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Posted on Jan 31, 2012 in Brewing and beer, Do, Life | 6 comments

Memorable food of 2011

Memorable food of 2011
2011? Phew! A crazy, crazy year. Still, after a relatively calm January, I’ve finally had a chance to gather together my favourite food memories of the last 12 months. *** Eight Degrees Beer: the first sip of our Howling Gale Ale at the Franciscan Well Easter Beer Fest – declared ready just the...
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Posted on Jan 23, 2012 in Do, Eating Out | 8 comments

An afternoon in Dublin… The Bakehouse, Silk Road Cafe, Skinflint

An afternoon in Dublin… The Bakehouse, Silk Road Cafe, Skinflint
…during which I ate creamy, chive-flecked seafood chowder in an large bread bowl (€9.50) at the friendly Bakehouse (6 Bachelors Walk, Dublin). I arrived in the door with a pushchair full of squawking Small Girl - she’s not a fan of late lunches – and the helpful staff were very much...
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Posted on Jan 1, 2012 in Do, Eating Out, Life | 17 comments

Ten years on – and eating around Cork: The Castle, L’Atitude 51° and Gort na Nain

Ten years on – and eating around Cork: The Castle, L’Atitude 51° and Gort na Nain
Early morning, 31 December 2001. That was the moment when I made a decision that set my life on a totally new path. Rather than go home, as planned, to hang out with the Small Sister and Brother for New Years Eve, I made a spur of the moment phone call and headed for Cork to stay with the Sports Editor. As...
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Posted on Dec 23, 2011 in Do | 2 comments

All finished! Our gingerbread house

All finished! Our gingerbread house
It wasn’t an easy project. There were early mornings making – and eating – the sweet, spicy dough, afternoons with the oven on full blast to bake the pieces and several tantrums (mine) closely averted with dollops of royal icing. But we got there in the end, Little Missy and I. Our first...
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Posted on Dec 14, 2011 in Bake, Brewing and beer, Demos | 2 comments

RDS cookery demo: Caramel Ale Sauce

RDS cookery demo: Caramel Ale Sauce
When I first developed the recipe for this sauce I was looking for a way to use the seasonal beers that appear in the run up to Christmas.  And then Eight Degrees Winter Ale, made with a specially fragrant spice blend from Green Saffron, turned out to be so popular that there wasn’t even a random...
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Posted on Dec 9, 2011 in Bake, Brewing and beer, Demos, Work | 6 comments

RDS cookery demo: Chocolate and Knockmealdown Porter Brownies

RDS cookery demo: Chocolate and Knockmealdown Porter Brownies
Rich dark chocolate + full-flavoured malty porter = the most lusciously moist brownies. Enjoy! Chocolate and Knockmealdown Porter Brownies A dark, full-bodied beer is a good balance to the chocolate in these brownies. I use Knockmealdown Porter here but Dungarvan Black Rock Irish Stout, Porterhouse Plain or...
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Posted on Dec 6, 2011 in Bake, Brewing and beer, Demos, Work | 9 comments

RDS cookery demo: Cheese and Herb Beer Bread

RDS cookery demo: Cheese and Herb Beer Bread
Last week I was up in Dublin for the National Crafts & Design Fair in the RDS, doing a couple of demonstrations on the Cooks Academy stage  in the Food Emporium. The title of my demo was Baking with Irish Craft Beer and I had a lot of fun using beers from Eight Degreesto develop recipes for Cheese and...
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Posted on Oct 29, 2011 in Do, IFBA | 10 comments

Irish Food Bloggers Association: happy birthday to us!

Irish Food Bloggers Association: happy birthday to us!
This time last year myself and Kristin of Edible Ireland/Dinner du Jour were just after launching the Irish Food Bloggers Association. We had spent months planning and designing and coding the website, with the help of Súil Design, and it was ready for its grand unveiling at the Savour Kilkenny...
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Posted on Oct 18, 2011 in Brewing and beer, Do, Food Events | 0 comments

It’s all about the (Eight Degrees Brewing) beer

It’s all about the (Eight Degrees Brewing) beer
A few Eight Degrees Brewing and beer-related updates… We all – the Husband’s parents are visiting at the moment – gathered around the radio on Sunday morning to hear the Aussie do us proud as he talked about Eight Degrees Brewing on Today FM’s Sunday Business Show. Also on the...
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Posted on Oct 14, 2011 in Cookery Books, Do, Food Events, Read | 2 comments

Farmhouse Cheeses of Ireland: A Celebration by Glynn Anderson and John McLaughlin

Farmhouse Cheeses of Ireland: A Celebration by Glynn Anderson and John McLaughlin
If you’re a cheese fan, watch out for the forthcoming Farmhouse Cheese and Craft Beer Weekend which is taking place across the country during the October Bank Holiday weekend. There is more information on the events and, if you’re interested in participating at home, some beer and...
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Posted on Oct 11, 2011 in Do, Food Events | 4 comments

Blas na hÉireann winners 2011

Blas na hÉireann winners 2011
I was sorry that I didn’t make it to this year’s Blas na hÉireann National Irish Food Awards at the Dingle Food and Wine Festival – the Small Girl‘s late arrival put paid to that! –  but delighted to see that fellow blogger Gillian O’Leary of Chocolate Here won two...
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Posted on Sep 10, 2011 in Do, Food Events, IFBA | 4 comments

Irish food photography workshop

Irish food photography workshop
Ask food bloggers to bring something sweet to have with coffee and just look what you get: a mouthwatering array of beautifully baked and lovingly packaged treats. And they were just the icing on the cake during a day of food photography organised by the ever-helpful Maeve Desmond at Bord Bia. Between...
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Posted on Sep 8, 2011 in Do, Eating Out | 2 comments

Berlin: Bashful dining

Berlin: Bashful dining
An email conversation with Aoife at I Can Has Cook about her forthcoming trip to Berlin reminded me of the time I spent there with a six-month-old Little Missy while the Husband did his brewing course at VLB Berlin. The undoubted highlight was the night that the Sister and I spent at a Shy Chef dinner...
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Posted on Aug 25, 2011 in Brewing and beer, Radio, Work | 0 comments

Lyric fm: Cloud Festival

Lyric fm: Cloud Festival
When I travelled to the first Irish Cloud Festival which took place in Skibbereen at the end of June, I was wearing two hats. The car was loaded up with cases of Sunburnt Irish Red from Eight Degrees Brewing for delivery to the West Cork Hotel, where we had held a beer and food matching event earlier that...
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Posted on Aug 4, 2011 in Do, Kitchen, Life | 17 comments

New kitchen taking shape

New kitchen taking shape
It might feel like a long time but thanks to my wonderful builder (on time, on budget, fantastic to deal with), the cottage is finished – all, bar the painting. And the flooring but, due to funding issues, that’s not likely to happen for a while. After all my agonising over what to do about the...
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