The Hungry Rambler

Easy Recipe: Home made sausage rolls

2012-02-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

Two reasons I wouldn't be able to become a vegetarian: chorizo and sausage rolls.

They are two of my soft spots, food wise. I admit your average sausage roll from deli counters around the country might not be the best for you but many cafes make their own. Why not make your own to know what exactly goes into them?

I made some last night with sausages from Wexford's Pat O'Neill who sells his quality pork products at the Gorey Farmers Market and has a few awards under his belt.

It is easy peasy, you can either make the pastry or buy the puff rolls from the shop, to make a shortcrust pastry you only need a bit of butter, flour, salt and a bit of water.

Here's the quantity I had for 16 small rolls:
100gr butter
200gr flour
salt
water
olive oil (for the oven tray)
8 good quality sausages

To make the pastry, mix the flour and butter until it is crumbly. Add salt. Add water gradually to the flour and butter mix and knead until is soft and smooth, and not to sloppy. Roll into a ball and leave the pastry in the fridge for about an hour or so.

In the meantime, power boil the sausages, for 5-10 minutes (to make sure they are properly cooked).

Roll the pastry, cut the sausages in half (unless you want to do big sausage rolls, then just keep the whole sausage) and then roll the sausages in pastry squares, big enough to be able to wrap them nicely and close both ends. Preheat the oven to 190C roughly and once it is hot enough, place the rolls on a baking tray sprinkled with a bit of oil so they don't stick to the bottom. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, until you see the pastry is cooked and they have a nice healthy colour!
Voila! serve with a bit of salad to keep up with your 5 a day.
They are great for packed lunch, even when cold!

and those Christmas pictures...

2012-01-26T11:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas and the Swiss/French cheese fest sounds like a life time ago (how many times a week can you actually eat and enjoy raclette??), but I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the best shots of our trip to visit Mr M's family to the Swiss/French border.

The winter light can be so beautiful, I just love that picture of the Swiss flag taken in Geneva's old town.

I was very amused by the Playmobil characters used by the Swiss Rail company at Gare Cornavin in Geneva while the station is under renovation... Playmobil fans out there will love it.

A couple of shots from Les Gets, in the French Alps

No cold turkey this Christmas

2011-12-20T06:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas is almost here, again! And it looks like turkey is still the favourite dish when it comes to celebrating the big family thing in Ireland. Is it out of habit? Is it that Ireland just loves turkey once a year? Just for tradition’s sake?

But turkey haters should not despair. There are many exciting and alternative Christmas dishes you could be testing this year. Looking at other European Christmas traditions could give you some inspiration!

spider crabs

In Galicia, an old-time Christmas Eve favourite is salted cod with cauliflower or cabbage. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it came up top in my Facebook straw poll. Other friend suggested octopus as a dish eaten by many families traditionally on Christmas Eve. Seafood and fish in general is a very popular option for Christmas in Galicia.

Salted cod is the most common way of eating cod in general in Galicia, Portugal and the rest of Spain. The cod is cut in darns and they will need de-salting in water for day or two. Cod, potatoes and cauliflower are boiled. In a separate pan, olive oil and 4 garlic cloves are cooked with smoked paprika (not the hot one). The sauce is then poured over the fish and vegetables and ready to serve.

Personally, my all-time favourite is my mum’s recipe for Galician clams and you can find an accurate approximation here (Clams in Green Sauce).

gingerbread made by Dani

The Poles, my friend Dani tells me, also celebrate their big family dinner on Christmas Eve. They have 12 different dishes, all without meat. Each region in Poland might have their own traditional dishes but these are her examples of Polish dishes that make it to the Christmas table:

Carp (a must!)
Vegetable salad
Pierogi (dumplings) with potatoes and cheese or cabbage and mushrooms
Bigos (sliced cabbage with sour cabbage plus plums or raisings or cranberries and mushrooms)
Kutia - special square noodles with poppy seeds, raisings, orange skins and honey
Beetroot soup (barszcz)
Mushroom soup (zupa grzybowa)
Gingerbread (piernik) and poppy cake (makowiec)

The Poles always set an extra plate for any unexpected guest, she says, “and we always look for the first star on the sky and then start to eat.”

My brother, who lives in Berlin, tells me mulled wine (of course) is a must at Christmas in Germany.

The Germans also celebrate Christmas Eve and goose is their most traditional dish.
Here’s a recipe for Goose Breast with Potato Dumplings, Red Cabbage, and Chestnuts

In Sweden, boiled ham is a popular Christmassy dish (see here ).

My friend Axel who has a fear of herring once told me his favourite Christmas dish is rice porridge (similar to rice pudding). Easy and tasty and you can get a good recipe here . The Swedes put a nut in the rice pudding when it is almost ready. The lucky one who gets the nut will be lucky in the New Year, according to the Swedish Christmas tradition.

Wild and Slow

2011-11-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

I'm quite excited about heading to Wild and Slow.

The first Wild and Slow food festival takes place this weekend, 19th and 20th November, in idyllic Macreddin village, just outside Aughrim in County Wicklow, known for being home to the Brooklodge hotel and organic restaurant The Strawberry Tree.

The main focus is seasonality, sustainability and foods available in the wild; and there is an amazing range of workshops planned for the two-day food festival, from foraging to pheasant plucking, photographic walks and smoking meat. The whole list is available here http://wildandslow.com/the-event/

The Wild and Slow blog also has very handy food templates for recipes using wild ingredients, here's where I got the recipe for my first elderberry and apple jellies. They are very useful as each guide is dedicated to one ingredient. You can also find recipes for Christmas favourite sloe gin http://wildandslow.com/food-templates/

Some pictures of Wild and Slow:

Cathy's mixes win gold again!

2011-11-10T06:15:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Tinahely's Cathy from Cathy's Spelt for Health ! she was in the news in the past days, after winning yet another Gold medal, this time for her tasty tomato and herb mix at the National Food Awards in Dingle.

The win came as a surprise, since the samples sent by Cathy for the judges had been damaged during the journey and she thought they were out of the competition. Well done!!

Things to do this weekend

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you are around Gorey or Wexford tomorrow night, the twice All Ireland camogie champions (Wexford!) are launching their first ever fashion calendar to raise funds for their club.

It takes place at the Amber Springs Hotel in Gorey and it is only €5 to get in - for a bit of fun, dancing and a chance to be some of the first ones to get copies of the calendar. Hopefully a few snacks too!

The girls all look amazing (having been treated to hair, make up and stylist) and it was good fun working with them on the day, as part of the Practice PR contingent.

The shoot took place at Jillian's house (you know, of the Sell your house on You Tube fame!) and Bray award-winning Dermot Byrne was the photographer.

On Saturday, The second Creative Collection craft and food fair takes place at the Gorey Shopping Centre, from 10am to 6pm.

Then on Sunday, Rathwood is organising a 3k Santa Run/walk/jog in aid of the National Rehab Hospital and local teenager Suzanne O'Neill. It should be a good day out, for a great cause and a chance to pop in to Rathwood for a bit of pre-Christmas shopping (I personally love the Seasalt range of organic cotton clothing) and their famous chocolate cake. The good news: wearing those frumpy Santa frocks nobody will notice!

Thai-style monkfish red curry

2011-09-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

You will need (for 2/3 people):

3 garlic cloves
1 medium sized onion
2 carrots
1 pepper
1 broccoli or courgette (or both)
Ginger root
1 tin of tomatoes (or 4 tomatoes)
1 small tin of coconut milk
Spoonful of olive oil
Salt
1 tail of monkfish (for 2/3 people)
Red curry paste (such as Thai Gold)
Soy Sauce
Basmati or Jasmine rice
*optional chilli flakes or fresh chilli

My friend Julie has asked me to give her some tips on how to cook fish. Since she hasn’t been much of a fish eater, I thought a curry with monkfish would be a good start for her. Monkfish is such a meaty and bone-free fish that is excellent for those who want to introduce some fish into their diet but are a bit apprehensive and not sure what they will like. Besides, the level of heat in the curry can be adapted to each individual taste so the kids can also enjoy it. And it is great comfort food for those rainy days in. It is a bit of a dear fish but worth it as a treat.

