I had never plunged into a Christmas pudding until I moved across the Atlantic. Since then, I have quickly come to learn that Christmas is simply not Christmas without a pudding at Christmas dinner. While the mere idea of steaming or boiling a cake seemed a very unusual notion, it is now a challenge that I have decided to bravely take on in my own kitchen.  Continue reading »

Don’t know what to get Grandad or Uncle Tom for Christmas? Why not try treating them to a really nice ‘homemade’ gift, that will only cost you a few quid, but beat any auld box of toffees you could possibly get in a shop. Yes, I’m talking about mason jars stuffed with jellies or whatever else you can get your hands on. Ikea and TK Maxx are your best bet to get them at a reasonable price in Dublin, Stock also do them however they tend to be a bit on the expensive side.  Continue reading »

Saffron Road is offering a very exciting gift basket prize this week on Chew on That! Keep reading to see what the prize includes, and enter to win.
Saffron Road makes some amazing soup broths. Saffron Road’s broths celebrate the time honored tradition of using culinary ingredients and kettle cooking, perfect to use in your own favorite recipes. Naturally free of glutens and MSG, Saffron Road’s all natural broths make every dish more flavorful!  Continue reading »

… Where did all that time go? I’m sitting here thinking what shall i give you today and i nearly thought that i had nothing to give you.
Except i do, something i made and popped away for Christmas eve (or near by). So tonight i give you mini forest mushrooms, made out of meringue. These are often used to decorate yule logs or buche de noel.  Continue reading »

This year is the first year that the 4 year old has been an active participant in preparing for Christmas. Not just enjoying the lights or the present unwrapping.
He has loved decorating the tree, singing the songs and chatting to all and sundry about what Santa will bring him.  Continue reading »

This year is the first year that the 4 year old has been an active participant in preparing for Christmas. Not just enjoying the lights or the present unwrapping. He has loved decorating the tree, singing the songs and chatting to all and sundry about what Santa will bring him. It has always been a [...]
The post New Christmas Traditions appeared first on Wholesome Ireland.  Continue reading »

Here at Recipe4Living, we love to cook, no surprise. Also unsurprisingly, we hate to have bad breath after eating delicious dishes like a Classic French Onion Soup, Garlic Bruschetta, and the best street food ever, Greek Gyros. Have you ever had a gyros sandwich? Then you definitely know about the bad breath that lasts for at least a couple of hours after eating one.
If you haven’t, why don’t you make one and then go try to kiss your significant other?  Continue reading »

Barry’s Tea has created a very festive limited edition Santa’s Tea box which is for sale exclusively on barrysteashop.ie for tea fans at home and abroad. The box retails at €3.49 and is the perfect stocking filler for young and old. The lovely people behind Barry’s Tea have given me 5 boxes of Santa’s Tea from Barry’s Tea for one lucky reader of the blog.  Continue reading »

Christmas Lunch at Chapel Steps in Bandon
Bandon (clockwise from top left): Hake, tempting window in butcher’s shop,aubergine and roast pepper parcels, warm salad of Butternut squash, Pavlova,Chicken liver pate, swollen river, URRU, anddelicious warm chocolate cake!
Enjoyed a terrific Christmas lunch at the very busy Chapel Steps in Bandon yesterday. Very good value too at €20.00 for four.  Continue reading »

Photo: sxc.hu

There are some foods and drinks that only get an airing at Christmas time. I would baulk at letting something as vile as cream soda pass my lips any other time of year, but I’ll feel that Christmas isn’t complete without it. My brother-in-law loves lime marmalade, but only on Christmas day.  Continue reading »

There’s something about Christmas baking. It really is the only time I start feeling that Christmassy vibe. I like to do a lot of baking at Christmas. I have already blogged about two of my favourite recipes many moons ago on my ‘What To Leave Out For A Gluten Free Santa‘ post. So this time I thought I’d make this post all about two of my favourite chocolate treats.  Continue reading »

Special offers at Aldi
Special offers at Centra
Special offers at Dunnes
Special offers at Lidl
Special offers at Londis
Special offers at Mace
Special offers at Spar
Special offers at Superquinn(click on the “value instore” tab for the latest offers)
Special offers at SuperValu
Special offers at Tesco.  Continue reading »

Food and Drink Spotting
Taste of the WeekAlways a bit suspicious when I see the blurbs on American products. “While the weather outside is frightful, Ben & Jerry’s Winter Berry Brownie tastes delightful” was spotted on   Ben & Jerry’s latest ice cream creation. “With fluffy fudge brownies and scrumptious raspberry-blackberry swirls that melt into Fairtrade vanilla ice cream. Flavour fans can.  Continue reading »

I didn’t realise I’d bought an antique. But it turned out that the XVII barley wine from Utah’s Uinta brewery which I acquired at The House of Trembling Madness in York during the summer has a bottling date of 23 November 2010: so over two years in the bottle by the time I opened it. Would this be a good thing or a bad thing?
At 10.4% ABV it’s certainly a robust beer, pouring thickly into the glass and presenting a murky mahogany body under a thick old-ivory foam.  Continue reading »

We’ve been hosting my in-laws for Christmas dinner — and Christmas Eve, and St. Stephen’s Day, and usually one or two more days besides — for years now, which means I spend a lot of my time happily wearing a path between the stove, sink and fridge in the days before and after Christmas Day itself.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

A gift of Food

I love Christmas, it is my favourite time of the year. Growing up our house was filled with the Christmas spirit: colourful decorations everywhere, a big Christmas tree in the hall full of red, green, gold and silver ornaments and multicoloured lights. The whole house lit up and dressed to spread joy and happiness. Nothing said Christmas as much as mam’s kitchen though: full of aromas from all the dishes that she would serve up for family and friends.  Continue reading »

My little scottie dogs i made last year, above, being rather festive. Today was a day spent in the kitchen and finishing the last few Christmas pressies off. One thing i did manage to get done today was the Christmas cake, which i post today. There is no recipe, but i use Delia’s classic Christmas cake recipe, which can be found here. It is a traditional marzipan and iced cake. I decorated it with fondant icing and then royal icing decorations.  Continue reading »

Having just moved to America, I’m learning new things every day! Ground almonds are called almond meal, chick peas are called garbanzo beans, and Americans look horrified when I offer them a mince pie. I now realise mince pies are just not that popular over this side of the pond. Just to clarify – not all mince pies contain meat. Mincemeat is actually just a sweet jam of dried fruits alcohol and spice.  Continue reading »

Two Celebrity Chefs will fight it out
 on RTE1
Food Fight Sees Derry Clarke and Clodagh McKenna ‘fight’ it Out in Two Gorey Restaurants
Food Fight takes the ever popular food/restaurant format and adds a competitive edge to the proceedings, by pitting two celebrity chefs against one another.
 A one-off special, where two well-known chefs, Derry Clarke and Clodagh McKenna, are given the.  Continue reading »