And so we come to the final beer from the mixed (in more ways than one) stash Dave and Laura brought me back from France last summer. BAS Noire is from Brasserie Artisanale de Sabaudia in Chambéry and features a lovely bit of art nouveau styling on the label.
The beer itself is a mere 4% ABV, but I’m quite impressed with what it does with this. Light, and a little bit overly fizzed, it gives off some lovely café crème aromas from the substantial head.  Continue reading »

Firstly I would really like to thank everyone who sent their good wishes and kind words regarding my Irish Blog Award. I was thrilled to win and I appreciate all your support! I enjoy everything about the blog, the writing, the setting up of the photos and taking them, and when I check in I just love to see a ‘new comment alert! To win an award for doing something that is so enjoyable is simply wonderful!  Continue reading »

Adding weight to Mary Harney’s famous remark about our affinity with Boston, the big whiskey news last week was the first public tasting of the Irish Whiskey Society of America (IWSA) in that city. While affiliated with with the Dublin-based Irish Whiskey Society, the IWSA was entirely willed into existence by Boston’s own whiskey blogger, Rich Nagle.  Continue reading »

I am busy. I did not expect to be this busy. At the minute, I have to finish an eportfolio, fix up my psychiatry public speaking, organise a trip down to waterford to spend an hour in the hospital getting some information, write up a case presentation, and of course I must study! But yet…  Continue reading »

Spot of bubbly, anyone? Well, I am in the mood for celebrating, after all.
I’ve spent the past couple of months topping up my knowledge of all things vine-related with study for a WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) Intermediate Certificate, which culminated with a final exam last night. The WSET course (ably presented by Maureen from Premier Wine Training), has taught me, among other things, that this champagne from Bruno Paillard is really a rather good one to celebrate with.  Continue reading »

As an editor for Recipe4Living, I browse through thousands of recipes on the site each day.  Because I stare at recipes all day every day, it takes a really special recipe for me to actually stop, take a moment, and put it in my recipe box. So today, I’ve decided to share the recipes that have made me say, “Hey- I really want to try that!”  See them all after the jump!  Continue reading »

Indeed, something this bad only deserves to be slapped, but just because it’s not every one’s cup of tea, doesn’t mean it doesn’t serve a purpose. Although far from the popular heights of the nineties, ‘goon’ may soon be coming back to a restaurant near you – this time in a different guise.
Boisset Family Estates runs DeLoach Vineyards in the Russian River Valley region of Sonoma County, California.  Continue reading »

Special offers at Aldi
Special offers at Lidl
Special offers at SuperValu
Special offers at Dunnes
Special offers at Superquinn
Special offers at Tesco
Plenty of good offers at the moment, worth checking out before you shop
Related posts:

Special offers in supermarkets, March 14
Current specials at supermarkets, March 7
Special offers in supermarkets, January 4 2011.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

So much of cooking is by accident rather than design. I’m sure I’m not the only cook who hides her mistakes under the nearest tea-towel and celebrates the successes as if they were intended. These successes are a good example of serendipity… (I love that word).

Serendipitous muffins… the best sort!

I had intended porridge for breakfast this morning, but when I entered the kitchen, I was faced with three sad freckled bananas with a ‘pre-compost bin’ look about them.  Continue reading »

INCREDIBLE VALUECasa Solar Viura 2010 Vdt Castilla 11.50% €7.99 StockistsThis is an excellent white wine at an incredible price.Colour: Strikingly bright; light honey.Nose: Inviting fruity bouquet, including grapefruit.Palate: They sum it up as alive and refreshing on the back label and I couldn’t agree more. Really fresh and fruity with a good slash of tartness.This is an excellent combination.  Continue reading »

We though the battle between sweet potato and pomegranate would be closer! But we were wrong! Banana also took care of parsnip without a problem! But who will win this tight match-up?
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Need some more information on these produce items? Check out these recipes!

Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato Cookies – And you never thought cookies to taste this good and actually be called cookies!  Continue reading »

On Monday, I travelled along the twisting country lanes of West Cork wondering just how you can get something as smooth and creamy as this:

From such an unassuming creature as this:
Ever since I set up my cupcake stall at Dingle Farmers’ Market, I have developed a huge sense of respect for food producers. Until you have tried it for yourself, you have absolutely no idea just how much hard work is involved in producing large volumes of high quality and consistently delicious food.  Continue reading »

Preparation Time
1 hour
Total Time
1 hour and 30 minutes

Last Friday was the first of the month and so it was time once again for the Irish Foodie Cookalong. This month’s theme could only be traditional Irish food because of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

I spent a long time pondering what to cook, should I stick to soda bread and coddle or try and find something a bit different?  Continue reading »

Preparation Time
20 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes

This is the second of my Traditional Irish dishes from the Irish Foodies Cookalong last Friday. I cooked these scones to accompany my main dish of Molly Malone’s Hotpot. As there was sage in the hotpot, I decided that sage would be the best thing to flavour the scones with too.

These were some of the tastiest scones I have ever made. My whole family loved them and requested that I make them again.  Continue reading »

I’m not very much of a writer and I’ve been having a hard time coming up with the words to describe what the weekend in Donegal meant to me. Especially as so many people have written about it far more eloquently than I have already.

It was really invigorating to be around people who are so passionate about food and who didn’t think you were weird for whipping out your camera to capture your different meals.  Continue reading »

Myself and Miss Like Mam Used To Bake were up bright & early last Saturday morning because we drove at a sedate pace up the M1 to Belfast where the Irish Blog Awards were being held.  I only made it as far as the shortlist, but she was a finalist (clever clogs) so it would have been rude not to, right?  Continue reading »

Myself and Miss Like Mam Used To Bake were up bright & early last Saturday morning because we drove at a sedate pace up the M1 to Belfast where the Irish Blog Awards were being held.  I only made it as far as the shortlist, but she was a finalist (clever clogs) so it would have been rude not to, right?  Continue reading »

The state of play for organic farming and food were laid out by Sean McGloin of NOTS, the National Organic Training Skillsnet at a rural jobs conference in February.

Along with Sean McGloin, Orla Clancy and JP Crowe spoke about their experiences of being organic farmers and food businesses. There was a specific focus on the development of jobs in the sector.  Continue reading »

Last Saturday I travelled to Belfast with fellow food blogger Babaduck Babbles to attend the Irish Blog Awards.  I may have mentioned in passing *cough* that I was a finalist in the Best Food/Drink Blog category.  The awards were held in the Europa Hotel and that is where we set up camp for the evening.  While we were a little tight for time we did manage a visit to Hotel Chocolat where we literally had to drag each other away before emptying the shelves, and also to Cayenne, the restaurant of Paul Rankin.  Both were fantastic spots to visit.  I have been happily filling my face with Hotel Chocolat florentines all day and the meal in Cayenne was absolutely delicious, I sent 3 spotlessly clean plates back to the kitchen.  To start I had a seafood chowder with an oriental twist and the balance of chilli and coconut milk was perfect.  For my main I enjoyed delicious plump gnocchi, with a delicate crisp shell served in a rich cream sauce.  With my belly already full I opted for a selection(caramel, ginger and vanilla) of ice creams for dessert. 
A quick dash back to the hotel to change into our gúna’s and we were all set for the main event.  For the past 6 years the awards have been organised by Damien Mulley and a small team, and hosted by Rick O’Shea.  The room was a buzz with chatter and laughter as bloggers chatted happily in groups before being called to order.  With that they were off.  The food/drink category was 2nd up on the night and the award went to the very lovely Aoife of The Daily Spud, a second win for Aoife and her excellent blog.  (If you haven’t checked it out yet be sure to do so, especially if like Aoife you are rather fond of the humble spud)  The ceremony continued in a haze of t-shirt throwing, fake trophy pillaging, foam guitar playing and cup cake stealing, and the sound bite of the evening was “ouch my fanny hurts”, which raised a chuckle every time.  A pretty great way to spend a Saturday night if you ask me.  Continue reading »