Every Christian ethnic group has a variety of different Christmas traditions. Sadly, I’m only familiar with Greek and Americans traditions. That’s why I would love to celebrate Christmas in a different country every year. Since that’s ridiculously expensive, and because my parents would probably never speak to me again if I abandoned them on Christmas, I decided to do a little research to find some of the most interesting Christmas traditions around the world.

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The Noric Diet is the latest cookbook from Trina Hahnemann. I have been reading though it and trying out some of the recipes over the past couple of weeks and I must say that it has proven to be a rather good read. As you may of gathered from my blog ‘low fat’ dishes don’t often make an appearance here, however I am ever conscience of eating food that ultimately benefits our health.  Continue reading »

Just spotted this on Twitter – the very good burger restaurant Jo’Burger in Rathmines, Dublin 6 is running a Christmas offer tonight.  Bring three friends with you after 7pm and get a free bottle of wine.
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Reader’s Recommend: Thai in Rathmines
Great offer at GBK: Buy one burger, get one free
Donate €1 to Oxfam at Milano and get a free pizza.  Continue reading »

M&S Christmas Brownie Pops

We’ve been fortunate this Christmas, with samples of festive treats coming from Superquinn and now Marks & Spencer. They sent us a bag with some party food, sweet Christmas treats and a festive soup.
Mini Chicken Kievs (€6.79) – these little breaded kievs can be oven baked. I’ve been ranting on here recently about how off-putting huge plates of breaded food are; but small amounts mixed in with other, more colourful snacks, can be lovely.  Continue reading »

While I was all the way over in Chile, their chief winemaker Adolfo Hurtado was in Dublin. Luckily, I did get to meet one of their winemakers, Guillermo Sánchez who took us around the vineyards on bikes, the same bikes you’ll see on their bottle labels.

Cono Sur has a vast area of vineyards in the Curico valley, their HQ. They also have plots in all the main growing areas, from up north in Limari all the way down to Bio Bio in the south.  Continue reading »

“Shouldn’t You Be Watching Desperate Housewives?”
Well, it was bound to happen. There was no way around it. I mean, I married a farmer, right? I just thought I’d be better at it.
One recent evening, the hubs came home after having a particularly long and hard day on the farm. He was completely and utterly shattered. So tired that he nearly fell asleep at the supper table.  Continue reading »

After everyone has opened their presents and said their thanks, treat them to a Christmas brunch that they won’t forget! We have all the best brunch recipes, including main courses, sides, sweets, and beverages!

Christmas is always best enjoyed with a full stomach.  Your family will love these tasty brunch recipes!
Here are a taste of our Christmas brunch planner.  To view the entire party planner, plus great presentation pointers, click here!  Continue reading »

With just seven days ’til the big man sets off on the most famous round-the-world trip of them all, we’re still frantically sending out the best wines from around the world all over Ireland.
Last orders in the Curious Wines grotto, for guaranteed* delivery in time for Christmas, is 1pm Wednesday 22nd December. With a second cold snap embracing the country however, we’re encouraging wine lovers to get your orders in now to ensure we get your wine to you in good time.  Continue reading »

A bumper Weekend Catch, fresh from the Net.THE WEEKEND CATCH
Restaurant Wine & Food Scenevia Twitter & FacebookControl and click to follow the links and find out more.
market1788 Paul @CorkBilly St. Lukes Choir in English Market @ 5.30 Saturday Spiced beef tastings for punters – proceeds Marymount Hospice
Nash19Cork Nash19 Back in stock, Green Saffron Mullied wine spice blend. One packed and.  Continue reading »

Here’s my donation to your consumpton of a tipple or two this Christmas….My Jewelled Mulled Wine Jellies….why stop at drinking the stuff when you can eat it too?!

Find the recipe here as it appeared in The Time’s Magazine last weekend.  Continue reading »

When the cold weather really starts to settle in, one of the best things to do is to settle right near the fireplace with a hot bowl of chili. Whether you like your chili meaty, full of veggies, white and creamy, or hot and spicy, we’d love to see your delicious recipe! Create a hearty chili recipe today and enter it into our Champion Chili Recipe Contest!

It doesn’t matter if you think your chili is better suited for spring, summer, fall or winter, we’d still love to hear all about it!  Continue reading »

Mahon today, before the rain came
MARKET GALLOP 
Made a flying visit to the Mahon Point Farmers Market  this morning. Thanks to the weather, it wasn’t a morning for hanging around. The market will operate two mornings next week: Wednesday and Thursday.
Fish and bread are crucial and picked those up at O’Driscoll’s West Cork/  and Arbutus Bread  respectively. Gubbeen were there, as usual. Would.  Continue reading »

Padraig O’Sullivan of Leeside AFC has been in touch: “We are collecting for Simon Community this week and next. We require blankets in particular, non-perishable foods and toiletries. I will be outside St. Josephs Cemetery in Little Island from 11.30 - 1.30 on SUNDAY 19th December. If people wish to drop stuff,they can contact me directly at posullivan00@hotmail.com or on 087-7859314”.  Continue reading »

Although I made mince pies for the Christmas Cookalong, that was the night I realised why I don’t normally make them. As I fiddled with the pastry and Little Missy stuck her hands, once again, under my rolling pin – difficult to avoid when she’s standing on her wee stool directly in front of me so she can help with what she calls “‘tars” – I kept thinking that there have to be easier ways to make things with Christmas mincemeat.  Continue reading »

Although Greek and Italian are my top two favorite ethnic cuisines, Mexican comes in at a close third. I love fat burritos, cheesy quesadillas and guacamole! I could eat Mexican food all the time! So I want to share a delicious Mexican recipe with you! Check out a recipe for easy beef tacos from our new Mexican recipe site after the jump!
Here’s how you make it!
Ingredients
*1 lb. ground beef
*1 C. chopped onion
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*2 Tbs. taco seasoning
*1/2 C.  Continue reading »

Current special buys in Aldi include:

Christmas dog treats – €8.99
Ladies slipper socks – €6.99
8GB memory stick – €7.99

Click here to see them all.
If your budget is tight this Christmas, Aldi’s range is both delicious and affordable. Click here to see the Christmas brochure.
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Special buys at Aldi, December 2
Special buys at Aldi
Special Buys at Aldi.  Continue reading »

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It was lovely to see globetrotting Beer Geeks Chris and Merideth back in Dublin last week. Thursday was Merideth’s birthday and a bunch of us bravely crossed the ice floes of Smithfield to gather in L. Mulligan. Grocer for some excellent food and a few beers. The guys had brought some bottles of interest over from California for us to try.
First up was Saison Ale from the recently-established Odonata Brewery in Sacramento.  Continue reading »

I think there has been more snow in the past 12 months in Ireland than in the previous 11 years I’ve been living here put together. We were hit with a record-breaking cold snap and snowfall two weeks ago that saw school canceled for six days and had us stranded in our house in the countryside on a hill. My husband, raised in Michigan, where they get buried under lake effect snow, braved our road at the start of the snow days to get us stocked up on groceries and coal and turf for the fire.  Continue reading »

Regular readers will remember that I recently reviewed ‘I Love Curry’ by Anjum Anand. You’ll remember how taken I was with the breadth of recipes covered in this book. It has everything from bite-sized appetisers and all sorts of curries (made with vegetables, fish, seafood, poultry and meat) to Indian breads, vegetable side dishes, rice dishes and lots of different dips and raitas.  Continue reading »