First, chop the garlic and onion and cook in a low heat with the olive oil until soft. Add a teaspoon (or two, depending on how strong you like your curry) of red curry paste. I usually don’t add chilli flakes as it tends to be hot enough but feel free to add chilli flakes to spice it up.

Slice the carrot and ginger (it is quite handy to use the potato peeler so the slices are very fine) and chop the pepper in long strips. Add them to the garlic and onion mix.

Chop the monkfish tail (a bit chunky is better) and add it to the mix to cook for a few minutes. Add some soy sauce to your taste (a couple of table spoons I would suggest).

If you are using courgettes, chop them and add them at the same time as the fish. If you are using broccoli, you are better off adding it towards the end so it stays a bit crunchy.

After 4-5 minutes, add the tin of tomatoes and the coconut milk (around 200-250ml should be enough). Cook for about 15 minutes. Remember to add the broccoli some 5 minutes before you are finished – or longer if you like it softer.

In a separate pot you’ll need to cook the rice with a bit of salt and some cumin seeds if you like. The ratio is one of rice, two of water and it takes approximately 15 minutes to cook.

Brasserie le Pont donating 10% on World Suicide Prevention Day

2011-09-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

This week is Suicide Prevention Week. According to Irish charity Pieta House, 486 people died by suicide in Ireland last year, and the number of people approaching them for help has increased 40% in the first half of 2011.

So if you are looking to go out for a meal this Saturday 10th September (Suicide Prevention Awareness Day) bear in mind Dublin restaurant Brasserie le Pont will be donating 10% of your bill to Pieta House, who focuses on the prevention of suicide and self harm.

The restaurant will also give customers the option to make a donation.

General manager Fiona Kelly says: “Most people out there have been touched whether directly or indirectly by suicide therefore it is a cause close to many people’s hearts. We are hoping to get lots of bookings to help Pieta House on the great work they are doing to help people suffering in Ireland.”

Recycled glassware

2011-09-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

So where does all our recycling go after we leave it at the recycling centre or the bottle bank? that is, for many 'recyclers' out there, the million dollar question... and not an easy one to answer.

That is one of the reasons I feel so pleased when I come across products in the shops that are a direct result of that collective act of faith which is going to the recycling centre. The odd time, I have found some very stylish recycled glassware manufactured in Spain in the local TK Maxx. They don't always have it in stock but I always look out for them. They are excellent quality, pretty and they'll make you feel the whole recycling process has come a full circle.

According to Repak, 106,629 tonnes of glass were collected in Ireland in 2010 and Rehab Glass Co estimates an Irish family uses an average of 500 glass jars and bottles each year. That is a hell of a lot of glass and an awful waste if it was all to go to landfill. Since glass is 100% recyclable and one of the easiest materials to recycle and reuse, our old bottles can be easily converted into a very useful raw material for new glass items, such as that beautiful glassware.

I have been trying to find manufacturers of recycled glassware in Ireland for a wedding present but haven't been very successful.

Instead, I have found some names of companies making and/or selling recycled glassware available in Ireland and the UK (via Amazon and in certain stores). Some of them melt the glass to build brand-new pieces with the material and others reuse bottles turning them into glassware with a bit of creativity and handycraft.

-traidcraft has fair trade recycled glassware made in Bolivia by Crisil and it is available on Amazon and its own online shop

-ecoware (made in the EU) has storage jars and other kitchenware made of recycled glass, available on Amazon
-Green Glass makes glasses out of beer and wine bottles

From Spain

-Grehom (UK company sourcing recycled glassware in Spain, available on Amazon and on their own website)
-La Mediterranea (selected shops)
-Jarapa (selected shops) - they also make rugs out of recycled cotton material.

From Mexico
-Milagros

In the US
-Recycled Glassware Co

If you have any more, let me know and I'll add them to the list.

... and then the sun came out

2011-08-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Wild Wet Beara

2011-08-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Heritage Week is coming...

2011-08-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

This Saturday 20th August marks the beginning of this year's Heritage Week. There are hundreds of activities planned all over the country so it is a fantastic opportunity to get out and be active, maybe learn something new about your area, perhaps discover a new skill...

To see what's on near you:
http://www.heritageweek.ie/index.php/whats-on/event-search/

The most beautiful beach?

2011-07-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Lists, Best-ofs, Top 10s are an easy and ready to digest information format but no matter how much I like them, they are always controversial.

Lonely Planet does a fantastic job at highlighting good spots for this, that and the other, but it is inevitable there will be people offended by spots that haven't made the shorlist of the most beautiful, the best, the nicest, the friendliest... places they would consider top of their list.

At the end of the day, all lists are flawed: firstly, they are written by one individual, with his/her preferences, opinions, mindset, mood and circumstances... and secondly, he/she quite possibly haven't been to every single place in the world for the list to be the most accurate or scientifically proven.

Having said that, and considering there are many places I haven't been, I would like to share these shots of Boca do Rio beach in Carnota, Costa da Morte, Galicia.

I can't say it is the most beautiful beach in the whole wide world - because I'm aware there are many amazing beaches out there yet to be discovered. But at the time of visiting, with childhood friends, on a sunny day in mid-July, it certainly felt like the most incredible place in the world - almost impossibly perfect. The most beautiful beach, the best of my list. So far, anyway.

La lluvia es una canción sin letra (Rain is a song without lyrics). Book...

2011-07-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the book trailer for the debut novel by my friend Angel.
It is beautifully photographed and very touching, it has been partly filmed in Dublin and partly filmed in Castellon and Villarreal, Spain. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Beach life, but not as we know it

2011-07-02T03:08:00.000-07:00

The Croatian village of Petrcane, some 7km north of Zadar city, is known to festival nomads for its sun-soaked seaside music festivals (mainly the Garden Festival that takes place at the beginning of July) but in June it is a beat-free chill-out zone by the sea, just don’t expect to find any sand.

Organised travelers (maybe most travelers) might advice research and planning is essential for a good stress-free holiday. However, sometimes, a bit of spontaneity (and lack of time) can land you some of the best travel experiences. This was the case with our trip to Croatia in June. Due to work/college commitments, it felt as if suddenly we were off without much of a plan, apart from the intention of visiting a good friend in Zagreb for a couple of days.

A couple of weeks before travelling, one of the four members of the group had found an apartment by the coast, in Petrcane, through Booking.com and we decided to book it straight away, for four nights: it looked good and we didn’t have that much time to be fussying around anyway. It matched the boxes: on the coast, close enough to Zadar, affordable.

Having asked our friend in Zagreb about Croatian public transport (Zagreb is about 240km from Zadar), she recommended we rented a car. None of the travelers felt like renting a car, since we were all on ‘chillax’ mission and didn’t know much about the area, so the day before travelling it was decided – out of pure apathy more than a carefully studied decision - we would just get a taxi transfer from the airport to Petrcane and take it from there.

So we landed in Zadar airport at 20,30 and got ferried to the apartment we had booked, at Villa Lisica.

By pure chance we got given the best apartment in the building, we were told, as all the smaller units were booked and we were a party of four. The five-bedroom apartment with a huge terrace leading directly to a little harbour on the seafront left us thinking maybe there had been a mistake somewhere, it was just too good to be true.

Later we learnt the apartment had been recently refurbished and it had been a restaurant until the year before. This fact ended up being slightly annoying, as people would still think it was a restaurant and stroll into the terrace (or as far as the main door) wondering what was going on before realizing it was a private space.

We couldn’t believe our luck, since we chose Petrcane by pure chance and turned out to be just what we needed, and we got this amazing apartment for a much lower price.

