I’ll come right out with it.
While there will be music and art and poetry and drama and goodness-knows-what-else on offer this coming Friday as part of Culture Night, there’s not, it would seem, much going on that relates to food and drink.  Continue reading »

Photo source: BBC Good Food

I was in The Port House on South William Street over the weekend which is one of my favourite tapas places in the city.
They do a delicious dish of Deep fried cubed potatoes served with a selection of sauces for €3.95 each.
My favourite is the Patatas Mojo which is potatoes served with a Canarian garlic, chilli and almond sauce.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

Apologies for the worse than normal picture quality in
this post but crumbles are quite tricky to photograph.  Continue reading »

Cork “Rain: unlike anything we know.”That was one of the helpful hints for Irish solders leaving Collins Barracks for UN duty in the Congo in 1960/1. It would be a tough experience for the brave soldiers, the torrential rain the least of their problems.The Congo (with displays of arrows, spears and photos) is just one of the UN campaigns touched on at the Military Museum in Collins.  Continue reading »

The hardest rocking man in suburban Dublin, Mr Joe Elliott of Stepaside (erstwhile frontman of popular Sheffield beat combo Def Leppard) has teamed up with The Porterhouse to produce a beer promoting his latest musical project Down ‘n’ Outz.
It’s a lager, suitably labelled in the new band’s livery and presented in the Porterhouse’s infuriatingly titchy 33cl bottles.  Continue reading »

Food offers
Current food offers at Lidl include:

Iceberg lettuce – reduced from 99c to 59c
Guiness draught (8 cans x 500ml) – reduced from €13.99 to €10.99
Streaky bacon (250g) – reduced from €1.49 to 99c

Click here for details.
Special buys
Special buys today at Aldi include bathroom items, kitchen equipment, men’s, ladies, and children’s clothes, and spa candles. Click here for details.  Continue reading »

Some current deals at Aldi include:

16 piece wrench set – €9.99
Maple syrup – €3.99
Round rich fruit cake – €4.99

Click here for details.
The Super6 – a selection of fruit and veg for89c – is still great value. Check it out here.  Continue reading »

Last night was the launch of Cork’s first French Food & Wine Festival at the ‘On the Pig’s back’ Cafe in Douglas, Patrick’s Woolen Mills. It was the perfect timing of launching the festival as the ‘Confrerie des Chevaliers du Goute Bouding’ (The Black Pudding Fraternity of Lovers of Good Food) was touring Ireland to congratulate Irish Black Pudding at its best. The Fraternity awarded 3 medals to Irish Black Pudding producers.  Continue reading »

Another superb tasting from John McDonnell of Wine Australia, this time the Yarra Valley. It’s real cool climate, known mainly for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but this is a Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Punt Road is sourced from the Napoleone Family’s “Emperor’s Prize” vineyard in Coldstream. While it says Cabernet Sauvignon on the label, there are small amounts of Petit Verdot and Merlot.  Continue reading »

The Some Young Punks are doing some seriously interesting stuff with wine and how they package it. This one is The Squid’s Fist and it’s a blend of 70% Sangiovese (the stuff what they make Chianti and Brunello from in Italy) from the Barossa Valley, 30% Shiraz from McClaren Vale.
Availability
Just under 1,500 cases made of this stuff, so if you want some, be quick and click on curiouswines.ie to get some (€21).  Continue reading »

I eat a little bit of honey every single day. Usually, I put a tablespoon of the sweet nectar in my yogurt for breakfast. Sometimes I try to put a little on a piece of toast. The bottom line is that honey is one of the more natural sweeteners in the world, and I want to help celebrate National Honey Month! I’m curious about how honey was used in the ancient world, and if you are too, read more after the jump! Also, make sure to check out some of the delicious honey recipes that I found.  Continue reading »

They don’t only do fruit bombs you know. South Australia might get the bulk of the attention from the outside world, but look outside of Barossa and McLaren Vale and you will start to see where Australia’s strength really lies. I believe you could drink nothing but Australian your whole life and never get bored of the variety.  Continue reading »

Way back at the end of July, Damien Mulley, announced on Twitter that Roma wanted to send out bags of their new Pasta and Pizza Flour to interested food bloggers. Of course I immediately sent off an email to their representative, Adam, who sent me out, not only the flour, but also a bag of penne in a handy tin.

I finally got a chance to try out the new flour just before I went on holidays. I used it to make a loaf of focaccia and a calzone pizza.  Continue reading »

Today I received an email with details about what has to be the best possible competition for foodies in at the moment. Cully and Sully, the geniuses behind the fantastic posh ready meals and desserts are running a competition called Chef Factor and the winning prize is a free place on the 12 week Ballymaloe course along with the accommodation, set of knives, uniform and two weeks work experience with Cully and Sully after the course.  Continue reading »

So as usual I’m horribly busy trying to get College and big bad evil monies organised (bane of my existence, I suggest regressing to barter. I make a mean damson muffin). So, in this era where every Saturday evening my sister’s social life revolves around the X Factor, I wanted to just let ye all…  Continue reading »

So as usual I’m horribly busy trying to get College and big bad evil monies organised (bane of my existence, I suggest regressing to barter. I make a mean damson muffin). So, in this era where every Saturday evening my sister’s social life revolves around the X Factor, I wanted to just let ye all…  Continue reading »

Just heard from Sully of Cully and Sully…
“We are running a competition called Chef Factor - http://www.cheffactor.ie that wants people to submit a dish they made. Upload a photo of you with your dish and the words “Cully & Sully” somewhere in your
picture. You can submit ANY dish you want, big or small, starter or main, sandwich or steak!”
“The top prize is a place on the 12 week Ballymaloe.  Continue reading »

Those nice folk at An Taisce (the National Trust) have come up with this lovely idea, picnic day.
People are encouraged to get together for a picnic in their local area of historical interest this Sunday.  Continue reading »

Two weeks ago Mr Boo and myself headed to Barcelona for a week of relaxation.  We had been there 6 years ago and little did I know Mr Boo had a little surprise for me back then.  One evening as I was about to get stuck into a chocolate mousse in Les Quinze Nit a little box was proferred across the table towards me and the sparkly treasure within has been in proud residence on my finger ever since.  It even has a little buddy now!  This was our first trip back to Barcelona since then and I had forgotten quite what a wonderful city it is.  Continue reading »