Currently Browsing: Return to Ireland
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 | 31 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 Mar 31, 2006 in Cook, Return to Ireland | 7 comments

Irish mussels: Mussels with Garlic and Tomatoes

Irish mussels: Mussels with Garlic and Tomatoes
Although the huge green-lipped New Zealand monsters nearly put me off mussels for life – too big and way too chewy! – last week I tried cooking Irish mussels for the first time. Coming home from work one evening I nipped in to a local shop called Donnybrook Fair to pick up some essential supper...
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Posted on Mar 27, 2006 in Do, Return to Ireland, Travel | 0 comments

An Irish weekend away: Terryglass, Co Tipperary

An Irish weekend away: Terryglass, Co Tipperary
After making Nic‘s Buttermilk Pancakes twice in the last ten days, I just have to sing their praises here. They take minutes to put together, don’t involve getting out the weighing scales (just use the cup measurements), are easy to cook, and – if you’re on a weekend away – the...
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Posted on Mar 19, 2006 in Do, Return to Ireland | 4 comments

Murphy’s Ice Cream and a new Irish blogger

Murphy’s Ice Cream and a new Irish blogger
Listening to Winter Food the other day I heard an interview with Sean and Kieran Murphy of Murphy’s Ice Cream in Dingle. They take presenter Clodagh McKenna through the making of their fabulous ice cream, telling her about local milk, flavourings and types of ice cream (Mango and Chilli – is...
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Posted on Mar 13, 2006 in Cookery Books, Read, Return to Ireland | 0 comments

Irish Food: Slow & Traditional by John and Sally McKenna & Irish Food: Fast & Modern by Paul Flynn and Sally McKenna ***

Irish Food: Slow & Traditional by John and Sally McKenna & Irish Food: Fast & Modern by Paul Flynn and Sally McKenna ***
Although these wee cookbooks are small – just 64 pages – they are beautifully formed. The Irish Food books are from the same stable that produces the Bridgestone Top 100 guides to restaurants and places to stay, as well as the Irish Food Guide – Sally and John McKenna’s Estragon Press...
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Posted on Mar 6, 2006 in Eating Out, Return to Ireland | 2 comments

An afternoon stop: Avoca Handweavers, Kilmacanogue

An afternoon stop: Avoca Handweavers, Kilmacanogue
Saturday night dinner for friends staying over meant a late night, a not-so-hurried rise on Sunday morning and a similarly delayed breakfast. We badly needed to blow the cobwebs away so we drove down to Brittas Bay for a long walk in the surprisingly warm sunshine (and a brief snooze on the beach!). When we...
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Posted on Feb 23, 2006 in Cook, Return to Ireland | 2 comments

In New Zealand, pumpkins. In Ireland, squash. Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Cumin

In New Zealand, pumpkins. In Ireland, squash. Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Cumin
After mourning the lack of good pumpkin in Ireland, I’ve discovered an alternative option – squash! Now, there’s a terminology question here. What is the difference between squash and pumpkins? I think it was Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion that made the point that all...
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Posted on Feb 19, 2006 in Do, Return to Ireland | 2 comments

Congratulations Cuisine!

Congratulations Cuisine!
It might be a bit after the date but I don’t think it’s too late to offer my congratulations on hearing the news that New Zealand’s Cuisine magazine has been judged Best Food Magazine in the World at the Gourmet Voice Festival in Cannes at the end of January. When I arrived in New Zealand...
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Posted on Feb 6, 2006 in Do, Return to Ireland | 0 comments

More Nationwide foodie items

Nationwide is a thrice-weekly Irish television show which consists of a collection of pieces on life in the country. Covering art, music, photography and – to my delight – food, it’s the kind of programme much loved by grannys and parents who believe that RTÉ is altogether too...
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Posted on Jan 19, 2006 in Return to Ireland | 2 comments

Cafés in Ireland via Peter Gordon

In the wake of leaving New Zealand and my living-out-of-a-bag-ness in Ireland during November and December, it’s only now that I’ve gotten round to checking out Chris Bell’s Five minutes with Peter Gordon at NZBC. That’s the New Zealand Blogging Corporation, rather than the New...
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Posted on Jan 6, 2006 in Do, Return to Ireland | 3 comments

The Fergusons of Gubbeen

While looking at the RTÉ website the other day I came across a piece on the Nationwide programme about the Ferguson family of Gubbeen, outside Schull in West Cork. Tom and Giana Ferguson have worked Gubbeen Farm for more than thirty years, starting to produce their delicious prize-winning Gubbeen Cheese in...
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Posted on Dec 29, 2005 in Food Books, Read, Return to Ireland | 2 comments

The Bridgestone 100 Best Restaurants 2006 & The Bridgestone 100 Best Places to Stay 2006 by John and Sally McKenna ****

The Bridgestone 100 Best Restaurants 2006 & The Bridgestone 100 Best Places to Stay 2006 by John and Sally McKenna ****
With 15 years of eating and sleeping the length and breadth of the country in a tireless quest for the best of the best, John and Sally McKenna have it down to a fine art. This year’s editions of The Bridgestone 100 Best Restaurants and The Bridgestone 100 Best Places to Stay are as wonderfully...
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Posted on Dec 21, 2005 in Eating Out, Lovely Lunches, Return to Ireland | 0 comments

Ladies who lunch @ Café Paradiso, Cork

Ladies who lunch @ Café Paradiso, Cork
After my appetite had been well whetted by Denis Cotter’s A Paradiso Year: Autumn and Winter Cooking, I decided that it was time to return to Café Paradiso itself and last weekend I went down to Cork. All my nights were tied up but Saturday lunchtime was designated Paradiso-time and who better to...
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Posted on Dec 15, 2005 in Do, Return to Ireland | 4 comments

Rachel Allen on RTÉ

Rachel Allen on RTÉ
After all the debate about Rachel Allen, I felt that I just had to watch her show! Last night I was home alone at my lovely friends’ house (being a bag lady makes you realise how good your friends are) and I decided I was going to take the plunge and actually turn on the television for myself. I tuned...
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