BYO – Would You ?
This is an issue that I have been thinking about for a while now. In a country where we pay through the nose for our vino with some of the highest duty rates in Europe, if you deceide to head out for dinner you often times end up paying €30 for what is a €9.99 bottle of wine.
As a wine geek it can be hugely frustrating to look at a wine list and now that you are being hosed on the corkage rates.  Continue reading »

Like most people, I never win anything; chiefly, in my case, because I never enter anything. Competitions are just data harvesters,

aren’t they? I’m putting in the picture above, from Martin Pettit’s flickr stream, because today I’m at the Suffolk Show, which is one of my very most favourite places to be.
However, I did win a prize from MenuPages.ie just recently in exchange for a mere few lazy clicks of a mouse.  Continue reading »

Those of you who aren’t boycotting Tesco might be interested in this offer: 1c delivery on online grocery shopping until Friday.  Go to www.tesco.ie to do your shopping and place your order.
There’s also a voucher for €5 off online shopping that can be used after this offer has expired.  It runs from the 1st to…  Continue reading »

I’ve added quite a few links over there on the left of late, so I’ll take you through a few of them. I’m not going to hyperlink them in this, as they are linked over there.
First up, foodinfo.net. Very comprehensive, like a completely reliable wikipedia when it comes to the facts on food, from a technical perspective at least. From possibly Europe’s top agri-food academic institution, Wageningen University.  Continue reading »

If moping around the house still wondering how the hell Leinster beat Munster in the European Cup semi, let alone won the damn thing is getting tiring, then you should really consider the Curious wines New Zealand wine tasting event on Friday, 5th of June from 7.30pm.
All the details are over on the curious wines website.  Continue reading »

I’m just back from Cork, had a great weekend and naturally, eating and drinking was the focus of my visit there. I’ve been hearing about the English Market for years, saw Rick Stein heaping praise on it and including it in his “Food Heroes” series. All I can say is “wow”. If this market was in Dublin, I’d be in there every day, it really is something special.  Continue reading »

The guilty gourmets
They may extol the virtues of fine ingredients, but even for committed foodies, sometimes only a treat will do, says Declan Cashin

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No time? Try these… natural born fillers
A taste for life
A day in the life: East Cork
Take five: Cookery schools
Rural areas need local food markets, says Darina Allen
A Chinese feast that's fit for an Ox
Why not reach for the stars?  Continue reading »

The Indo has a feature today on guilty pleasure food.  They’ve asked a number of food writers, chefs and two of our favourite food bloggers: Donal of Good Mood Food and Val of Val’s Kitchen.
Donal flies the flag for bacon fries and waffles:
Nothing can satisfy my craving for junk food more than Bacon Fries: they…  Continue reading »

Mornings have gotten spicier in recent times, not to mention more chocolaty, as I’ve been using some of Carluccio’s hot chilli oil to fry my breakfast egg (ah, maternity leave: time – Little Missy willing – for a full breakfast!) and grating lots of birthday cacao over. Mouthfuls of intense, savoury yumminess, and plenty of lovely runny egg yoke, courtesy of our ever-productive hens, to mop up with homemade Fennel-Aniseed-Caraway Bread.  Continue reading »

Chilli Con Carne is the perfect food for cooking in advance – storing it overnight seems to deepen and enhance the flavours. It also freezes well and is so versatile that it’s handy in small quantities for lunch. There are lots of special offers on mince around at the moment, so it’s a good time…  Continue reading »

Centra are running a number of special offers from now until Saturday June 13, including:
Lunch Deal: Centra Good to Go Lasagne, Centra Good to Go Wedges, and a can of Coke: €4
Evening Meal: Centra Cheese Pizza/ Pepperoni Pizza, Centra Steakhouse Chips, and Centra Garlic Toasties: €5
Freshly brewed coffee and a bag of Maltesers: €2
I really…  Continue reading »

Picnics: cheap as chips and easy to assemble. I’m 28 now, but when I was a kid, a clear sky on a summer’s morning meant one thing. Picnic on Silver Strand. My folks would make some rashers, sausages, and coleslaw, squeeze some orange juice, and grab a few baps, packets of Tayto, and my two…  Continue reading »

 
 
As I'm still camera-less I'm using this picture from a year ago that I never got around to posting, but seasons coming around full circle as seasons do it seemed a fitting time to post this bruschetta recipe that uses fresh broad beans and peas.  
I started tailgating the grow-your-own bandwagon last year and I managed to harvest just enough broad beans and peas from my growbag to make a bruschetta lunch for one.  Continue reading »

Sunday Business Post – Tomas Clancy
TO TRY:Di Paolo Prosecco NV, €11 from Donnybrook Fair outlets in Donnybrook, Dublin 4; Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 2; Terenure, Dublin 6w and Greystones, Co Wicklow (87)

When trying prosecco, leave aside any comparisons with champagne, because prosecco makers are not trying to compete with their French counterparts. The grapes and entire winemaking process for each are very different. The grape is the prosecco, not chardonnay or pinot noir.  Continue reading »

Personally, I consider dishwashing machines and satellite television an uncomfortably athletic stone’s throw beyond where I’m at with regard to technology: unreliable boasting apparatus for the uncontrollably affluent, something right-thinking people should steer well clear of if they don’t wish to draw suspicion upon themselves, &c. &c.  Continue reading »

What about this for smart packaging. The GTS Elderton Shiraz celebrates the life of the late Neal Ashmead, a passionate South Australian wine man who had a lust for wine and a love of fast cars.

The stand-out label consists of go-fast stripes and shark gills, with a winner wreath neck-label and a gear stick screwcap completing the package. Very cool indeed.

Thanks to @damienmulley for tweeting this. The article and many other interesting packaging designs can be found here.  Continue reading »

Irish Times – John Wilson
Yellowtail Shiraz, South-Eastern Australia 2007, 13.5%, €9.99.
One of the wines that launched Yellow Tail. The fairly obvious oak flavours and sweetly fruity finish give it mass-appeal and, key for a successful brand, there is nothing that might offend. I can see this being guzzled at plenty of barbecues this summer. Stockists:Tesco, O’Briens, Dunnes Stores, Londis, SuperValu, Centra, Spar, Molloys, Kiely’s Mount Merrion; DrinkStore Stoneybatter.  Continue reading »

According to today’s Irish Times, those bowsies at Tesco have rearranged some of their stores to give less shelf space to Irish brands.  No big surprises there, we’re all aware of Tesco’s plans to cut costs by using fewer Irish suppliers.  However, you may be surprised to find out how much it’s already impacting on…  Continue reading »

Last week, our reader Sinead sent us in this picture, asking: “Could it be a record? More importantly – would you eat one?”
We’ve written before about Londis in Sandyford Industrial  Estate; their offers change every week. Is this offer indeed a record, or have any readers spotted cheaper in other delis or convenience stores around…  Continue reading »

All of us food bores know that real shepherd’s pie is made with minced lamb. If it’s made with beef, it’s cottage pie. According to the ever-reliable (!) Wikipedia, the term “cottage pie” has been around since 1791, where leftover beef would be used by the poor cottage-dwellers as a pie filling. “Shepherds pie” came along about a hundred years later, as a cheekily-named lamb equivalent.  Continue reading »