Isn’t the weather dreadful……and I have lots on that is ‘al fresco’….

The Taste of Cork is kicking off today at the City Gaol. I will be there tomorrow and hopefully manage to glance at Gino D’Campo and sample some awesome food.

The Chamber Music Festival starts today in Bantry. This event lasts for 9 days and includes 70 musicians who will perform 35 concerts.

Also this weekend, Mallow Garden Festival…..at the Race Course.  Continue reading »

We were in Corsica for Easter about ten years ago and on Good Friday we found in the local shop that there was a biscuit which, like the Hot Crossed Bun, was special to the day. We discovered from the shopkeeper that this was a type of shortbread made with a combination of ordinary flour and semolina and flavoured with fennel seeds.
We bought some and tried them, and found them interesting, but a bit dry.  Continue reading »

An Grianán, the health food shop in Dingle, has renovated and added a few tables for lunch. It’s a welcome change from the usual fare, with a small but tasty selection of organic food and freshly squeezed juices.
Today, to escape the pelting rain, we went in for a vegetable curry and an omelette with asparagus salad. Everything was delicious.
An Grianán, if you don’t know it, is just off Green Street in the centre of town.
It’s worth a visit!  Continue reading »

With news of a recession in Ireland being officially announced this week we were approached by RTE(RTE 6 News on Friday evening) news to film a piece on how tech might be one of the sectors that could ride it out and possibly prosper during a recession. With the Irish economy heading into some very choppy waters the tech sector might be the one saving grace.  Continue reading »

A few weeks ago I was merrily congratulating myself on having survived a bad case of blogger’s block. Unfortunately my words were issued rather too soon; things went from bad to not so bad to worse again.The problem? It’s not so much that I have blogger’s block; it’s more a case of too much going on inside this pretty little head of mine, time management has never been my strong point. There is too much blog-worthy material in my life at the moment!  Continue reading »

Sunflower oil spray, less than one CAL, from Dunnes Store, 1,80 euro. There is also an olive oil spray extension. Click for enlarge; more pictures, here.
So, what do you think? Hot or not?  Continue reading »

Belfast is now in the midst of a ‘gourmet burger’ bar frenzy. Tonight sees the official opening of Gourmet Burger Bank (a few doors up from the Bot on the Malone Road) and I’ve had a post on here to say that Relish has been taken over and reopens on July 1. The new manager seems to be much more in tune with making sure customers are happy.  Continue reading »

The trouble with running an event for getting through your list of bookmarked recipes is that it seems to add more recipes to my must make list and this was one of them.
For bookmarked recipes 7 Deeba had sent in Zebra Cake. I loved how this looked and how simple it looked to make compared to how complicated it looked!!!! I loved the simplicity of this but also the novelty so I just had to make it.  Continue reading »

I just saw this post by Mike Butcher on Techcrunch UK and thought it was worth a mention. I feel sorry for these guys, they’re trying to add value to their service and increase the user experience and all they get is grief for it. It just shows how the net is changing and it’s users are becoming more demanding all the time.  Continue reading »

It’s almost the end of June so this is my penultimate post in celebration of the Strawberry for 2008.

I have started almost every day this month with a Strawberry smoothie and on the Sunny evenings I have been treating myself to these ice pops. Lets hope that the sun shows it’s face again soon so that I can continue to enjoy this summer treat.  Continue reading »

It’s almost the end of June so this is my penultimate post in celebration of the Strawberry for 2008.

I have started almost every day this month with a Strawberry smoothie and on the Sunny evenings I have been treating myself to these ice pops. Lets hope that the sun shows it’s face again soon so that I can continue to enjoy this summer treat.  Continue reading »

If I won the lottery tomorrow, the first thing I would do is take a prolonged culinary tour around Asia.  Apart from seaweed (Yes, I hate Nori and hence California rolls) there is very little I dislike about Asian food.  Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Indonesian and Korean foods are a joy to eat and experiment with.  I picture myself visiting these countries and not going to Michelin starred restaurants, but to people’s homes – all Anthony Bourdain style – tasting things that I would never otherwise have the opportunity to.  Continue reading »

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Bubble Brothers is having a great competition in conjunction with Dublin’s delectable Cafe Mao and the yummy green tea infused Iki Beer.  Go enter!
Would you love to grow your own vegetables but don’t have the space? Think again, Urban Gardening Help has some fantastic advice for those of you in small spaces.
Can prison food be unconstitutionally bad? This is an interesting article looking at prison food in the USA including a Nutraloaf cook-off.  Continue reading »

Having read about the pending closure of a Dublin wine shop, an article on the demise of the independent bookshop by Peter Merholz, and the perennial problem of commoditisation, I began thinking about parallels with the wine world.
On the demise of the independent bookshop
From Peter Merholz over on the Adaptive Path blog and the demise of the independent bookstore (Cody’s in San Francisco).  Continue reading »

Konichi wa, possums!  We have a very tasty competition for you.
As you may know, Bubble Brothers are the Irish importers of iKi beer, the beer with not only

but also

in it.

The increasing demand for this stylish refreshment means that we are now delighted to be supplying Café Mao, who have three branches in and around Dublin: Chatham Row in the centre, Dundrum shopping centre and on the seafront in Dun Laoghaire.  Continue reading »

Just a quick note…Started my new job yesterday and it is going well.
When I came home last night I made a BBQ sauce (having a big BBQ on Sunday) but it didn’t thicken enough. So I will try a different approach tonight….Any ideas????  Continue reading »

I love puff pastry, anything light and fluffy that you can fill with gushy food and tasty sauce is awesome. This is the second time that Nick and I made these, and unfortunately we bought the teeny wee puff pastries instead of the large ones. Still, they tasted great, and I’ll defiantly make them for the next dinner party. They’re super omni-friendly and easy to make buckets of.  Continue reading »

We could not be more excited to guest host one of our favorite blog events this Friday: Presto Pasta Nights! This genius event founded by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast rounds up all the delicious pasta dishes we food bloggers feasted on during the past week. How drool-worthy is that?
So in short, if you’ve made any tasty pasta dishes this week, send them our way!  Continue reading »

Ingredients for the mushroom risotto (for two people)

1 white onion, finely diced
2 sticks of celery, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
About 500ml of chicken stock
Dried porcini mushrooms (about 10-15g)
Parmesan cheese, grated
Olive oil
Thyme
Salt and Pepper
2 shots of vodka (or a glass of white wine if you’re a purist)

Making the risotto
Gently fry celery, onions and garlic
Chop up two sticks of celery (peel them first to get rid of the stringyness), a couple of gloves of garlic and a white onion.  Continue reading »