Last night, my boyfriend came over to my house around 9 p.m. We watched the latest episode of our favorite show—True Blood—and then we decided to do something a little spontaneous. We went for a cruise all over downtown Chicago.
Since I went to college at Loyola University Chicago, I’m very familiar with the city. He drove, and I navigated. The only thing that we were missing was a delicious Chicago Style Hot Dog. I think Chicago has some of the best food in America.  Continue reading »

THE RIVERVIEW CAFE
Made an unscheduled coffee stop at the Riverview Cafe in Fitzgerald’s Park this morning. Just a handful of people there about the 10.45am mark, thought there might have been more.
A cup of coffee and a croissant cost me €5.00 and I took it to an outside table in the sun. An inquisitive robin (photo) perched alongside and stayed a few minutes, eventually declining the few.  Continue reading »

“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter. “You’ve had a pleasant run! Shall we be trotting home again?” But answer came there none- And that was scarcely odd, because They’d eaten every one.’  -Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter.
The first time I had an oyster I wanted to try out the “aphrodisiac” quality. Not sure it worked on me, though I must say I did find the flavour and sense of gastronomic adventure very desirable.  Continue reading »

The Emmy Awards are coming up!  This coming Sunday, America gets to celebrate its favorite TV shows, from “Dexter” to “The Simpsons.”  Don’t just sit alone at home and watch them; throw a party!  The Oscars aren’t for another 7 months, so take this opportunity to have a red carpet affair with all your friends.  We even have great recipes and presentation ideas for you!  Continue reading »

As the weather has turned a little autumnal this week I have been craving warm and comforting snacks to keep me going between meals.  Yesterday I baked up a batch of yummy cheese and thyme scones.  They are only gorgeous.  I had one straight from the oven with a little butter and oh my, it was only beeuriful!  Jesus, ok ok I had TWO straight from the oven with a little butter.  Who died and made you lot the diet police, wah?!  The rest are individually wrapped and in the freezer just waiting for a little hunger pang to strike.  Enjoy these cold, toasted or quickly warmed through in the microwave.  The only thing missing I think is a big bowl of stew to go with them.  Honest to God, it’s freezing here right now.  I’m off to pop the kettle on, you lot go and get your aprons on.  Enjoy!  Continue reading »

Every Tuesday, we’ll be featuring a €2 menu from our new contributor Mitchell O’Brien. Today, Mitchell shows us how to put together another family meal for just under €2 per portion.
Can you put together a meal for €1-2? Share your recipes here!  Continue reading »

The latest RTE Guide has a full page feature on the work we do here at CheapEats. You can check out myself and Jean’s ugly mugs on page 35.
The article is part of an online shopping special; you’ll also find information on sites such as Babybay.ie and Cupcakeme.org, as well as the RTE Guide’s usual mix of TV listings, entertainment, and features.
Related posts:

CheapEats Goes Thrift.ie
Brand new Irish food blog – CheapEats.ie
CheapEats in the Sunday Business Post.  Continue reading »

The parenting site Mummy Pages currently has a hair-raising example of being overcharged for a kid’s meal.  Kid’s meals are often very poor both in terms of choice and value, but this one is really something. In short, a child-size bowl of pasta with butter was billed at an incredible €15.90.  Read the full story on Mummy Pages.
Is this a record?  Have you seen a more egregious example of overcharging for kid’s food?  Continue reading »

Don’t forget, the competition for a €200 cooking class voucher from Bord Bia ends today at 6pm. To be in the running, just send your favourite Irish blueberry recipe to cook@bibliocook.com.
Read more:
Competition Time! Irish blueberries and cookery classes
Blueberry time at Derryvilla Blueberry Farm.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

If I ask my family what they would like me to cook for them it is usually Chicken with Red Pepper Sauce and even my husband, who really dislikes peppers, loves this sauce.  It is great with chicken or fish and I have also served it with pasta. 
The dish itself is a handy one to have in your arsenal if friends or family are coming to dinner – the sauce can be made and chicken wrapped early on or indeed the day before and kept chilled, then all you have to do is cook the chicken and heat the sauce – easy.   Tonight I stuffed my chicken breasts with roasted peppers and tomatoes (sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted for around 40 mins at 200ºC) and creamy mozzarella.  Continue reading »

Don’t forget that CheapEats readers can still avail of a 10% discount at the online shop EarthMother.ie until the end of August.  EarthMother.ie sells all natural and organic baby products, so it’s the perfect place to stock up on nappies, baby food (they’re price-matching Tesco on some ranges) , baby accessories, toys and clothes.  Continue reading »

It’s National Gut week in the UK this week (23rd – 29th August). It’s an annual campaign that aims to help people understand the importance of good digestive health by providing free information and advice on how to achieve a healthy gut.  Continue reading »

There’s a lot of questionable sparkling wine out there, so when we were on the hunt for a new Cava house to source from, we wanted to make sure we found something that would punch above its weight. We searched high and low to raise the bar and bring the best quality Cava to Ireland. After much deliberation tasting a variety of sparklers from numerous different cellars, it was Mont Marçal who got the nod.  Continue reading »

Vindaloo has a pretty bad rep, being the lager louts favourite, but it’s actually a very traditional dish and a great example of early fusion cookery. It originated in Portugal – the Portuguese spice traders brought their traditional pork dish “vin des alhos” to the sub-continent, where the meat is braised in wine and garlic. The Indians substituted wine for wine vinegar and added lots of chilli and a little spice. This traditional recipe has a fantastic flavour.  Continue reading »

Paolo Tullio: Star performance
Thornton’s RestaurantThe Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2Tel: 01-478 7008

NORMAL
LARGE
EXTRA LARGE

Thornton’s Restaurant, The Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Tel: 01-478 7008

By Paolo Tullio
Saturday August 21 2010

Here’s the question that’s been on my mind this week: what do we mean by ‘expensive’? Clearly it’s not based only on cost.  Continue reading »

………and optional extras Bacon Bits and a Poached Egg.
During the summer my meals seem to be less about cooking than harvesting and assembling. This of course fits with my overall approach to the kitchen and meals in general. Seasonal, and store cupboard driven, unplanned in preparation, but put together with a definite end in mind.
This effectively is a warm potato salad and I have been using variations on it all summer.  Continue reading »

National Sandwich Month might not sound like the most exciting month in the world.  A sandwich is just two slices of bread with stuff in between, right?  But think of the endless possibilities you have when it comes to sandwiches!  Anything goes- sandwiches are one of the only foods that you can’t mess up.  So I have put together a list of my favorite sandwiches and some great recipes for you to try!  Continue reading »

Once again we have a great competition for our UK readers only. The fact that I’m not in the UK and can’t enter this competition myself is just a tad annoying, but it’s no reason to preclude others from having the chance to enter.
To celebrate the opening of their Facebook We Love Baking page Tate & Lyle are offering one lucky reader the chance to win a selection of their sugars.  Continue reading »

As you may know, we love hummus for snacking. We’ve made all different kinds of it over the past year including homemade regular hummus, parsley, dill, roasted sweet pepper, and artichoke, goat’s cheese & basil hummus so you’d think I’d be content with this selection. But we’ve got another bbq holiday coming up (Labour Day) so I figured why not try some more concoctions, after all I am the healthy snackman.  Continue reading »