If we were expecting sandy beaches we were very wrong but the Dalmatian concept of beach is as attractive as it is unusual: no sticky sand getting everywhere, no overcrowded strands... just people chilling by the man-made sea front and pontoons, dipping in and out of the warm crystal clear Adriatic as if it was a huge salty pool.

A 5-minute walk along the seafront would take us from Villa Lisica to the main street in the village, where there is a shop, a post office, an information office and many restaurants serving plenty of seafood (at premium prices for Croatian standards but still pretty good when travelling from Ireland), as well as a bus stop for the line that connects Zadar with Nin and it is regular enough for you to ditch the rental car. The trip from Petrcane to Zadar is merely 15 minutes so if your intention is to chill out by the sea for a few days, you might not need to rent a car.

The restaurants we tried were all pretty similar in price, quality and menu; however, quantity can vary from place to place. It was in Petrcane that I first came across ‘noah’s arks’ some mollusc (I’m told from the Mediterranean) that resembles a big boxy clam and tastes like a tough mussel. Not that I was that impressed but it was worth trying for sure. Our friend in Zagreb later told us they are also eaten in the Valencia region in Spain, and they are called caixetes in Catalan...

Nin

After chilling in Petrcane for a day and a half, we decided to rent some bikes at the nearby Hotel Pinjia and cycle to Nin, some 7km north of the village. Nin is a walled medieval town with its historic centre on an island connected to the rest of the town by a couple of gates and bridges.

Known for its salt making industry and for having the smallest cathedral in the world, Nin also has a sandy beach (coarse darkish sand though), which is pretty unique around, on the north side of the old town.

The cycle was pretty easy, especially due to the fact that there is a cycle lane almost all the way to Nin. As you get into Nin from the south, on the left there is St Nicolas church on a mound by the side of the road, which is pretty picturesque - and a good excuse for a little cycle break. On the way in, we stumbled into a fruit market where five women were selling local fruit. With the help of some sign language sprinkled with some German words, we managed to buy some apricots, cherries and strawberries.

Once inside the walled town, it is nice to wander around the tiny streets off the main street where cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops are packed with visitors.

The Kornati Islands

There are many islands off the coast of Zadar, including the Kornati National Park, which is a popular tourist day trip. There are many organised boat trips for around €40, including food and entrance to the national park. The boats usually leave from Zadar at around 8,30am and get back around 5ish, but, in our case, the organisers picked us up at our accommodation in Petrcane. It is common to see the boat trip ‘sales men’ strolling up and down Petrcane and other villages getting people to book a place in one of their trips.

George Bernard Shaw once said (according to some leaflets we found about the Kornati) "On the last day of Creation, God wished to crown his work and made the Kornati island out of his tears, the stars and his breath.”

The scenery approaching the Kornati islands is just spectacular: the barren landscape dotting the sea and the vertical cliffs; its remoteness and wild beauty. As for the food on board, it had a few wild surprises too: like a breakfast that consisted of a very potent snap and a wafer biscuit, at 9,30 in the morning! They were €40 well spent, despite the fact that I was nursing a very bad cold that kept me from enjoying it 100% - or do some swimming in the bluest of waters I had ever seen. The downside was obviously the crowds once we got our 2-hour stop at the National Park, as many of the boats doing the day trip seem to have a very similar schedule.

It would have been amazing - maybe take note for next time - to stay in one of the islands' small villages in Dugi Otok and really forget about the rest of the world for a week or so, just enjoying the sea, the sun and the quiet.

Zagreb

Our journey to Zagreb, the Croatian capital, took us around 3,30 hours (with a 15-minute break). There are many bus companies linking Zadar and Zagreb but some of them can take up to 8 hours so you need to make sure you go for a ‘direct line’. We had some issues on the way back – as we had a return ticket but we didn’t know we still had to book our seats in advance to secure a place – but in general, the bus experience in Croatia was positive.

What Zagreb lacked in seaside pleasures, we surely compensated with museum visits and very cheap and tasty food. In the 48 hours we spent in Zagreb we visited: the Archaeology Museum, where we saw the Zagreb mummy; The Art and Design Museum (where they had an Art Deco exhibition) and the Croatian Museum of Naive Art which was small but good for poster/souvenirs. All worth the visit. Also in the Upper Town and almost across the road from the Naive museum, there was the Museum of Broken Relationships, which we were tempted to go and see just out of curiosity but didn’t, in the end.

Apart from a personal tour of the Upper Town, courtesy of our resident friend Maria, the highlight was definitely the food - and also the nightlife. We ate seafood and fish at three seriously cheap and tasty restaurants:

A tiny bar/eatery by the fruit and fish market, Nocturno (a favourite with the locals, I'm told) and Ribice fish restaurant - a very artistic and bright looking fish restaurant. In general, eating out was half price of what we had been paying in the coast (Zagreb price was around 300 kunas for 5 people for a fishy lunch with drinks – approx. €40).

One of the charms of Zagreb was that hanging out with locals is not a mission impossible, since it is not a city geared towards tourism - specially when it's 30 degrees celsius at 8 in the evening and not a chance of dipping into the sea...unlike the coast, that attracts all the foreign travellers, it feels genuine, authentic.

Zadar

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

After having a last swim and reluctantly saying goodbye to Petrcane, our last day was spent visiting (quickly) Zadar city, walking around the walled town and the lavender-scented sea front, chilling by the sea organ and having some pretty good farewell grilled squid (squid must have been in my diet some 5 days out of the 7 that week!).

Some good artists exhibit around the touristy squares of Zadar, including one called Ana Kolega, which I really liked for its colourful, very 20s inspired imagery - so I bought a little piece of her work as a souvenir and another one as a present.

We could have done with some more time to chill in Zadar, investigating its market where homemade snaps are found next to tacky souvenirs and local fruit. Then again, we could have done with more time living it up in Petrcane, but that was the end of our week and it was time to go home.

Useful bits:

*Because of the area’s historic relationship with Italy, many people seem to speak Italian. English is also widely spoken, especially by younger Croats.

*Public transport from Petrcane to Zadar city is regular enough during weekdays and less so on Saturdays and Sunday, but still doable. The journey takes approximately 15-20 minutes all the way to Zadar’s bus station.

*Hotel Pinjia has a bike rental service (even for non-residents) for the equivalent of €10 for the day (less if you rent it half-day).

*Information on intercity buses can be found here: http://www.autobusni-kolodvor.com/en/timetable.aspx

There are many different companies and tickets are bought at the station, however, bear in mind seats are allocated and you must validate your ticket and secure your seat before travelling (we didn’t know this when we travelled back from Zagreb and we almost missed the last bus, since it was completely booked up)

* http://www.zadar.hr/ for information on the Zadar region.

Glendalough video slideshow

2011-07-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Here's a little video slideshow with pictures taken in Glendalough, Wicklow National Park, while doing The Spinc walk trail over the two lakes and back at the monastic site.

Artists survey!

2011-07-01T12:40:00.001-07:00

If you live in Ireland and paint, illustrate, design, do crafts... please share your thoughts with me on this survey!!

Irish Heritage Park in Wexford

2011-06-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

The Irish National Heritage Park in Wexford is currently undergoing some major restoration and development work but it is very much open for business and a fantastic spot to take visitors, tourists and also kids on a day out, specially if you are lucky to get some rays of sunshine.

After a quick visit to Cahore Point and Curracloe, we went to spend the Monday Bank Holiday there with friends visiting from Galicia. It gave them a chance to learn a bit more about Ireland and its history; they just loved it; and left wondering why Galicia doesn't have any Heritage parks like this ...

Having worked in Archaeology in a previous life and dug many of them, I have a soft spot for the fulatch fiadh (cooking pit), which was turned on for a live demonstration during the Wexford Food Festival but unfortunately had to miss since it clashed with college work.

One of the girls had a soft spot for Viking artefacts so she was thrilled with the Viking boatyard.
On the way back home, we stopped to buy some Wexford strawberries to celebrate the brilliant day.

