Yes, it’s true ladies and gents, we are set to open a second outlet on 26 Paul st in early december! Modelled on our blackrock shop, get set for all the same luscious cakes, gourmet sandwiches and handmade organic breads. We’ll also have limited seating available for those rainy lunchtimes!  Continue reading »

Much as we abhor the commercialism rampant at this time of year, with Christmas advertising going up in cork the second the halloween tat comes down, we’re forced to start thinking of christmas early, as we begin to bake our delicious range of christmas cakes in october!! Handmade, with a full bottle of brandy inebriating each batch, we allow our cakes to mature in the time-honoured way….  Continue reading »

This is just a reminder that there is just over a week to go before I do a round-up of the Ice Cream Party, so start making ice cream! The idea of this is to help me test recipes for our upcoming cookbook. Anyone who wants to take part, see here. Thanks to everyone who has sent something in already!
Technorati tags: test, food event, ice cream, cookbook, recipe.  Continue reading »

Photo courtesy of istockphoto.com
I think I’m crazy, and somewhat psychic (no need to answer to that).
I’ve had a genuine craving for rice pudding all week and I have no idea where it came from. And the strange thing is, this has happened to me before. I have a history of sudden rice pudding cravings.  Continue reading »

Sheltering from the rain on Wednesday evening, I stopped off at Enowine in Dublin’s IFSC and just happened to try 5 reds from Italy.

Epicuro Primitivo di Manduria 2004, €11.99
Comignole Chianti Classico 2003, €18.99
Camporosso La Marcellina 2004, €24.99
Poliziano Rosso di Montepuliciano 2005, €16.99
La Serra Valpolicella Classico 2004, €12.99

Epicuro Primitivo di Manduria (€11.99)
This one is made from the Primitivo grape (also known as Zinfandel in the US).  Continue reading »

Craving that rarest of commodities in West Kerry – trees, we went off for a walk yesterday in Glenteenesig Woods.
Located on the Tralee side of Castlegregory, and maintained by Coilte, there is a sign for it on the main road at Aughacasla. Turn, and after a 4km drive, you will reach the entrance.
There are three parking lots – one at the entrance, one at the first lake, and one at the second lake.  Continue reading »

Photo partially courtesy to istockphoto.com
Excuse me readers while I partake in a little bit of a rant. And I’m sorry to say, David Lebovitz, that it was inspired by your post.
I HATE WHEN PEOPLE PUT MARSHMALLOWS ON SWEET POTATOES.
Whew. Ok thanks, I feel a little bit better.
But seriously, there are tons of recipes out there like Sweet Potato Casserole or this Holiday Sweet Potato Bake that just douse their precious sweet potatoes in sugary, gloppy marshmallow goop.  Continue reading »

My cupboards have been cleaned out, everything that was two years past it’s best before date has been tossed and it’s my 100th post today! Who would have thought I’d have a hundred things to say, and a few people willing to read them. I’ve met some amazing new people, both virtually and in reality, got to chat about food without putting anyone into a coma and I’ve eaten a lot of chocolate.  Continue reading »

No, not more Jimi Hendrix – not that sort of feedback – rather, the conversation with our customers that is one of the incentives to keep the old blog glowing in the grate.
We recently, and without much fanfare, as you will understand, increased our handling charge, which applies to orders smaller than twelve bottles, to €25.  Continue reading »

Beaujolais Nouveau, harvested only a mere couple of months ago, is now available for drinking. Normally, wine takes a little longer to do it’s thing, i.e. ferment and age but Beaujolais Nouveau is a little different.
According to Brad Prescott over at IntoWine
Beaujolais Nouveau is as about as close to white wine as a red wine can get.  Continue reading »

Last night I opened yet another Philippe Chavy Puligny ‘Corves Des Vignes’ 2005 which was immaculate! I don’t think I could ask for more from a white wine. On the eyes it was a very light golden with an impressive viscosity. Initially it started out very tight with chalky flinty citrus aromas and similar suave, fruity minerality on the palate. After a minute or two this started opening up revealing rich butter, melons and peaches but always on a strong undercurrent of acidity.  Continue reading »

Web 2.0 + wine = Wine 2.0. First up is a quick review of Bottletalk.com, a site based out of the UK.

At a glance
Looking over the Bottletalk site, it offers three simple things:

Add wine to your profile: allows you to keep a wine diary or journal
Share wine with your friends (the social network)
Explore wine: browse other drinkers’ wine by “wine tags” (another aspect of the social network)

To be fair, it does all three reasonably well.  Continue reading »

Photo courtesy of sxc.hu
I thought I’d seen it all. You know…potato forks, corn spoons (well actually, corn everything for that matter). But I never would have thought the world would come to this.
Yes, pretty soon, a region in Ontario, Canada will be using grapes to power their homes. A nearby winery will provide grapeskins that will be converted into energy, and residents of Niagara will be able to say they’re reading my blog post thanks to grapes.  Continue reading »

This last post should conclude my research about food and gluten intolerance. I would like in this last article to talk briefly about three minor type of flour that are extracted from unusual sources: chestnuts, coconuts and sago.
Since prehistory, chestnuts have been dried and ground into flour and used in the same way that starchy cereals are.  Continue reading »

I must get around to letting you know about our new arrivals from Spain, and, by the way, we’re getting in some posh Bordeaux for Christmas too. We also have some samples to review that have been with us rather a long while.
Not to mention a flying visit by two of our suppliers to Cork next week. Watch this space, and in the meantime we’ll laisser les bons temps rouler with Buckwheat Zydeco, 60 today.  Continue reading »

Via Maurice Chittenden in the Times (UK), Hugh Johnson, author of the World Atlas of Wine, has stated that vintages (good years to you and I) are a thing of the past.
From the article, quoting Johnson’s 2008 Pocket Wine book
Johnson, 68, says that wine growers have developed so many clever techniques to compensate for bad weather or disease ruining their crops that almost any year is a perfectly good one for drinkers.  Continue reading »

I really wanted spaghetti squash. Shuffling through the grocery store aisles on Sunday with the rest of the masses preparing for the week (why do I keep doing that? You’d think I would learn…), the only cohesive meal idea that I could fathom mustering the energy for was spaghetti squash. I got all excited about sauteeing some mushrooms, dousing it in olive oil and grating fresh parmesan on top. No such luck.  Continue reading »

 Our best-selling ice cream in our shops is Honeycomb crunchy caramel (this ice cream flavour originates in New Zealand, where they call it “hokey pokey“), and last night I set about final testing on the recipe for the crunchy bits that make it so distinctive. Known also as “cinder toffee” and “sponge candy,” it is as actually quite easy to make.
By the way, if anyone knows who invented the candy, please pass it on!  Continue reading »

Photo courtesy of sxc.hu
Believe it or not, this Thursday marks the halfway point of November. And that means the end of fall is creeping up before we know it. And with the end of fall, comes the end of…
PUMPKIN SEASON!
Just like summer’s end brings desperate attempts to cook with fresh tomatoes and zucchini, for me the end of fall means its time to savor the pumpkin before they’re all gone.
So I’m declaring a challenge.  Continue reading »

I wanted to do something from Kieran’s list at Ice cream Ireland and I decided upon cinnamon ice cream.
I love cinnamon with it’s warm wintery taste and aroma and I love ice cream, as does most of the civilised world I imagine. I do like ice cream on it’s own but I prefer to have something with it.  Continue reading »