I was interviewed earlier this year for a blogging feature in Irish Tatler and a few weeks after I was offered the chance to become a regular contributor. This is the recipe I wrote for the October issue!  Continue reading »

The brains behind Bubble Brothers, Karwig Wines and Curious Wines have come together to pull off what will probably be Cork’s best ever consumer wine show.
What’s on offer?
Over two days you can sample more than 100 wines and a selection of some of Cork’s finest food at The Good Wine Show.
Who is it for?  Continue reading »

Mornington Peninsula (Victoria) – Pinot Noir
The signature of Mornington Peninsula (pictured right) is as supple as it is alluring, coaxing light and delicate varietal character from the locally grown Pinot Noir. Appropriately, the region’s wines are also slightly lighter and fresher in colour than its counterparts. Don’t be fooled by this apparent delicacy, as these wines lack nothing in intensity.
Not to be missed: Dexter Chardonnay and Dexter Pinot Noir.  Continue reading »

Rack and shoulder of lamb with a mosaic of ratatouille and cous cous, no less!

By Jacqueline Strawbridge
For their 3rd birthday, The Village at Lyons (Celbridge, Co. Kildare), are offering a yummy three-course meal, plus a bottle of wine, for just €33, from September 30th to October 4th.  Continue reading »

Click here to view the embedded video.

In an ad hoc video I taste a red wine from Kinsale Co. Cork. Yes – you did read that correctly !
As a present from curiousmike – watch the video to see whether I will be unfollowing @curiousmike as a result ?  Continue reading »

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I finally get a minute to sit down to write about Wednesday’s wine tasting in the AGA Shop. This time Bubble Brothers took us along to a tour along the South coast of Australia. Aaron Drummond (Global Brand Manager) & Ryan Morgan (Export Sales UK & Ireland) of the Rathbone Wine Group joined Billy, Julian and Chris of Bubble Brothers.
12 wines were on the list and we worked our way through them – slowly but surely.  Continue reading »

There is a moment in the 2007 children’s movie Ratatouille, where the becloaked, draculesque food critic has his heart of stone broken.

All movie long, Anton Ego destroyed the culinary world of Paris with his scathing reviews. He was the poster boy for fear, his picture plastered onto the walls of every restaurant’s kitchen in the French capital as a warning to staff.  Continue reading »

Let’s cut right to the chase: it’s fall (read: it’s apple season). And that means apples are everywhere! Why not use them in your next delicious dessert concoction? I say we should which is why this autumn-flavored cheesecake recipe from Recipe4Living caught my eye. Not only is it a cheesecake (which in most cases is good enough!) but it incorporates apples and cinnamon in a very delicious way.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

As life would have it, after an excellent first day at college, my Son no.2 announced he had a sore throat and had to be brought to the doc. The joys of parenthood rose up to meet me as I stayed at home and nursed the puddin and wondered what I might be missing at the Organic College. To keep me in the zone, I tended to my own veggies and pulled up and plucked this lovely lot.  Continue reading »

Ireland’s national drink. My fondest memories of drinking Guinness (as it happened often) is sitting next to a rolling pub fire during the brutal cold wet winters eating a open faced fresh crab sandwich with a proper pint o’ Guinness in hand. Bliss.
As reported by Irish Central, this delicious black brew…
…began in 1752 when young Arthur Guinness inherited 100 pounds from his godfather, the Archbishop of Cashel, Dr. Arthur Price. The world has never been the same since.  Continue reading »

Check out this current offer at Milano – two pizzas for €12 until October 4th. The offer doesn’t apply on Saturdays, but does include their low-fat Leggera pizza.  Continue reading »

When I was small, we had rhubarb growing in the back garden. Whatever variety it was – we had sourced the crown from some friend or relative so there were no labels – it grew gigantic stems, as thick as a baby’s wrist, topped by enormous leaves that we thought looked like child-sized umbrellas.  Continue reading »

Very exciting times here! Just picked up a box of the books, it looks really fab!  Here’s a sneaky peak!  Continue reading »

You can follow up the Carbonade of Beef with a Guinness Black and White Chocolate Mousse that looks like your very own mini pint.  Serves six.
Guinness Black and White Chocolate Mousse:
Ingredients:
230g of dark chocolate (around 70%)
170g of white chocolate
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of Guinness
3 large eggs, separated
2 cups of cream
Instructions:
1. Combine the dark chocolate, butter and sugar in a small bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water.  Continue reading »

Aldi’s Super6 continues to impress. The current selection includes 500g parsnips for 69c, 400g green seedless grapes for 99c, and 500g vine tomatoes for 89c.
Meanwhile, the regular Thursday specials for September 24 include industrial handtrucks, icing sugar, and fruit cakes. No detail on the Sunday specials as yet: will keep you posted.  Continue reading »

There are all sorts of shenanigans going on to celebrate Arthur’s day with a hefty line-up set to play. Okay, essentially it’s probably the biggest marketing coup ever but it’s still kind of nice to salute the black stuff.
Even if you’re not a Guinness drinker, you can still toast the occasion by cooking up a Guinness inspired dinner.  Continue reading »

I was in Lidl last week and ready to hand over around €40 for the bulk of my weekly shopping. “That’s €15.30,” said the indifferent shop assistant – much to my delight and surprise. Then I went to Superquinn for the extras, and spent €30. Enough said.
Current specials include bed socks, mattress and duvet sets, and HDMI DVD player. View them all here.  Continue reading »

The rhythm of Madrid takes a bit of getting used to. The city sleeps late and parties all night. Those bars that do open during the day tend to run a lunch shift until 4 and then close until 8. This meant that just around the time when the thirsty tourist is looking for his first beer of the day he’s met with closed shutters. Thankfully El Corte Inglés came to the rescue and I filled the dead hours of the early evening with beers from its shelves, cooled in the hotel minibar fridge.  Continue reading »