At €13 you’re competing with Sauvignon  Blanc from New Zealand, so the Spanish Castelo de Medina is not one that many will automatically reach for. It needs a little push. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t take Spain seriously enough as a white wine producing nation (my opinion being largely based on conversations with our customers) and it’s such a shame. Check out the Albarino grape variety if you need convincing.  Continue reading »

I don’t want to sound like an ol’ biddy but Halloween is getting really commercial. I did live a fairly Dickensian childhood but when I was a young lass; all the decorations were handmade, weeks were spent sowing costumes and, with the exception of monkey nuts, all treats were homemade. Of course, to be honest, the main reason why everything was handmade was because there was feck all to buy.
Shops only sold three masks: the Witch Mask, the Frankenstein Mask and the Skeleton Mask.  Continue reading »

Hallowe’en is coming, so it’s time for Colcannon, sticky toffee apples, and barm brack! If you’re looking for a cheap, seasonal meal, I hope to see you down in Carlow this Friday October 30.
I’ll be facilitating the Hallowe’en Folklore night, a fun and informal session of “spooky stories” over a light dinner of seasonal foods.  Continue reading »

The Lizard Merlot VDP 20007
Critter wines have been around for a number of years now – this is where the vineyards put a cute animal on the bottle to help you remember it the next time. Yellow tail, Mad Fish and pretty much another animal have in some way been used on a bottle label. Roberta, my wife, would be the first to admit that she cannot remember names on a bottle of wine.  Continue reading »

At the office where my husband worked for 10 years in Drogheda, there’s a fantastic fishmonger just down the street. Matt tended to stop in to buy fish there at least once a week, eventually getting to be on first-name terms with them. Since September, though, Matt has been based in the Dublin office. The move has brought lots of changes, not least of which is the fact that getting fish is now a lot harder than it used to be and we don’t eat as much of it as we used to.  Continue reading »

I’ve often mentioned sites I’ve linked to over there on the left, but haven’t mentioned Celsius before. We’ll, I’ve dropped over a few times recently, and it is great. V web 2.0 in an environmentally aware way.

There, I learned about the Yes Men’s latest prank, about Michael Moore’s new film and about They Might Be Giants’ simply beautiful eco science for kids videos. That’s all in the last week.  Continue reading »

My good friend Sheila from LiveWell360 posted a nice little fish recipe during the summer that I was meaning to try out and finally got my act together and did it. She used Barramundi but as she pointed out, it’s not that readily available so I wanted to use a fish that people would be more likely to find in their local store. I’ve always been a big fan of sole and I remember as a kid eating breaded plaice and chips for dinner on occasion.  Continue reading »

I know we’re a little pie crazy here at Chew on That but the bounty of the fall season just lends itself to great pie! From apples to pumpkins, just about any ingredient that’s popular in the fall can make a great pie or tart. But one vegetable that sometimes gets overlooked in the way of pie is butternut squash pie.  Shoved aside by the popularity of other pies, I forgot just how great butternut squash pie can be.  Continue reading »

Halloween is just a few days away and you know what that means-sweets (candy) overload!! There’s no replacing sweets on this day of all days. Try giving a kid an apple and see what happens. (It won’t be pretty.) But back home, after the trick-or-treating fun, how do you keep your likkle ones from plowing through the entire bucket of sugar? I started thinking about this and I thought, if you had a ‘healthier’ treat to offer, would they even notice?  Continue reading »

Herve This style., or so, of entirely unexpected cooking. A kind of year of cooking dangerously, or so I had imagined it before the Julie and Julia film came out…..I’ve ordered the chemicals, picked out the recipes, made a list, and the next months are to be spent cracking open pigs skulls, pressing pates, whipping up oddly flavoured spheres, caviars, and counter instinctual constructions. And.  Continue reading »

I’ve been back a few days now, but it’s hard to get Venice out of my mind. Next time, I’m definitely going to stay more than a week! Anyway, for anyone who might be heading that way, and I do suggest it, you have a treat in store. There were so many highlights of the trip, but here are my top ten reasons to go back soon (in no particular order):
1. Al Fontego dei Pescaori. Sottoportego dei Tagiapiera, Cannaregio.  Continue reading »

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Needless to say, when it came to wine, I drank nothing but the Italian stuff during my three night city break in the ancient capital last week. With further reading (I love Lonely Planet), I discovered Rome and the Roman Empire played an important role in the history of wine.
Whilst it may have been the Ancient Greeks who brought wine to Italy, it was the Romans who developed much of the techniques and technology still used in wine making today.  Continue reading »

Wedges of wonderfulness

We rounded off the pumpkin series on Friday with Pumpkin Cheesecake but I had to include this Roasted Butternut Squash with Thyme and Cider Vinegar recipe because it is so damn good. You could substitute the squash for pumpkin if you like.
My husband came up with this simple side dish over the weekend and it is easy to make. We had it with boiled ham, mashed potatoes and homemade parsley sauce but it would work well with many dishes – particularly roasts.  Continue reading »

By Catriona McGrath
I think I’m a little bit in love with the Lighthouse cinema.  Sadly I don’t know anybody who has a thiscinemaisgreat.ie blog so I’m abusing Peter and Jean by talking about how great the Lighthouse is in a piece thinly disguised as a restaurant review.
For those who don’t know it the Lighthouse is in Smithfield, just off the main square, or courtyard in Smithfield (where the ice rink is in winter).  Continue reading »

Last week, Jean shrugged with scornful indifference at Dunnes’ promotions.  Continue reading »

Coffee and cake – kaffee und kuchen – can you think of a better thing to warm you up on a bracingly cold Berlin afternoon? Over the course of ten days in Germany there were a lot of stops with Little Missy for a variety of sweet treats – and a lot of walking to compensate! Herself, myself and the Husband were staying at an apartment in the Friedrichshain district so, with the Husband gone from early to late on his course, LM and I set off to explore the city together.  Continue reading »

There’s a good choice of offers at SuperValu this week, including half-price funsize chocolate bars for the trick or treaters. And then there’s my arch-nemesis, overlord of my hidden violent side: 700mls of Power’s whiskey is reduced from €25 to €20.
Perfect for knocking back after a family dinner for four, perhaps? Shoppers can pick up the ingredients for a Shephard’s Pie for €7, or a pack of Big Al’s Spicy Chicken with chips and carrots for €7.  Continue reading »

Smugglers Creek Inn in County Donegal is one of my favorite places to eat in Ireland. You can’t beat it in terms of location and atmosphere — dating back to 1845, this restaurant, pub and B&B is perched on a cliff overlooking Rossnowlagh beach and Donegal Bay, with the Bluestack Mountains in the distance. If you’re really lucky, you can nab one of the chairs in front of the open fire in the pub and settle in to have a pint before dinner.  Continue reading »

Last month we stayed at Grouse Lodge, (the recording studios Michael Jackson used while he stayed in Ireland, don’t you know!) to record Industry’s new material which will be released in the UK. Now, when I’m “on the road” with the band I am usually fairly starved for foodie delights, however the lovely folks who own Grouse prepare the most amazing homecooked food!  Continue reading »

It’s time to whip out the costumes and the treats, this Saturday is Halloween! Whether you’re celebrating with Witches’ Broomsticks or Scary Eyeballs, this holiday is all about the fun! Last year we featured some great Halloween recipe collections from Recipe4Living on the blog that proved to be quite helpful in planning a Halloween party. So, this year we’ve added some NEW spooky recipe collections! Check them out after the jump!  Continue reading »