So this post is more of a round-up of what’s been happening around me in the gluten free world…

There was The Irish Times http://www.irishtimes.com who recently published what was meant to be a light hearted article about eating with those who are considered to be ‘picky eaters’.  Continue reading »

My Red Pepper Hummus; one of the recipes included in this Saturday’s demo.

This Saturday I’m delighted to be teaming up with Glenisk for a ‘back to school lunch-box ideas’ demo at their Dawson St store from 12.30-2pm.  Continue reading »

 
Don’t panic.
I know. You are getting ready to send your kid out the door and off to college in a week or two, and it has just dawned on you that they know absolutely nothing about living on their own.
Your years of caring for them, and your parenting efforts, have been minimised into the space of about 30 minutes (or less) and you are becoming increasingly aware of all the stuff that little Johnny or Mary are not able to do for themselves.  Continue reading »

First off, a big apology for slacking on the blog front!! This has genuinely been one of the busiest Augusts ever for me- days in Dublin, leader at a camp in Limerick, the flu, GAA matches, and a little bit of thesis writing. Just some fifteen hour days at the laptop, running on three hours sleep thesis writing!! I’ve been so busy that my one year blogoversary completely passed me by! I felt so cheated that I missed it!  Continue reading »

Some images from the stunning MacNean House and on top, with Neven!

If you are a true lover of quality Irish food, excellently prepared and executed, served in an elegant setting by the friendliest, most welcoming staff, you will want to be putting MacNean House and Restaurant in Blacklion, County Cavan, on your foodie bucket list.

The man behind the Cavan phenomenon is Neven Maguire – an inspired chef, a friendly and engaging person, a true gentleman.  Continue reading »

Some images from the stunning MacNean House and on top, with Neven!

If you are a true lover of quality Irish food, excellently prepared and executed, served in an elegant setting by the friendliest, most welcoming staff, you will want to be putting MacNean House and Restaurant in Blacklion, County Cavan, on your foodie bucket list.

The man behind the Cavan phenomenon is Neven Maguire – an inspired chef, a friendly and engaging person, a true gentleman.  Continue reading »

Thanks to Foods from Spain for this simple, good-looking, Pears in Red Wine recipe. I’ve pushed the boat out on the cost of the wine match but the other ingredients don’t cost much so it’s still a cheap night in as long as you don’t eat a main course, rent a DVD or spend any other money that night.  Continue reading »

Day 4
Lovely
welcome and wines at 17th century  Chateau du Petit Thouars

In the vineyard today with Sebastien du Petit Thoaurs

 Built at the same time as Cardinal Richelieu was building
his nearby model town, the 17th century Chateau de Petit Thouars  was our destination today.  Continue reading »

Last Friday night a group of family, friends, colleagues and supporters gathered around my brother-in-law, Simon Bushby, to support him for the live show of RTÉ’s “The Hit“.
For as long as I’ve known him, he has had music in his heart and has been composing since a very young age and studied at Ballyfermot College of Further Education. Simon plays with the band “Home Brew” but in true superhero style, by day he works in retail banking.  Continue reading »

National Lemonade Day is August 20th, and we can’t think of any better way to celebrate than adding a little “kick” to this summertime staple! Skinnygirl Cocktails was nice enough to send over some intriguing lemonade cocktail recipes, and I thought I would share them on the blog today.  These recipes reminded me how much I love the taste of lemonade.  On a hot summer day there’s nothing like a light and icy drink to cool you down.  Continue reading »

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/dPhinJwN6P/.  Continue reading »

OUR KANU SHIRAZ 2006 achieved a super result in the current (September) edition of Food & Wine magazine. In the top foodie mag’s ‘Out of Africa’ tasting of 20 South African reds, Kanu earned 4/5 stars and abundant praise from all three panel tasters, as well as getting a special mention as ‘weekday best’ wine.

The magazine’s wine editor Raymond Blake noted Kanu’s ‘rich and substantial palate’, while comparing it to a beefy Springbok forward (!).  Continue reading »

Is there anything nicer than an ice pop in the summer time? Nope. There is not.  I’ve always hankered after water ices more than ice-cream, delicious as it is – they’re so much more refreshing.  Making them at home is the ultimate cheap eat, plus you can make them with quite healthy ingredients, and can try out lots of interesting flavour combinations.
Ice pop mould sets are available everywhere; you can get them in pound shops, supermarkets and kitchen shops.  Continue reading »

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Set in London, One Frenchman and his Lunchbox tells the true story of what happens when one man meets the Lunchbox of his dreams. 

Man meets Lunchbox. 

Man loves Lunchbox. 

And they lived happily ever after. The End. 

One Frenchman and his Lunchbox
(A very short film).  Continue reading »

Day 3:

She was Queen of France and then Queen of England.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the richest and most powerful women ever.

Eleanor effigy

 Lovely meal this evening in the Restaurant At’Table in Chinon
but the highlight of the day was the visit to the magnificent Abbey Fontevraud,
described as the largest and most extraordinary in France. History is writ
large here in this early 12th century building that was run for nearly
700 years by aristocratic abbesses.  Continue reading »

From disgusting to delicious in about 20 minutes

As a devoted eater, I love trying tastes new to me. This isn’t always a success initially. I often need to try a food several times to check if I still don’t like it, or whether the taste is something I could get used to – or might even get to like.  Continue reading »

The Taste Of Donegal Food Festival is celebrating it’s 5th Birthday this year and following the huge success of the last four years it has established itself as the premier annual food and drink event in the North West of Ireland.

This year’s Festival has once again gathered together the top restaurants, hotels, food producers, drink and life-style product providers to a tented village on the Pier, with the back drop of the Bluestack Mountains and Donegal Bay.  Continue reading »

There are times when I shouldn't be allowed within an asses roar of the internet, or a credit card.  Combine them both and I am lethal… eBay, Etsy and Lakeland are my usual ports of call when I want to splash my non-existent cash and I'm very good at hiding my purchases from The Hubs.  Honestly, if he knew about half of the stuff I bought on the sly, then I'd really be in hot water.  Oh, I forgot that he reads the blog too.  Never mind…
A few months ago I saw some very dotey little cookie cutters on another website and bookmarked them, together with a millionty other items I couldn't possibly live without, even though the house is crammed to capacity.  And I bought them.  To save on postage, I used Parcel Motel – another site that gleefully enables my shopping habits – and they were very very cute indeed.  They sat on the kitchen table for about a month waving at me from their cute little wrappers but I was on a blog hiatus due to Dodgy Back so I ignored them.  Until last night.  You see I had forgotten to put the butter back into the fridge and it was at the stage that is best described as malleable.  Perfect for making the sweetest, shortest, butteriest biscuits in the world.  And here we are.  Continue reading »

I promise this is the last peachy post for a while. I just keep finding so many great uses for delicious seasonal peaches. We do have peaches back home, but they usually have to travel a few thousand miles to get to us. So, when you buy peaches at home, it is always somewhat of a gamble – you could get hard ones, bruised one and sometimes one that is just right. It’s such a novelty for me to buy a case of peaches that are all perfect and from this very state.  Continue reading »