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Posted on Feb 2, 2012 in Life, Storecupboard Specials | 2 comments

Spiced (and Slightly Salted) Hot Chocolate

Spiced (and Slightly Salted) Hot Chocolate
A freezing cold afternoon plus one trying-to-avoid-too-much-caffeine-mother and a grumpy-from-her-nap-toddler. The only solution? Two cups of warming Spiced Hot Chocolate. When I was in college, a mug of this – made with lots of Bournville chocolate – plus a croissant was counted as a meal. I got...
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Posted on Nov 9, 2011 in Kitchen | 4 comments

I Am of Ireland

I Am of Ireland
I love using handcrafted things in the kitchen.  This espresso cup is a piece of Ardmore Pottery, a souvenir that I couldn’t resist buying after we had a Very Lovely Lunch at the Cliff House Hotel during the summer. I love its sea-green colour, how the curves fit to my hand and the fact that it is...
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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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Posted on Jun 23, 2011 in Bake, Kitchen | 13 comments

Equipment review: kMix from Kenwood

Equipment review: kMix from Kenwood
During the three months that I spent at Ballymaloe Cookery School, I saw Kenwood mixers – the workhorses of the kitchen – put up a lot of punishment. Mixing cakes from morning to night? Not a bother. Making the finest mashed potatoes known to cookery school? In minutes. Kneading bread dough was just...
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Posted on May 17, 2011 in Eating Out, Storecupboard Specials | 8 comments

Eat Only Irish: Cork buffalo mozzarella and La Cucina’s Irish menu

Eat Only Irish: Cork buffalo mozzarella and La Cucina’s Irish menu
Eat Only Irish? Why of course, when you can pick up the most amazing Irish buffalo mozzarella in Cork’s English Market. The Real Olive Company stall has just started selling the creamiest balls of mozzarella made using raw milk from a herd of water buffalo which are based on the Lynch farm near...
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Posted on Apr 13, 2011 in Cook, Storecupboard Specials | 2 comments

Moving time: Sausage and Bean Hotpot

Moving time: Sausage and Bean Hotpot
Moving house is never fun, even if it’s only for a few months while the cottage gets a long-overdue extension and insulation fit out. I know it will be worth it in the end but sometimes it’s hard to see that when surrounded by boxes and a Little Missy determined to unpack as quickly as you pack...
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Posted on Jan 18, 2011 in Bake, Kitchen | 10 comments

Your daily (Doodle) bread

Your daily (Doodle) bread
This baking event was a long time in the planning. Little Missy and I had been sent a Doodle Bread kit to try out before Christmas and, after watching the super-speedy how to video online, we were dying to try it out. The cold weather, however, combined with a non-centrally heated cottage meant ridiculously...
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Posted on Nov 18, 2010 in Grow, Storecupboard Specials | 2 comments

Winter Warmers: Sloe Gin

Winter Warmers: Sloe Gin
A winter warmer? It’s just got to be Sloe Gin. The first time I tasted it was in 2002 when the then Boyfriend and I were staying with the IT Specialist near Cambridge and an unlabeled bottle was produced late at night. I savoured every last drop and remembered enough the next day to ask our friend for...
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Posted on Apr 6, 2010 in Storecupboard Specials | 4 comments

Kanturk black pudding

Kanturk black pudding
Any trip to Kanturk is a good excuse to call into McCarthy’s Butchers and see what new treat Jack McCarthy has dreamed up for his many meat-loving customers. I can’t resist the air-dried Sliabh Luachra Beef scattered over big bowls of salad leaves with shavings of parmesan and the North Cork...
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Posted on Nov 23, 2009 in Grow, Storecupboard Specials, Work | 0 comments

EveryMonday.ie: In a bit of a pickle

EveryMonday.ie: In a bit of a pickle
If you grow your own fruit and veg, you can turn your garden gluts into winter treats. Caroline Hennessy has some useful tips and a few straightforward recipes for pickles and chutneys on EveryMonday.ie. Growing your own fruits or vegetables is very satisfying. However, you will invariably end up with 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 Aug 19, 2009 in Kitchen, Life, Lovely Lunches, Travel | 5 comments

Have spork, will travel

Have spork, will travel
Last year, on a trip to London, I picked up a spork – a light plastic utensil which features a spoon at one end, fork at the other and serrated knife edge on the fork side – in a kitchenware shop and I’ve rarely been without it since. The last quarter of 2008 was taken up with train trips...
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Posted on Aug 8, 2009 in Cook, Storecupboard Specials | 0 comments

Old Millbank Smokehouse Smoked Trout and Lemon Pasta Salad

Old Millbank Smokehouse Smoked Trout and Lemon Pasta Salad
When we had the Mallow Farmers’ Market taking place outside Urru last summer, I never missed the chance to pick up a pack of Old Millbank Smokehouse hot smoked trout from Geraldine Bass. Saturday mornings in work were always busy so I had to watch for a gap between customers to make a dive out of the...
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Posted on Feb 24, 2009 in Cook, Storecupboard Specials | 2 comments

Time for pancakes! Irish Pancake recipe

I have loved Pancake Tuesday ever since I was a child, standing on a chair so I could reach the cooker to make stacks and stacks of pancakes. It sometimes took a long time before the family was satiated! Since those crêpe-making days, the thinner the better, I’ve become a fan of fluffy American...
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Posted on Jul 29, 2008 in Kitchen | 0 comments

Morning eggs

Morning eggs
While we were away in France, we were lucky enough to have my Naas Cousin come to house- and chicken-sit for a few days. Not only did she take extraordinarily good care of the place and livestock, she also left us a gift of the cutest pair of dozy bear eggcups. Boiled eggs will simply never be the same...
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