I love this picture I took with the retrocamera Android app

homemade granola: the most delicious breakfast

2011-05-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
300gr of oats
100gr of mixed seeds (ie. sunflower and pumpkin seeds)
50gr of nuts (hazelnuts and/or almonds, walnut, etc)
50gr of dried fruit (currants/raisins/apricots)
3 tbs of local honey
1 tbs of olive oil
1tbs of ground almonds (optional)
1 ts of ground cinnamon

Serve: with yoghurt or milk

Granola is a fantastic alternative way of eating oats for breakfast in the summer if you don't fancy the old porridge. It is such a treat and so easy to make. those in the supermarket might be packed with sugar, butter and other not so healthy ingredients but making your own you can have control over what exactly you are having for your breakfast.

First, mix the oats with the seeds, the ground cinnamon, ground almonds, honey and oil to roast in the oven (150C), stirring every so often to make sure they roast evenly.
Leave them in the oven until they are golden but it should be ready in about 30 minutes.

Once cooked, leave it to cool and then add the dried fruit and nuts. Mix and eat with yoghurt, milk or just on their own.

Store it in a sealed jar to keep it crunchy.

#IRLday get Ireland trending

2011-05-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

On Monday 23rd May, US president Barack Obama is visiting Ireland. International media will be focusing on Ireland so it is the perfect opportunity to show the world all the great things the country has to offer. It is a chance to shine and get Ireland trending on the Twittersphere by using the #IRLday hashtag.
Whatever you are into, tweet about it: your favourite place in Ireland #irlplaces, your favourite Irish dish or food #irlfood, your local restaurant #irlrestaurants, an Irish song #irlsongs, writer, book, musician... anything at all that will help us make 23rd May Ireland Day!

And don’t forget to get your twibbon!

Here’s David Butt’s blog on what Irish restaurants and foodies should tweet about on #IRLday
http://irlday.org/2011/05/19/what-should-restaurants-tweet-about-on-irlday-contributed-by-david-butt /

Spelt for Health

2011-04-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

Many people develop intolerance or allergic reactions to certain foods as adults. Cathy Whitty, the mother of my friend Yvonne, who I used to work with in my Archaeology days, discovered she was wheat intolerant a few years ago, when a very bad reaction landed her in hospital. Of course, until then, she was unaware that wheat was causing her any harm...

After that, she started baking her own bread with spelt flour at home and the local health food shop in Tinahely, Co. Wicklow, started placing orders. I was working with Yvonne and her brother David at the time and they used to share some of the homemade bread on site - the recipe was highly secret though! or so I was told.

That same year, Cathy's bread recipe won the Supervalu 'Recipe for success' competition and her business started to take off from there, getting her breads onto the shelves of some selected Supervalu stores. Eventually, she moved on to pre-packed mixes and the sachets are now available in many supermarkets, specialist and health food shops around the country. The range includes wheat-free bread mixes as well as wheat-free flapjack mixtures and other tasty sweet treats.

ON her site Cathy's Spelt for Health http://www.cathysspeltforhealth.ie/ you can find stockists near you, as well as links to her Facebook page, where she runs competitions and shares some wheat-free recipes (including pancakes!).

And here are some videos on how easy it is to use the mixtures:

Cathy's Spelt For Health from fiona whitty on Vimeo.

The vegetable patch comes back to life

2011-04-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

So the vegetable patch (and the patio veggie beds) is coming back to life again:

the winter vegetables we thought we'd be eating in the winter are thriving (we have now discovered it only meant you have to plant them in the winter), herbs are shooting up (specially the mint, thyme and parsley), the strawberry plants are spreading like mad and most part of the summer veggies have been planted or seeded.

Mr. M is looking for new plastic for his homemade green house to cover up the tomato plants and I'm just concerned about little 'pexego' (the little miracle baby peach tree) as it doesn't seem to be getting any new shoots. Mr M says it looks like it's dead but I still have some hope it will survive.

Magic teapot

2011-04-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

here's a picture of our teapot taken yesterday during breakfast, while enjoying the first taste of summer weather in Gorey, Co. Wexford.

How to make chicken croquettes

2011-04-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Spanish-style croquettes, or croquetas, are a handy and tasty way of using leftover meat, specially chicken and ham. A very recession-friendly recipe. In Spain, they are commonly also made with salted cod or serrano cured ham. The combination of bechamel and salty ingredients gives them a good balance in flavour.

This was one of my favourite dinners as a kid, even the frozen croquettes you can buy in any Spanish supermarket, specially the cod and serrano ones. In Ireland, I tend to make them whenever there is leftover chicken after a roast, for example.

The ingredients needed:

-flour

-olive oil

-salt

-shredded or very finely chopped leftover chicken or ham meat

-bread crumbs (you can get them in the shop or you can make your own by grating stale bread)

-1 egg

The first step is to make a very thick bechamel. Start it by heating a couple of spoonfuls of olive oil in a pan, then mix in some flour (200gr or so), add a pinch of salt and keep stirring the milk in one bit a the time until you get a lump-free thick bechamel sauce (it should be difficult to keep stirring with the wooden spoon).

Add the meat bits, stirr a bit and leave to cool. I usually leave the mixture to set in the fridge for 24 hours or so. The following day, the mixture should be very solid and this is when the fun begins.

Use two dessert spoons to create uniform-ish lumps of mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and have the bread crumbs ready on another plate. This is a three-step process: roll the ball, dip in the egg, cover in breadcrumbs. Once each croquette is covered in breadcrumbs, use your hands to compress them a bit so the crumbs stick to the mixture.

Then you are ready to fry them until they are golden all around. Use kitchen roll to soak some of the fat from frying them, and enjoy them. They go well with some mixed salad and they are a great packed lunch treat when they are cold.

St Patrick's Day Parade in Gorey Co Wexford 2011

2011-03-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

Pack your Farm Ville and move to Ireland Town

2011-03-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year again: rivers turn green, shamrocks are waved and we all feel a bit Irish. Paddy's Day is here and it is indeed a great opportunity to market Ireland as a tourist destination in these times of crisis doom and gloom.

A few weeks ago, Ireland was named the fifth most popular tourist destination on Facebook and now, to coincide with the country's national day, Tourism Ireland is launching an 'Oirish' rival to popular Facebook game Farm Ville, which is called Ireland Town.

Personally I think is a brilliant idea, we'll just need to wait and see how many facebook farmers we get to move from their cultivated Farm Villes and grab a bit of new turf in Irish Town. And, ultimately, how many will decide to visit the offline Ireland, encouraged by the virtual experience.

Happy Paddy's Day everyone!

Bring on the pancakes

2011-03-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

Pancake mix:
500ml milk
2 eggs
200gr flour
pinch of salt

butter (to grease the pan so they don't stick)

(a pinch of baking powder for North American style 'fluffy' pancakes)

So far, it has been pancake Saturday, pancake Monday and pancake Tuesday this week... pancakes are some of those treats we seem to remember once a year but they are so easy to make and are so delicious, it is worth remembering them all year around!

This is roughly the recipe we use for the traditional ones (although in Galicia -where they are a Entroido/Carnival treat - they are usually made with water and just a drop of milk). For the 'fluffy' North American version, we just add a pinch of baking powder, make a slightly thicker batter and pour in the centre of the pan without letting it spread all the way to the edges.

Mr M has been trying to make some gluten-free pancakes with chick pea flour at work (as one of the guys is gluten intolerant) but the result wasn't very convincing - or so I hear. So if anybody has a successful and tasty recipe for gluten-free pancakes, let us know!

Running out of Road on World Book Day

2011-03-03T02:23:00.000-08:00

Since today is World Book Day I have decided to write a little post about one book you might haven’t heard of. It is one of the many books that are self-published and sold online directly by authors each year.

There are a good few examples of DIY authors that have done remarkably well and the Internet, of course, has helped greatly breaking the barriers between artists and readers.

