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends, Grow | 8 comments

Blackberry picking: Apple and Blackberry Crumble

Blackberry picking: Apple and Blackberry Crumble
As a child, autumn was one of my favourite times of year. Going back to school was much eased by the fact that there were blackberries available for eating on nearby hedges, crab apples down the fields to be gathered and plenty of field mushrooms to be picked. This year, Little Missy in her sling for our...
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