There’s something very evocative about flying boats and sea planes. I have been fascinated by them since I visited the Flying Boat Museum in Foynes, Co. Limerick which recalls the nostalgic era from 1937 to 1945 where Foynes, on the Shannon estuary on the western coast of Ireland, briefly became the centre of the aviation world.  Continue reading »

 
*sings* Aaaaaat Laaaaaast…
 
We got there, woo hoo! RIF Sauces will be stocked in Superquinn from Saturday morning. We started this whole process 2.5 years ago so it took a while but we learnt a lot in that time and had a baby in between so it was worth the wait. The sauces will be stocked in 16 stores which you can view here.  Continue reading »

The nice people at the Abbey Cookery School have asked me to do baking demos at their fab new school in Limerick, I'm so looking forward to it. 
My first demo is called Guilt Free baking (guilt???) and I will be doing baking some f my favourite goodies, using alternative grains to wheat and delicious ingredients from nature like nuts, seeds and coconut oil, honey and seeds
We will be baking my favourite wholemeal no-knead spelt bread, some white spelt soda scones with dilisk, a grain-free banana bread, some gluten-free Buckwheat Pancakes and and yummy oatmeal breakfast  muffins.  Continue reading »

The European Farmhouse and Artisan

 Cheesemakers Congress comes to Ireland

Pictured at the launch of Ireland’s first artisan cheese congress were Dick Willems, Coolea Cheese, Eimear O’Donnell, Bord Bia and Marion Roeleveld, Killeen Farmhouse Cheese. 

The Association of Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers (CAIS) will host the 5th European Farmhouse and Artisan Cheesemakers Congress at University College Cork on the 26th April, where industry stakeholders from Ireland and other EU member states will come together to share knowledge and initiate collaborations across the farmhouse dairy sector.  Continue reading »

Convenience meals or real fast food in our house doesn’t mean that we have to pick up the telephone and call for take out.
There are a number of “meals”, if that’s what you would like to call them, that we can prepare with little fuss with store cupboard ingredients.
This is the first in a new series on the blog which will feature meals on a budget that you can prepare and eat within 15 minutes or less.  Continue reading »

I love all cakes, but I love some cakes more than others. Carrot cake is my most favourite-ist cake, I used to bake one every week when I was in college and living away from home; I still laugh at … Continue reading →.  Continue reading »

Thank you Mr Quinney

Just have to say a major merci to Gavin Quinney and all the crew at Chateau Bauduc for making great wines and to the guys and gals at Curious Wines for stocking them. Helped myself to a couple recently and each was superb.  Continue reading »

Little fingers can't resist

How important is ritual? I’ve come to realise that, for small people, it is essential. It’s their way of marking the weeks that pass on a calender that they don’t yet understand. In a cottage that has no time for organised religion, especially of the Catholic variety, we make our own simple rituals, often revolving around food.
For the Husband and his four sisters, childhood Sunday supper was always egg-in-an-eggcup.  Continue reading »

Copycat recipes are among our readers’ absolute favorites on Recipe4Living, so it’s no surprise they deserve their very own category in Recipe Madness. Read on to learn about the round 1 face-offs between the best of the best copycat recipes.
Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls known for their soft dough and cream cheese frosting, or Olive Garden’s famous house dressing that coats their splendid salad, which recipe will win this contest?  Continue reading »

Help us pick Recipe4Living’s best recipe! Casserole, crockpot, copycat and dessert recipes are the most popular sections on our site and we’ve chosen the most popular recipes from each section. Now we need you, the readers, to pick the best of the best!
Today the casserole recipes are facing off. Vote for your favorites here!  Continue reading »

Help us pick Recipe4Living’s best recipe! Casserole, crockpot, copycat and dessert recipes are the most popular sections on our site and we’ve chosen the most popular recipes from each section. Now we need you, the readers, to pick the best of the best!
Today the casserole recipes are facing off. Vote for your favorites here!  Continue reading »

The Lemon Leaf Cafe

 Quite a few rooms in the Lemon leaf Cafe in Kinsale. You’ll be at home in any of them, although many costumers gravitate towards the glass roofed one, so bright and airy. Pick a seat or  a sofa and study the menu.

 It is open seven days a week. You may have your breakfast here, Scrambled Eggs on their toasted artisan bread or maybe the Bagel special (local handmade sausage and smoky bacon on toasted bagel with homemade tomato and apple chutney).  Continue reading »

The world seems to be racing by me these days. I’ve just about managing to grab a little time and write a blog. A couple of interesting things to note (and a small mention of my taking-forever-to-publish beer blog):

Domino’s Pizza now have a gluten free pizza base available on their menu.  Continue reading »

…or Spotted Dick as my mother-in-law calls it. I can’t seem to refer to this wonderful tea bread as Spotted Dick without turning red and giggling like a teen girl, so I’ll stick with Spotted Dog. When Peggy creates this cake-like bread formed in a rectangular shape, it becomes Railway Cake, which is lovely as well…but doesn’t look as pretty as the round loaf to me. All three variations are essentially a sweet version of white Irish soda bread.  Continue reading »

…or Spotted Dick as my mother-in-law calls it. I can’t seem to refer to this wonderful tea bread as Spotted Dick without turning red and giggling like a teen girl, so I’ll stick with Spotted Dog. When Peggy creates this cake-like bread formed in a rectangular shape, it becomes Railway Cake, which is lovely as well…but doesn’t look as pretty as the round loaf to me. All three variations are essentially a sweet version of white Irish soda bread.  Continue reading »

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I’ve expressed my love for Vietnamese food here before; it’s so fresh, delicate and healthy.  Vietnamese food was fairly poorly represented on the streets of Dublin until recent years, when new places like Neon and Aobaba started springing up. They’re very welcome, it’s a great cuisine and can be very affordable.  Continue reading »

This piece appeared in The Irish Independent last week. The editor and I felt it was important in the wake of the horsemeat crisis to talk about the ins and outs of buying meat products and a quick guide from the horses mouth so to speak (bahahaha) on what’s healthy and risky in terms of processed food is what consumers want right now. 

I feel that telling people only to buy organic or local food is not where its at, or something that most peoples income allows for.  Continue reading »

This piece appeared in The Irish Independent last week. The editor and I felt it was important in the wake of the horsemeat crisis to talk about the ins and outs of buying meat products and a quick guide from the horses mouth so to speak (bahahaha) on what’s healthy and risky in terms of processed food is what consumers want right now. 

I feel that telling people only to buy organic or local food is not where its at, or something that most peoples income allows for.  Continue reading »

I love parties, especially when they include food. I also love to throw parties, but I don’t believe in slaving over a hot stove while everyone else has fun. Through my years of trial, error, and absolute disasters, I’ve come up with a few pointers regarding the best types of party foods. Keep reading for all my tips and feel free to chime in with any of your suggestions!
The first step to throwing a successful food-centric party is to make the foods easy to prepare.  Continue reading »