In Ireland, Roddy Doyle famously self published The Commitments before becoming a Booker prize winner and turning The Commitments into a hit film (and a major part of the country’s pop culture). And that was before the age of the net had even arrived.

However (for what I hear) the self publishing road is not always a smooth one. And the Internet is a very big place indeed!

Running out of Road is the first novel self published by half boss and half friend Jillian Godsil (and she is not paying me to write this!). As it happens, it was my first ever Kindle book as well, which I was quite excited about.

It is an interesting experience to read something by someone you see and work with everyday. Particularly when that ‘something’ is as raw, dysfunctional and f-wording as Bella’s story in Running out of Road.

Bella is a swearing, crude and damaged young woman in desperate need of a real meaningful personal connection. Abandoned by her father and estranged from her mother, Bella marries the owner of the local pub in Ballybawn, the fictional Irish village where the action takes place. But her marriage, like any other previous relationships in her life, is also doomed.

She is trouble, as people would say. She is troubled, it could be said. I suppose it is only a matter of perspective, and empathy.

Narrated in first person, we follow Bella’s thoughts throughout Running out of Road, her feelings and her screw ups, and we almost want to ring her up and tell her not to do half the stuff she is up to.

We are inside Bella’s head, with all the mess, the noise and the going ons in her complicated life. Jillian might use as many f-words as commas, but the writing is delicately crafted, words carefully chosen to give us a vivid image of what is feels to be Bella, running out of road, but ultimately surviving and maybe even finding a bit of hope.

Sure, like many other self published books, Running out of Road might need some editing and trimming down but then, who doesn’t?

Ah, and there is a lot of sex as well (just so you know!)

You can get a copy of Running out of Road, Kindle edition, for the price of a packet of crisps. And you never know, you might be one of the first people to read the next biggest thing.

Seal Sanctuary release in Courtown

2011-02-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Irish Seal Sanctuary is a charity based in Courtown, Co. Wexford. Its team of volunteers rescue injured seals from all over Ireland, bring them back to their centre in Courtown and nurse them back to health. Once the seals are ready to get back to the wild, the Seal Sanctuary travel to the spot where they were originally found to release them.

On Sunday 13th February, it was time for Grace to be released on Courtown Beach, where she was originally found by a local during his walk.

There are many ways to support the fantastic work being done by the charity, from donations (online and at the centre), buying some of its merchandising (available at the centre in Courtown) or adopting a seal.

The centre is located behind the leisure centre in Courtown and next to the beach and the walking trails in the Courtown woods so it is a great Sunday activity - for people of any age.

The Science Gallery: Dublin's fun lab

2011-02-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

It is not a museum, a Science lab or an Art gallery; and it is all of those at the same time. Dublin’s Science Gallery is a world’s first. A unique space designed to mix Art and Science, a wonderfully stylish and geeky environment where even a teenage crush can turn into a scientific lab experiment.

Since its opening in February 2008, the Science Gallery has hosted 14 exhibitions and received over 650,000 visitors, becoming one of the country’s top attractions. As marketing and communications manager Anja Ekelof points out, the Science Gallery team expected to reach around 50,000 visitors in its first year, instead they received 250,000. Not many museums or galleries in the world have achieved the level of enthusiasm and excitement surrounding the Science Gallery in Dublin – in only a couple of years.

So what makes the Science Gallery such a hit?

“It is about getting a balance,” explains Ekelof. “People want things to do, projects they can interact with.” And there is plenty of interaction at the Science Gallery: from the outside it might look like a trendy art gallery but get in there and it is like entering a playground for grown ups. As Ekelof says, it is an unusual way of looking at Science. The point is: Science can be exciting and creative.

The Science Gallery hosts an average of four to five exhibitions a year, including a main flagship exhibition; as well as workshops, experiments and events at the 144-seat theatre, from TEDx talks to movie screenings and gigs. The exhibitions and related activities vary in length and subjects but must follow two guidelines: they must have a scientific or technology angle, of course, and they must actively engage with the visitor.

“We’d like to present science in a different light. Our core age group is from 15 to 25-year olds, since they are the ones making decisions about their future now and we’d like to encourage them to choose Science-related careers. Ireland needs people to think creatively about issues that affect all of us so we’d like them to think differently about how they perceive Science and Technology.”

While there are many ideas lined up for the coming months, there is also an important element of flexibility that keeps the Science Gallery topics fresh and relevant. “We want to know what is happening in the real world in terms of research, be responsive and host topical exhibitions,” she adds.

In 2009, the gallery’s exhibition ‘Infectious – Stay Away’ opened three days before the swine flu outbreak hit the headlines across the globe. ‘Infectious’ explored the mechanisms behind contagious diseases (such as swine flu) but also more harmless concepts such as how good ideas spread and the basis of viral marketing. This kind of timing though, while purely accidental, could have been the best or the worst thing that could happen to the event. In the Science Gallery’s case it was a total success: 47,000 people visited the exhibition and the swine flu panic helped create that buzz. Ekelof says the team isn’t scared of being ‘controversial’.

The ‘Lab in the gallery’ is designed to get visitors actively involved in Science: while visitors interact with a particular piece, they are also contributing to pieces of real research and studies by real scientists.

One of the ‘labs’ that hit the headlines in 2010 was the ‘Love Lab’. ‘Love Lab’ brought together a series of ‘love scientists’ from different disciplines, including Neuroscience, Genetics, Psychology and Biochemistry, to test Science Gallery visitors and investigate what makes us attractive or feel attracted to certain people. Is it the smell, your genetic make up, the way your walk or is it your age? Maybe it is just a combination of them all…

Also in 2010, The Science Gallery packed its bags and set up camp, literally, at two of Ireland’s biggest music festivals: Oxegen and the Electric Picnic, bringing the ‘Biorythm, music and the body’ exhibition and series of events to its natural environment.

‘Green Machines’, the exhibition that just finished in mid-December, gave each visitor the opportunity to invest €5m on green technology and design projects that could radically change the way we live our lives and help us deal with environmental issues facing the planet.
The exhibition was divided in three areas: an investment bootcamp where visitors would get guidelines on green financial investments; an inspiration garden, where 18 green projects by startups from all over the globe were up for investment and a Design Studio, where visitors could leave their ‘green design’ ideas. A panel of judges then would choose the best designs from the workshops and a prize of €3,000 was given to the best idea to help its creator bring take it to the next level.

“We really wanted to introduce an economic argument in this particular exhibition, whose aim was to bring sustainable design and green technology together and make it more accessible, less threatening to the general public,” adds Ekelof.

Based on the investments made on the 18 projects during the exhibition, one of them was also selected as the winner of the Green Machines Investment Awards 2010.

Infectious diseases, concerts, the science behind desire and attraction, the physics of bubbles and foams, green machines… How does the Science Gallery team find all these themes and keep up with the expectations of its followers?

“We are very lucky to have some of the best researchers in Ireland involved. The Leonardo group, which includes people from science, the arts, business and the media, provides us with broad themes and, as a programming team at the Science Gallery, we further those ideas, invite experts and curators on the topics. We also tend to put an open call for ideas all over the globe so people and experts from anywhere in the world can submit their suggestions to the Science Gallery and the curatorial team,” she explains.

The gallery shares the building with actual research space at Trinity College and that’s where the idea for the Science Gallery was originally born. The nanoscience research team at Trinity wanted to showcase its research but not in a traditional museum environment but something that would allow them to interact with the public.

In just two years, The Science Gallery has built a loyal fan base, with over 4,000 followers on Twitter and nearly 2,000 fans on Facebook.

“We have a huge proportion of repeat visitors at the Science Gallery, people who have come about six to 10 or 12 times and the Science Gallery is part of their social life,” says Ekelof.
“The gallery is also about creating a community, a core group of people attending events, tweeting and sharing ideas. We are open to clubs such as the robotics club and we also organise meet the author sessions, where the public can meet the authors of Science related books and ask questions, either in person on via Skype.”

