Those long uneven linesStanding as patientlyAs if they were stretched outsideThe Oval or Villa Park,The crowns of hats, the sunOn moustached archaic facesGrinning as if it were allAn August Bank Holiday lark;…The tin advertisementsFor cocoa and twist, and the pubsWide open all day;– Philip Larkin, MCMXIV
Since the pubs were open all day, it’s perfectly possible that Larkin’s fresh-faced new recruits to the British Expeditionary Force had adjourned for a celebratory beer before the ink was dry on their enlistment papers. Continue reading »
Published December 24th, 2008
Lidl Wine Series with Robertfranciswine.ie
Loyal followers of robertfranciswine.ie will be aware of my recent Lidl Wine videos. However if you have missed them
(a) where have you been ?
(b) click here to work your way through them ! The overall quality was mixed but them the price ranges started from €6.99 up so that is probably to be expected. Continue reading »
Published December 24th, 2008
Published December 23rd, 2008
Published December 23rd, 2008
Here’s an interesting podcast about drink. Worth an hour of most of your time, just to give some perspective amidst the seasonal whatitsname. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
[Photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen]
It’s only the third night of Hanukkah and I’ve been eating latkes (potato pancakes) left and right. Unlike my latke diaries last year, this year I’ve had the pleasure of chowing down on homemade latkes made from fresh potatoes instead of a mix. But since latkes can vary in so many ways – the chef, the method, the potatoes, the oil – it’s time I narrowed down which kind I like best. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
Bloggers Xmas Party
On the 16th of December Niall Harbison from ifoods.tv held the first annual Bloggers Xmas Party. As if Niall wasn’t busy enough with ifoods and feeding most of corporate Dublin Niall opened up his apartment and more importantly his fridge to feed 40 people. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
*Note: Just found this old blog, I’m posting it for the sake of it, even though the post was never really finished…I’m a lazy blogger. The odd time I get a post together I rely on pictures to do the talking. I’d like to write lots and lots about the more interesting things I get up to every so often (just for future reference) but I get so lethargic….it’s just about all I can do to do a quick. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
Some pictures from a dinner a few weeks backs here in Killarney. We usually have a night of nice wines and food that quickly descends into a raucous booze up culminating in various shapes being thrown in Killarney hot spots like the Cube or the Grand. Well this year was no different although there was a reduced number of participants, myself and the other writer of this rarely updated missive. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
It seems that even offers of free advertising are not incentive enough for retailers to consider lowering their euro prices to their sterling equivalents.
MediaContact.ie wrote yesterday about an intriguing offer from Q102:
Dublin’s Q102, which recently promised a free week long Christmas advertising campaign to the first store to convert sterling to euro accurately, has reported… Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
Margaret River Tasting
I have finally posted my notes for the Margaret River tasting that John Mc Donnell from Wine Australia organised in Dublin in November 08.
The wines on display really did an excellent job of representing what is one of my favourite wine regions and with Cliff Royle walking us through the wines with excellent local information it was a really enjoyable tasting.
Click here for my notes.
Huge thanks to John and Cliff for all of their hard work and interesting wines. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
Having taken a few days off; in order to finish a massive order of personalised Christmas, Birthday and Wedding Cards I am back with vengeance! Yesterday I received an e-mail from BJK; which to be honest is highly appropriate, considering that nobody in this household enjoys doing the washing-up.
Where Fly Lady has failed to re-train entrenched habits and motivate this family the Telegraph may have come up with the answer. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
Click here to view the embedded video.
In the penultimate wine video of my wine series on Lidl wines I taste a South Eastern Australian Shiraz which retails for €6.99.
Food wise Shiraz is a good partner to lamb, turkey, chicken, sausages, bbq food !
Check it out and see ya next time on robertfranciswine.ie. Continue reading »
Published December 23rd, 2008
Superquinn is not usually noted for its cheapness, but they have been running a novelty offer since October where selected items have been marked with their 1970s prices.
For 50c:
Jacobs Cream Crackers
Dairygold
Johnston Mooney & O’ Brien bread
For €1:
Kittensoft Thirst Pockets Kitchen Roll
Nescafe Gold Blend
Dubliner Cheese
According to Superquinn, customers buying all the marked-down produce will save €125. … Continue reading »
Published December 22nd, 2008
We were thrilled with the wee mention of Foodtalk in Saturday’s Irish Times – click here to read the piece and see another picture of Kieran and Sean Murphy’s cutest little ice cream snowmen. Continue reading »
Published December 22nd, 2008
We were thrilled with the wee mention of Foodtalk in Saturday’s Irish Times – click here to read the piece and see another picture of Kieran and Sean Murphy’s cutest little ice cream snowmen. Continue reading »
Published December 22nd, 2008
The Chili Club, just off South Anne St in Dublin, was Ireland’s first Thai restaurant. I’d been meaning to go for a while, and finally ate there last Saturday week. I was enticed by the online dinner menu on their website, www.chiliclub.ie, with an extensive selection of curries, seafood and meat dishes priced from €16.50… Continue reading »
Published December 22nd, 2008
Before I start my annual christmas list to santy, if you are interested in accessing the most recent organic steering committee report, it’s available here
(Pic is from young greens site of a green santy on grafton street)
for the previous wish list, click here
Now for the serious stuff:
Dear SantyWow. What a year eh? A real ‘may you live in interesting times’ of a year. I’m writing this to you from a state of mild confusion. Continue reading »
Published December 22nd, 2008
Just got a tip from our reader Maria Crispy that Marks & Spencer will be doing a ‘Party In’ promotion on December 29th and 30th, offering three packs of party food and a bottle of wine or cava for €12.50.
They’re also still handing out the vouchers that we mentioned before, for use on selected dates… Continue reading »
Published December 22nd, 2008
Like any good Irish household butter was a huge staple in the fridge as it was in our house. Butter on freshly boiled potatoes was the business and then margarine arrived on the scene and there was this hype about how much better is was for you. I thought it tasted like Castrol oil.
The reason for this very insightful piece of scripture? I came across an article in the LA Times last week about which is better for baking, Butter or Margarine? Continue reading »
Published December 22nd, 2008
