Let’s not make things complicated this year. The 4th of July is quickly approaching and wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to throw together something simple? Enter: the Quick and Easy 4th of July Menu.  Full of mozzarella skewers, cheeseburgers, potato salads and more, this red-white-and-blue-filled menu will not steer you wrong.
Last minute menu planning for the 4th   is no problem with these fast and simple recipes!  Continue reading »

Irish Times – John Wilson
Wines of the week
Acon Cagua Sauvignon, Central Valley, Chile 2008, 13%, €6.49.
Dunnes did well; plenty of decent wines, and one star, too. Light and crisp, with some Sauvignon character and a deceptively long finish. Good summer drinking with or without food. Stockist: Dunnes Stores.
Wally’s Hut Verdelho, South East Australia 2008, 13.5%, €6.99.  Continue reading »

Last Friday night kicked off in a very light and sophisticated fashion but after about 7 O Clock or so the night descended into a beef fuelled evening of extravagance and it didn’t let up very much when Saturday rolled around either. We started off on Friday at the wonderful Riesling & Co. Wines Of Germany tasting in the Westbury hotel.  Continue reading »

I’m not the most technically minded person myself, but everyone in the blogosphere seems to think very highly of mobile technology, especially in the form of the iPhone and the Blackberry.
We’ve come across an application called Nat Decants Food & Drink Matcher, which can be bought for these mobile gadgets, and allows the user to access a huge range of food and wine matches. Pretty cool I thought.  Continue reading »

The Irish Times reports today that the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Mary Coughlan, has called for the appointment of an ombudsman for food.  The food sector is currently in crisis, with extremely high job losses in the last year, and continuing high costs. There is also the issue, frequently discussed here, of pricing in…  Continue reading »

I stumbled across a good article this morning on Chow about taking photographs in restaurants. I thought it was worth posting a link here. Since I started blogging my restaurant visits I wouldn’t contemplate going to a restaurant without being armed with my trusty Canon. Sad, I know. I’m mindful that it might irritate other diners, snapping every dish that comes my way, but I have set myself some ground rules to avoid causing discomfort to my fellow diners.  Continue reading »

Last night Bubble Brothers were at Café Paradiso in Cork, helping to raise funds for the Cork School Project, which is part of the Educate Together organisation.
I hope those present had as much fun as we did ourselves, as we introduced a selection of wines and told a few stories about them. That was one friendly, intimate, garrulous, relaxing evening.  Continue reading »

On one of my rare trips to Dublin the other day, I was struck by the amount of offers out there. Fast food outlets, food shops, supermarkets, high-end restaurants: they’re everywhere.
Chick King’s new branch, just opened on South Anne St. beside La Cave, has a Mini Chicken Fillet Sandwich Meal for €4.95. Every Tuesday, there’s…  Continue reading »

What with all the burgers, barbeques, and bread, I’ve been making a load of relishes and dips lately. These two are very quick and easy.
I packed some of these relishes into two sterilised Kilner jars and gave them to my dad as a Father’s Day gift. He was hugely skeptical of this “made-up day” but…  Continue reading »

After I went to Kokoro on Liffey St a couple of weeks ago, and wrote that I was underwhelmed by their hot food but perfectly whelmed by their sushi, a few of our readers suggested that we try out Sushi King on Dawson St, Dublin 2.   They have a wide selection of sushi to take…  Continue reading »

There’s a good deal on this week in convenience store Centra, where you can pick up three Centra Pork Loin Chops and two Centra beef burgers for €3.99. Also at Centra, you’ll find some more hot buys, including:
Centra Peach/ Nectarine Punnet – was €2.99, now €1.49
Lily O’Brien 8 Chocolate Collection (90g) – was €4.99, now…  Continue reading »

I wrote a post here a while back about one of the most rubbish offers I’d ever seen heralded by a cafe: €6.75 for scrambled eggs and tea.  I passed by the same cafe the other day and was pleased to see that not only had they taken this ‘offer’ down, but had put up…  Continue reading »

We’re helping to cheer up the Marina Commercial Park.  All the parking stripes and so on have been re-yellow-and-blacked by the landlord in the last week or so, and now we’re doing our bit – as well as hoping to attract the attention of passersby on their way to the Marquee concerts and Pairc Ui Chaoimh, &c.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

Until now, relish was considered a veg at Major League ballparks. Now look how far we’ve come in America’s game! Though I’ve never been to Dodger Stadium, this gives me good reason to start cheering for the men in blue (that’s what they’re called, right?)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy.  Continue reading »

Cascabel is a winery that has intrigued me from day one for being that little bit different. Winemakers and owners Duncan Ferguson and Susana Fernandez use very traditional European wine making techniques in their Australian winery to create a fascinating blend of the Old World and New World.
Susana is originally from Madrid, where she did her studies before gaining experience working in wineries in Trentino and Sicily in Italy, Bordeaux in France and Yarra Valley in Australia.  Continue reading »

Still up north, Sainsbury’s have lowered over 7000 prices. They’ve also got some bargains and special offers:
Nivea Moisturising Sun Lotion (Factor 15/30) – Buy one get one free
Sainsbury’s British Strawberries (454g) – half price – reduced from £3.99 to £2
Sainsbury’s Italian Margerita Pizza (337g) – better than half price – reduced from £3.49 to £1.57
All…  Continue reading »

Tesco fired the opening salvo. Since then, discount warehouse CheepCheep opened, Dunnes  slashed their prices, and the supermarket war heated up. So, is there any need to go north for groceries anymore?
The main players in Northern Ireland’s border areas are Asda and Sainsbury’s. Asda don’t really go in for special offers, instead claiming to focus…  Continue reading »

According to Dunnes, a trolley of their products has now fallen in price from €153.55 to €113.17. Last time I shopped there, I did notice that my bill was a bit cheaper than I expected.
There’s also some new bargains and special offers, including:
Dunnes Stores King Prawns (150g) – €2.49
Yeo Valley Organic Yogurt (400-500g) range –…  Continue reading »

Sunday Business Post – Tomas Clancy
TO TRY: Domaine Laurent Miquel, Nord Sud Viognier 2007 €9, Dunnes Stores nationwide (88)

Radically for a white grape, viogniers’ most important usage comes as a blending grape in the famous Rhone red, Cote-Rotie. Cote-Rotie is a blend of syrah and viognier, and is a rich, red wine with a hint of baked apricots. In Australia, this blend was successfully mimicked in shiraz-viognier blends.  Continue reading »