What helps make the Science behind the gallery accessible to all ages and groups is also the team of enthusiastic mediators. They are mainly college students from a variety of disciplines, and are at hand to answer any questions and lead visitors through the exhibitions.

The summer months and August in particular, Ekelof explains, were very busy at the Gallery, as the gallery has been included in many tourist guides attracting thousands of visitors and its fame has started to spread beyond Ireland – like those viral ideas studied at ‘Infectious’.

As Dublin prepares to become City of Science in 2012 for the Euroscience Open Forum, the Science Gallery will certainly play a very important part in helping the general public understand the relevance of Science and Technology in our every day life – and make us all take part, get involved.

The Science Gallery by numbers:

-1,900 kisses were grown during ‘Infectious’
-15 dogs donated DNA for ‘Infectious’
-691 litres of washing up liquid were used during ‘Buble’
-3,000 electric pinickers visited the Science Gallery tent
-145 workshops have been hosted at the gallery
-74 collaborating scientists
-71 collaborating artists

Links:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceGallery
http://twitter.com/#!/SCIENCEGALLERY
http://www.sciencegallery.com/
www.facebook.com/ScienceGallery

(published in PCLive! magazine in December 2010)

Green Machines

2010-12-14T05:38:00.000-08:00

It is not just a gallery, not just a museum and definitely not just your average lab, I suppose The Science Gallery in Dublin is a bit of all that. And if you haven't been around to check out its latest exhibition: Green Machines, do go and visit before this Friday 17th December, as it is the closing date of this fantastic eco-themed display. It is free entry (donations accepted!).

While visiting Green Machines a few weeks ago, I just fell in love with the cardboard PC (recompute) and a couple of other designs, such as the sink/loo. You'll get to 'invest' in your favourite green ideas and your investment will count to choose The Best Green Machine of 2010.

If you are interested in eco design, sustainability or simply have a couple of hours to spare around Dublin city, pop in. You'll love it.

I'll be writing a bit more on the Science Gallery for PCLive! magazine soon...

snow in Gorey, Co. Wexford

2010-11-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

Ethical Shopping - building up a feel good list for Christmas

2010-11-25T04:32:00.000-08:00

IMF bailout, prebudget gloom, crisis and all can't hide the fact that we are only a month away from Christmas (yay!). We might be about the enter the most austere four years in the recent history of the country but Christmas is still on, right?

If you haven't done your shopping or even given it a thought yet, here's a thought: why not turn your gifts into something special and meaningful that could touch more than just those you are giving them to?

I have been meaning to build an ethicla guide to Christmas (and general) gift shopping for a while and here's what I've found so far. I'll keep adding to it in the coming days, feel free to add and suggest ideas:

FOR A GOOD CAUSE:

-Irish Horse Welfare Trust http://www.ihwt.ie/

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust (IHWT) does an amazing job rescuing and retraining abandoned horses and ex-race horses from across Ireland.

The charity, which is based in a farm in Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow, has launched a gift brochure which includes clothing (fleeces, t-shirts), Christmas cards, a designer bag (Hazel bag by Louloubelle), stock fillers such as pens and key rings, as well as presents for your horse (if you have one). The gifts are available to purchase online from the IHWT website.

-Irish Seal Sanctuary

http://www.irishsealsanctuary.ie/ in Courtown, Gorey, Co. Wexford, sells cuddly toys of all sizes, as well as other merchandise such as t-shirts, hoodies and caps and hats. As far as I know the charity doesn't have an online shop yet but it might come soon. In the meantime, if you happen to visit their rescue centre in Courtown, have a look at their shop.

FAIR TRADE

-Oxfam Fair Trade shop (also online at www.oxfamireland.org/fairtrade-shop/)

The Oxfaf Fair Trade shop in South King Street (Dublin) - also in Galway, Belfast and Cork- is always a good source of original gift ideas with the fair trade stamp. It is particularly useful when buying for home (decoration items and all sorts of nice things, such as tea sets, photo frames, cushions...) and also friends with new babies (fairly priced organic cotton clothes and toys), but they also have music, bags and some selection of edible treats.

- www.faireeire.ie

Good source of knitwear, jewellery and other general gift ideas such as purses and bags for the ladies. A few items made of recycled materials too (tick the green credentials box too!)

GREEN

www.leafliving.ie

Go to the Gift Guide section and click By Department. Select Best sellers and you'll find a pretty interesting mix of green trinkets and gadgets (the solar powered ipod dock is a pretty cool one). The option to search by price is very handy. There is also a clothes section and fair trade.

Science Gallery

The Science Gallery in Pearse Street has some cool eco gadgets for sale at their gallery shop (online store at www.sciencegallery.com/shop) , including the super useful sports bottle with water filter. The solar powered disco ball could make some people very happy this Christmas...

Cultivate

The Cultivate Centre in Temple Bar usually has a good selection of gift ideas, although its site http://www.cultivate.ie/ only has a very limited online store which is not representative of the fantastic stuff you might find at the actual shop.

FASHION

So charity shops used to be in but after years of struggling to find decent clothes suitable to my age! I have almost given up (at least on the small town ones)- swap shops and vintage specialists are a much better alternative.

For brand new stuff, here are some links to ethical fashion shops and brands (thanks Claire for most of the names!).

A very comprehensive list of retailers selling some ethical ranges or focusing entirely on sustainable fashion can be found at http://www.re-dress.ie/retail.html.

http://www.harvestmoonglobal.ie/ Irish alternative clothing online shop.

http://www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk/ has nice organic cotton clothing and facilities to buy online (it is also stocked by Contra Clothing in Gorey, Co. Wexford, if you are ever around this neck of the woods).

www.continentalclothing.com/ and http://www.earthpositive.com/

www.belleetik.com/

www.fromsomewhere.co.uk/ and Irish http://www.unicorndesign.net/ for designer-y clothes

www.peopletree.co.uk/ (stocked at Arnotts in Dublin)

www.kuyichi.com/ (they have a store at Opera lane in Cork city)

www.izzylane.com/

10 tips for a greener Christmas

2010-11-15T05:45:00.000-08:00

Irish carbon consultancy Emission Zero has issued Top 10 useful tips for punters looking to reduce our carbon footprint (and possibly save a few euro) this coming Christmas. If, like me, unfortunately Christmas means flying and a black mark on your green credentials, at least there are some other smaller things you can do to compensate for your air travel carbon footprint.

They are very simple tips we can all keep in mind to reduce the amount of useless waste we generate at Christmas to a minimum and go easy on the planet. Most of them could actually be easily followed the rest of the year.

Top 10 tips:

1-The Christmas Tree.
Make the eco-friendly choice this Christmas and go for a real Christmas Tree. Although artificial trees will last longer they are made from plastic, transported huge distances to market and are not recyclable. Real trees absorb CO2 emissions during their life time and can also be recycled. Go to your local council’s website after Christmas for details on tree recycling and collection.

2-LED lights.
These lights consume only one sixtieth of the energy required by conventional lights and you can use them year after year. There is no filament in the bulbs of these lights to burn out saving all the hassle of figuring out which bulb to replace when the whole set goes out!

3-Christmas cards.
The amount of Christmas cards sent every year places a huge demand on natural resources not to mention the transport emissions from moving these cards through the post! Alternatives: send an e-card instead of a paper card; send cards made from recycled material or charity cards. If you receive cards this year, don’t forget to recycle them or better yet, cut them up to make gift tags for next year!

4-Wrapping.
Use recycled paper wrapping and tie them up with string. Avoid using foil or plastic wrapping, plastic ribbons and sellotape. And again, remember to recycle the wrapping paper from any presents you receive or try to reuse it!

5-Energy efficient gifts.
If you’re buying electrical equipment this Christmas be sure to check the energy label and only buy A rated appliances. Also be sure to recycle any old electrical appliances. Visit http://www.weeeireland.ie/ to find out how…

6-Avoid battery-operated toys or go for rechargeable batteries.
Batteries contain toxic chemicals and are very hard to recycle so this Christmas chose rechargeable batteries; these will save on waste and also save you money in the long run.

