I have been an OFM reader since the very beginning. It is edited by my favourite cookery writer, Nigel Slater. I love the fact that his writing is descriptive and contains wonderful imagery whilst still retaining a veil over his own life. This recipe comes from Allegra McEvedy in last Sunday’s edition. The original was suggested as a lunch dish, I added the chicken to make it a bit more filling for dinner time.  Continue reading »

Mine are. Because they’re from the Twisted Sister bakery on Wells Street in Chicago. And before you start with the, “Not another cupcake blog,” hear me out. There are many, many reasons why I love Twisted Sister and I’ll make it easy for you with this itemized list:

It’s 2 blocks from my apartment
They stay open until 10:00 p.m.  Continue reading »

The comment below is from Bioforce (the company who make Echinaforce and other helpful herbs). It is based on news in the papers in England but we think it is just as applicable over here…
Helping Heart Health
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England is urging GPs to prescribe more statins to patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. An extra 1.5 million people are going to be identified as potentially benefitting from these drugs.  Continue reading »

A friend of mine from Finland is paying me a visit next week and just thinking about his visit brought back memories of one of the most amazing burgers I’ve ever seen. I was in Finland last summer at a wedding and while in Helsinki we visited a burger restaurant. They had a burger called the Empire State Burger on the menu which was basically 3 burgers on top of each other! It’s apparently the largest commercial burger available in Europe.  Continue reading »

Two or three years ago, while fairly new to retirement, I picked up a copy of our local free paper, Waterford Today, and while flicking through it my eye landed on a recipe which was sitting there, incongrously, for Canadian Salmon.
It was clear that they were picking up recipes from some American syndication.
Instantly aggrivated I phoned them and complained, and, furthermore, offered my services for recipes with a local relevance.  Continue reading »

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It's Royal Foodie Joust time again! This month the ingredients were picked by Erin (The Skinny Gourmet) and were apricot, ginger and butter. Now these just scream dessert to me but I'm trying to avoid too many desserts at the minute so the thinking cap went on for a dinner dish - I actually fell asleep one night thinking through lots of ideas and woke up knowing exactly what I was going to do! Weird huh? I don't know how exactly I decided to make an apricot and cranberry chicken kiev but I have to say it was delicious. I made it for dinner tonight and loved it! (I left out the apricot and cranberry filling for hubby though - have I mentioned that he's picky? lol). My photos don't show the filling too well unfortunately but trust me it's there.

It’s Royal Foodie Joust time again! This month the ingredients were picked by Erin (The Skinny Gourmet) and were apricot, ginger and butter. Now these just scream dessert to me but I’m trying to avoid too many desserts at the minute so the thinking cap went on for a dinner dish – I actually fell asleep one night thinking through lots of ideas and woke up knowing exactly what I was going to do! Weird huh?  Continue reading »

Banana is a wonderful egg replacement. Every time I bake relying on oil and rising agents it scares me a little, especially as I still do a lot of guess work when it comes to the length of time that something takes to cook. This means there is an inevitable point where I have to open the over door and take a peak, or poke a knife in. All the while losing precious heat and rise.  Continue reading »

Our half-acre plot is surrounded by mature trees, including several elders that are currently blossoming in a profusion of heady-smelling, cream-coloured flowerheads. Rather than just admiring them this year and thinking – afterwards, of course – that I should have made elderflower cordial, last weekend I dug out my recipe, buckets and ingredients, made a special trip to the chemist for citric acid, picked a selection of the flowers and had it made in minutes.  Continue reading »

Our half-acre plot is surrounded by mature trees, including several elders that are currently blossoming in a profusion of heady-smelling, cream-coloured flowerheads. Rather than just admiring them this year and thinking – afterwards, of course – that I should have made elderflower cordial, last weekend I dug out my recipe, buckets and ingredients, made a special trip to the chemist for citric acid, picked a selection of the flowers and had it made in minutes.  Continue reading »

If you’ve been a fan of Deborah’s Humble Housewife blog – she’s now blogging at taste.ie – check out her new venture at the beautifully designed Spicendipity, which sells a selection of spice mixes, sauces and baking mixes, alongside some gorgeous gift baskets. Press release below….  Continue reading »

If you’ve been a fan of Deborah’s Humble Housewife blog – she’s now blogging at taste.ie – check out her new venture at the beautifully designed Spicendipity, which sells a selection of spice mixes, sauces and baking mixes, alongside some gorgeous gift baskets. Press release below….  Continue reading »

From time to time, wines that we bring in to Ireland crop up in the pages of Decanter, the English wine magazine, and it’s always interesting to see what that very well respected periodical has to say about them.  Continue reading »

I’ve been on a bit of a summer kick lately (I wonder why?) and one of the ingredients I associate most with summer is fresh herbs. Ah yes…remember that herb garden I wanted to start last year? Well it’s on its way and I’ve already found a delicious way to put these herbs to good use.
Introducing: herb butter. A simple idea (just mix in some herbs with butter) for a meal enhancement that you might become addicted to.  Continue reading »

 Congratulations to Stephen Morrisey over at Flying Thud who won the World Barista Championship. It’s a mighty achievement, and you can read about it here…
Technorati tags: barista, coffee, championship, world.  Continue reading »

I was just surfing around on the net and I stumbled across this article. It’s an absolute genius trick which I tried at the weekend, more out of curiosity than necessity, and it worked a treat. So, if you get the chance to get the BBQ going this summer this might come in very handy indeed.  Continue reading »

As I cruised around the web looking for celebrity homes, er I mean chef stuff, I came across this video. I’m not sure how many of you saw this on CNN  but it’s well worth a gander. This would never fly here in the States or in a lot of other places for that matter but I can’t help but think, what if….
If companies in the U.S. were forced to pay fines for every employee deemed over-weight, would they invest in helping them lose weight?  Continue reading »

this weekend, the inaugural All-Ireland Farmers’ Market Competition is on. For more on it, go to this new enviro blog I’m involved in. You could also download a form to enter, even at this late stage, here. (Scroll down a wee bit!)
Finally, why not try to get down to the south east this weekend for a foodie fest in Strawberry country?  Continue reading »

I was at Lou Reed in The Marquee in Cork last night. There was a big Budweiser Tent. I know that this is too big for The Beer Revolution to fight but my complaint is quite specific. I grudgingly accept that bars at big events like this are going to be dominated by the multinational breweries. I know that there will be no real choice.  Continue reading »

I’ve been talking about it for months, but now it’s finally here.  Spicendipity is officially LIVE!   Specialising in a range of all-natural spice mixes and baking mixes along with finally bottling my famous barbecue sauce, Spicendipity aims to help you speed things up in the kitchen without introducing food additives to your family.  The official press release is here.  Continue reading »