Just like a puppy, a cranberry is for life you know, not just for Christmas!  I had bought a bag of dried Cranberries in December but had forgotten about them until I did a clearout last week – their ruby squidginess makes them a great baking ingredient & I’ve seen them paired with orange before.  I always like to go one step further and decided to add chocolate to the mix.  Everybody loves chocolate cookies so I knew they would be a hit.  Continue reading »

Foodie Roundup #17 – Feb 13th to 19th

Your latest foodie roundup comes at the much later time of Sunday evening, cruising towards Sunday night. You’d have had it this morning but for a wee challenge that requires turning a gallery space into a functioning theatre in about 24 hours. The break is on for the night but resumes first thing in the morning ahead of the arrival of Scratcher in Kilkenny.  Continue reading »

This is for Little Sis’s friend Sharon who saw the photo & demanded the recipe!  It’s impressive looking but very easy to make.  Getting all your ingredients prepared in an assembly line style is the trick to making this in a flash. It’s a great midweek dinner and works really well for kids as a really high-quality chicken goujon.  I fry my chicken in rapeseed oil with a tiny bit of butter added for richness.  Continue reading »

This is for Little Sis’s friend Sharon who saw the photo & demanded the recipe!  It’s impressive looking but very easy to make.  Getting all your ingredients prepared in an assembly line style is the trick to making this in a flash. It’s a great midweek dinner and works really well for kids as a really high-quality chicken goujon.  I fry my chicken in rapeseed oil with a tiny bit of butter added for richness.  Continue reading »

Manu of Manu’s Menu is a newly-minted and well-deserved Stylish Blogger. Having received this great accolade, Manu gets to confer 10 other Stylish Bloggers with the award.

I’m delighted that Alchemy was among the recipients. This badge of honour brings with it a number of responsibilities…
I too get to a) select 10 stylish bloggers, inform them and link to them; and b) I must divulge 7 things about myself.  Continue reading »

Friday began my familiar tirade of healthy eating, which has of course begun a few times but somehow I get distracted by various new chocolate based ideas, somehow.. Anyhow, despite my eager claims of no more rubbish, I felt the need to bake something, and I know I always have an eager crowd that will…  Continue reading »

Friday began my familiar tirade of healthy eating, which has of course begun a few times but somehow I get distracted by various new chocolate based ideas, somehow.. Anyhow, despite my eager claims of no more rubbish, I felt the need to bake something, and I know I always have an eager crowd that will…  Continue reading »

While these two girls – Pinky and Perky enjoy rooting in the Kildare mud, their beautifully flavoured offspring are in our freezer, awaiting distribution to various buyers and to the most important destination of all – the oven in my kitchen.
Yesterday I paid a visit to them down on the farm. For the record they are neither pinky or perky being close to 40 stone each in weight. Yes, forty. They are the size of small sofa and produce about 12 piglets per litter.  Continue reading »

While these two girls – Pinky and Perky enjoy rooting in the Kildare mud, their beautifully flavoured offspring are in our freezer, awaiting distribution to various buyers and to the most important destination of all – the oven in my kitchen.
Yesterday I paid a visit to them down on the farm. For the record they are neither pinky or perky being close to 40 stone each in weight. Yes, forty. They are the size of small sofa and produce about 12 piglets per litter.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

It’s been a long week of work and obligations and I’m savouring my Sunday of relaxation. Today is one of those days where I am not going to feel at all guilty for doing absolutely nothing. Reading the papers, eating and maybe watching a movie later; that’s going to be the sum total of my activity today. It helps that it looks like this outside:Otherwise, I might feel the pressure to bring the dog for a walk. I know, the pressure, right?  Continue reading »

Searching for a particular recipe I came across a fantastic blog, The Godesses’s Kitchen. The look is bright and colourful and the food looks so yummy. The loaf cakes, like lemon curd and blueberry and the chocolate orange look tasty and in particular I can’t wait to try the plum cake. Head on over and take a look for so inspiration.  Continue reading »

I was absolutely thrilled to find out that Nessa’s Family Kitchen has been nominated for an Irish Blog Award in the food and drink category. I have only been blogging for over a year so it is a great honour to be nominated. There are so many fantastic Irish blogs in this category, some that I hadn’t even seen before! Click on the link above and have a good look through the other nominees. The very best of luck to all!!  Continue reading »

An all time classic I’ve been meaning to nail for a while now. Prepare your bolognese sauce beforehand. I think it actually gets better after being in the freezer for a while, so do a few batches sometime you feel like spaghetti bolognese. I have links set up below to my own version, and Curious Mike’s favourite version.
Some people, myself included, prefer more of the cheese sauce, so simply make a little more and add it down the layers as you please.  Continue reading »

Crackbird – Addictive Chicken, opens Monday

With 60 seats, serving 12-hour days, seven days a week for 12 weeks, Crack Bird opens its doors at 19 Crane Lane in Dublin this Monday.
What is it? Well, it’s a pop-up chicken restaurant, brought to you by Jo’Burger’s Joe Macken. I reckon I’m going to have to get back to Dublin a lot sooner than I thought.  Continue reading »

Well now.  I’m very excirah I needn’t tell yiz.  The Irish Blog Award nominations were announced earlier this week and I’ve only gone and been nominated in the Best Food/Drink Blog category.  I know, I can’t believe it either.  I am very grateful to whoever nominated me, extremely grateful.  This blog is a labour of love, it occupies a ridiculous amount of my spare time and I’m pretty sure I am single handedly keeping the Irish economy from crashing completely through purchasing ridiculous amounts of flour, eggs, butter and chocolate weekly.  Thank you all so much for following, reading, commenting and baking.  I am very proud of my little blog and this nomination is the cherry on top of the cake.  Continue reading »

Four of us went to Lal Quila in Douglas Village last Saturday. The table was booked for 8:30 so a quick drink in Barrys first and then a dash in the rain over the restaurant. We were seated quickly and handed menus and that’s where the attention ended. Forty minutes later we still had our menus and not even an offer of a drink. Plenty of staff were flapping around the busy restaurant, every table was occupied, but the problem was nobody seemed to have a dedicated station.  Continue reading »

Baking bread can be tricky, especially if you’re doing it from scratch. Follow our helpful hints and you’ll be well on your way to making the best bread you’ve ever baked!  Watch our video after the jump!
Here’s our video! For some fabulous cooking and baking tips, check out our Encylopedia of Tips!

To watch all of our Chew on That videos, click here!
Looking for some bread recipes to get started with?  Check out our 18 favorites here!  Continue reading »

In my continuing mission to publish posts that have been lurking behind the scenes of my blog for months, I now arrive at the account of the fantastic day we spent out at Stagrennan Fram, an orchard in Drogheda, back at the end of October.  Continue reading »

For One Night Only!
Would you like to have a Romantic Dinner at home for your loved one?          
To add an extra element of surprise , would you like to pretend that you cooked it from scratch?
I can do that!
A three course fantastic meal all prepared, delivered and ready to serve.  I will tell you exactly what to say when they ask you how you cooked it.
Reap the rewards of cooking a romantic dinner without any of the effort.  Continue reading »