7-Food: local or organic - or both!
Source vegetables from your local farm or market and visit the local butcher for a locally sourced and organic turkey. Buying local reduces the emissions from transporting food and will boost the local economy….don’t forget your re-usable shopping bags!

8-Public Transport.
This will save on fuel, CO2 emissions and also means you can enjoy a mulled wine after a hard day’s shopping!

9-Christmas is a time of excess and we often find ourselves clearing out old clothes and toys at this time of year. Make sure to donate any unwanted clothes and toys to your local charity.

10-Finally, when all the celebrations are over and it comes to doing the clear up remember to recycle! Compost food waste and bring empty bottles to the bottle bank!

To estimate your carbon footprint, Emission Zero has a Carbon Calculator on their site: http://www.emissionzero.ie/index.php?p=calculator and lots of tips on how to lead a low carbon life, both at home, abroad, on the road and at work at: http://www.emissionzero.ie/index.php?p=carbonlife

Gillian has the Chef Factor

2010-11-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

My friend Gillian, from Dungarvan, is entering Cully & Sully's Chef Factor.

The idea is that wannabe chefs and foodies enter their recipes and photos (posing with one of their dishes) to become one of the two lucky winners of a 12-week cookery course at Ballymaloe

Country House - home of food extraordinaires Darina and Rachel Allen.

The competition also tries to raise awareness and donations to Cork's Simon community, helping homeless people.

So, if you wouldn't mind giving Gillian a hand and 'like' her Garden Inspired Ravioli... I've tried them and they are gorgeous. They are pink in colour because she has used some of her home-grown beetroot for the homemade ravioli pasta. Now, we can always arrange for a taste session if she wins thanks to your votes...

Only 19 days to vote:

Like Gillian's Ravioli

making quince jelly - marmelo/membrillo

2010-10-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

My granny back in Galicia used to make tonnes of marmelo (membrillo in Spanish and quince jelly/paste in English) when I was a kid. I was always amazed at this weird-looking fruit that we weren't allowed to eat raw, that resembled a cross between a deformed apple and a lemon.

Marmelo was one of those childhood staples, usually given to you in your sandwich with some cheese. At some stage, there was some shop-bought ones in the 80s that were a funky '3-flavour/colour' magnet to all the kids in my neighbourhood. Home-made marmelo was so not-cool...

It is a very Autumny treat as well and some people used to keep them in their closet to keep their clothes perfumed (some people do that with apples too).

So, after a visit to the Gorey Farmers Market yesterday, I decided to buy a few quinces from the Organic shop and today I'm making some marmelo. Here's the process (flexible!):

-1kg of quinces
-500grms sugar
-water

First I wash the quinces, chop them in quarters and get rid of the cores.
Boil them in water (or steam them) until they are very soft.
Pass them through the sieve.
Cook the paste with the sugar
you'll have to keep stirring with the wooden spoon until it feels like it has become a bit solid.
Pour onto a deep tray. Let it set for a few days (covered) and then keep cool (fridge is good) in a container with a lid.

Slice to eat - excellent with cheese.

Seaweed harvesting

2010-10-24T09:35:00.001-07:00

It has been a beautiful Autumn day in Co. Wexford today. Mr M and I went for a stroll on the beach near Cahore Point, as many other times. This time we were on a mission though: getting some seaweed (that we could use as manuer) for our vegetable patch. This is the second time we go 'seaweed harvesting' this year, the first one was back in the early spring, and it is quite fun. Although I end up spending most of the time taking pictures than actually getting the bloody things into the bags... maybe I'm just easily amused ;-)

I have been suffering from gardening 'overdrive' in the past few days, maybe because I just joined Grow It Yourself the other week. So this is the first year we are actually going to plant some winter vegetables - it will be interesting to see what happens. Nothing too risky though, so far we've just bought (on the way back from our seaweed mission) purple broccoli, all year round cauliflower, winter lettuce and some garlic and onion bulbs.

As for the seaweed, we've laid it out on the backyard and watered it to get rid of the salt (I read that on a Canadian site earlier this year). Mr M thinks we should chop the long ones but I'm just far too lazy for that. As soon as all the veggies are out, the seaweed goes in... to make it nice and tasty for the winter veg...

The seaweed trip got me thinking about that Welsh bread made with seaweed and some type of bread also made in Co. Galway. The problem is how do I recognise the right type of seaweed??

the truth about salmon

2010-09-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article from today's Irish Independent on the ethical issues linked to producing (and consuming salmon). It's a tricky one, specially for salmon-loving Irish consumers. With most salmon being produced in carbon intensive farms and fed on fish pellets, is there an ethical way of eating salmon? or should we ditch it altogether? well, that is the question...

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/smart-consumer/smart-consumer-the-unpalatable-truth-about-the-salmon-on-your-plate-2349411.html

Make your own Fromage Frais

2010-08-19T05:37:00.000-07:00

Since I was a child I love fromage frais or curd cheese (requeson in Galego), which is quite popular as a dessert in France and other countries in the continent but not that widely accepted as a sweet treat in Ireland.

Since our friend Gillian is staying with us for a few weeks and her family has a dairy farm in Co. Waterford, she brings some unpasteurised milk every week with her. Most of the weeks we don't manage to drink it all so I decided to give fromage frais a shot for two reasons: there is not much you can do with milk that's starting to go off! and it has been years since I last ate proper homemade curd cheese.

If you don't have unpasteurised milk, I hear it's possible to make as well, by getting some gelling agents at the chemist - but I have never tried.

Anyway, making curd cheese from unpasteurised milk is just so easy. First you let the milk sit in a bowl out of the fridge so it curdles. Leaving it overnight should do, specially in the summer months. In the morning, the milk will be completely set and will look like gelatine.

Traditionally, the next step consists in hanging the curdled milk in a cloth in a cool corner and let the whey drip. For a quick fix, I just put a cloth on a colander and let it drip on to a big bowl or even the sink. After a few hours, the whey will be all in the bowl and the cheese will be ready to eat. Spoon it out of the cloth on to a small bowl. I like eating it just as it is, with some sugar or honey but if you are a bit squeamish, mix in with a bit of milk and blend for a smooth result. Yummy! Mr M and Gillian don't seem so impressed so I'm eating it all on my own.

Feeding the Seals in Howth Harbour

2010-08-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

There is such a thing as a free lunch, at least for the seals that hang out by Howth's pier. If you thought you were the only one heading to Howth for a good seafood meal, you were very wrong. The seals get the best deal around though. Here's a video of a recent Sunday trip to Howth with friends Iria and Clara.

that's why they are called runner beans...

2010-07-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

the fast and furious growing pace of the runner beans.

Chez Vejlupeck

2010-07-09T10:48:00.001-07:00

Wedding number 2 this year took us to the Swiss shores of Lake Geneva (or Leman) to beautiful Nyon castle and the alpine village of Rougemont, in Vaud.

We arrived in Rougemont escaping the scorching heat of Geneva and the mountains were indeed that couple of degrees cooler -just enough to make it bearably warm. The bride had very kindly booked us a room at the home of Pierre Vejlupeck, a chatty Czech-Swiss old-school hippy that could be anything from 40 to 55 years of age, and according to his neighbour, a bit of a charmer with the ladies.

Vejlupeck's is not your average chalet with alpine paraphernalia. Judging by the style and decor of the house, Vejlupeck has instead a bit of an obsession with Tibetan flags, Buddha statues, tea-light holders and Indian mementos. It certainly feels more like a yoga-retreat than a guesthouse in the middle of one of the higher-end ski regions of the Swiss Alps.

Tucked in on a sunny slope just outside the village, Vejlupeck grows his vegetables and hosts guests of all sorts but definitely not your ski-season types. The house is charming, warm and welcoming in a laid back homey kind of way -despite some strict no-shoes-in-the-house rules and other petty things.

Vejlupeck tells us a group of hare krishnas come to stay with him every year, and it's easy to see why. The sheer beauty and quietness of the mountain in the summer, only disturbed by the sound of the cow bells, is so idyllic, so relaxing, it'll tempt even city creatures to ditch their mobile and any other reminders of the outside world. Although I wonder what the hare krishnas make of Vejlupeck's curiosity and constant chatting.

A carpenter by trade, Vejlupeck is part-philosopher, part-spiritual guru: he stresses the importance of manual labour for spiritual and mental well-being; and easily moves on to the posibility of reincarnation, current affairs and the state of the world -all this at the breakfast table after our late night at the wedding reception - and in French!

While we were hoping to catch the train back to Geneva around 11, it had to be delayed, as the animated conversation moved to his rebel younger years in 1970s in Switzerland - if there is such a thing.

As we walked down to the village in the summer sun, I wished we could stay. Mainly for the luxury of listening to the cow bells when waking up in the morning...

Octopus Galician Style..

2010-07-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Paul the German psychic octopus has become a bit of a world celeb. If Paul's vision is right yet again, Spain should win the World Cup this Sunday. There is talk of the Germans being so upset with Paul after their defeat earlier this week that they are considering making one of Galicia's most traditional dishes their own, yep, octopus!

The most common way of eating octopus in Galicia is what Spaniards call 'Galician Style' and Galicians call 'a feira' or 'Fair Day Style'.

Fair Day Octopus is traditionally boiled in a copper caldron, then chopped, sprinkled with sweet and hot paprika, sea salt (coarse) and a drizzle of olive oil. Served warm.

At home, you can cook it in a normal pot. Firstly, you must wait for the water to boil and dip the octopus in and out of the water 3/4 times, apparently this prevents it from peeling. Then leave the octopus in, once the water is boiling again. Usually it takes around 30 minutes for each kilo to cook. What my dad does is put a medium size potato boiling with the octopus and once the potato is ready, so is the octopus. It is usually better to undercook it than overcook it and risk having mushy octopus. Serve warm - on a wooden plate if possible!

Grilled octopus with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt is also delicious. After boiling, cut the octopus tentacles lenghtways and grill for a few minutes each side.

In Santiago de Compostela is also quite common to find 'empanada de pulpo', octopus (pastry) pie. I'm not a big fan of octopus empanada as the meat tends to become a bit chewy but I absolutely love empanada in general though. Other simple octopus and Galician recipes can be found on http://www.lareira.net/ (in Galician and Spanish).

Buying octopus in Ireland (in the country at least) can be a bit tricky, though. We have bought octopus (frozen, which is actually good because it helps make the meat more tender) at the Wrights of Howth fish shop (from France) but I'm told many Asian shops in Dublin city sell frozen octopus from Galicia. It's in my 'to-do' list. for my next trip up to the big smoke.

Here The New York Times' Matt Bittman cooks octopus Galician style. Watch his Video.

Watch out Paul...

Grow your own - part 3

2010-06-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

And here are some pics of the vegetable patch.

Starting to reap rewards...

The miracle Apricot tree

2010-06-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Mr M was weeding the vegetable patch when he pulled this very unusual looking weed. At the end of it was, to his surprise, half an apricot stone.

The 'apricot weed' was about 8cms long and Mr M potted it and put it on the windowsill, keeping the parsley some company. We wondered what would happen to the miracle apricot seedling... And here it is now, some month and a half later: re-potted again and four times its original size, loving the indoor climate of the Sunny South East of Ireland...

How the stone ended up in the vegetable patch has been the subject of much speculation. We have settled for the compost heap theory as the official one.

I have estimated we have probably eaten about 190 apricots since moving to the house - taking 80 apricots per year (at a rate of 20 per week for only four weeks a year - unfortunately) as a conservative average.

Let's leave a margin or error and say of those 190 stones, only most of them, let's say 150, made it to the compost heap. Then from the compost heap, some of them must have rotten. Some might be still in the heap and some other might be still in the veggie patch. But ONLY one has managed to grow into an apricot seedling.

This is a hell of an achievement for this resilient apricot stone, that has managed not only to germinate in the unwelcoming Irish climate (for apricots at least!) but also battle its coldest winter in 50 years. And that, my friends, is why we had to call it the Miracle Apricot Tree...

it is my favourite gardening story by far... and a tough one to beat, I reckon. Unless we manage to get rid of the slugs altogether and that will be a proper gardening miracle, technically speaking.

How to cook a lobster - humanely

2010-06-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Mister M doesn't let me tell people we ate lobster for dinner at the weekend, as he doesn't want them to think we are posh (which we aren't). Lobster eating, he says, sounds too uppity to be admitted in public.

However, Martin the fishmonger (not Martin as in Martin is Mad about Fish but other Martin, also mad about fish) has lobster every now and then for very cheap (around €10-12 a piece) and it is difficult to resist temptation. If you think about it, you would spend that money on a cheap trip to the chipper or the Chinese take away, so what's wrong with spending it on a juicy tasty fresh-looking lobster? uppityness and all...

I think Mister M is warming up to the idea though. To start with, he found it a bit heart-breaking, eyeing the creature (still alive) every time he opened the fridge (someone told him lobster are very intelligent creatures - I find it hard to believe somehow).

Once it's in your mouth, any guilt surely disappears... and why would a lobster be more intelligent than a Dublin Bay prawn, let's say... just because it's bigger, it doesn't mean it's more sensitive...

so that takes us to the issue of how to kill a lobster humanely. These are some options I came across but no unified opinion on the Top Most Humane Tecnique to Kill a Lobster:

-Stab in the head - so it's cooking once it's dead

-Drop in pot with boiling water

-Drop in pot with cold water, and let it boil (surely this sound more horrific than anything else)

-Let it roam free in your bath (fresh water) for a few hours before cooking. (lobsters are sea creatures though!)

I went for the boiling water option, mainly because I didn't fancy stabbing the lobster while still moving. Since there is no bath in the house, the roaming taste of freedom was out of the question - sorry lobster!

15 minutes later, it was ready to eat...

Useless tips for hayfever sufferers

2010-06-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

According to weather forecasts (and my long-suffering eyes and nose) 22nd June is the day of the year with the highest level of grass pollen floating around, making life for hayfever sufferers truly miserable. Here are some useless tips I have received and tried over the years that have been of little or no relief - feel free to add your own...

-Close windows at home and in the car
All very well but isolation is hardly a long-term solution. What about in between car-home-office? or the weekends? Maybe it's just worth locking us all up until the summer is over, house arrest (remember to feed us a couple of times a week, please!). That will definitely eliminate the sneezing, itching, puffy-eyes, headache problem... or even better, maybe we should get under work arrest and work 24/7 from May til August: no outdoors allowed. That would actually increase Ireland's productivity and help us get out of the recession as well... This is certainly worth taking into consideration... I wonder why I didn't think of it and submitted it to the Your Country, Your Call competition...

-Wear sunglasses
Check. Maybe they meant gogles? plus people will think you are a tosser if you wear sunglasses at night...

-Wear a mask
Tried that a while back. It wasn't particularly practical, since my nose was running most of the day. Unless they patent a special mask with a drainage system in place it is highly unlikely will make it as a main hayfever relief method. Other downsides: you could get mistaken for a loopy Michael Jackson fan or a swine flu freak.

-Eat local honey all year around
This must be my fifth year on the 'local honey' diet and either: A- it hasn't affected my suffering in the slightlest or B-I would have been much worse if I hadn't taken it. In any case, it is difficult to assess results so we'll add it to the category of tasty tips, while not very clear effects.

-Don't dry your clothes outdoors
Not much of an option here, I'm afraid.

-Drugs
having tried many, I can't really say they solve my problem, although I'm sure other cases will be sorted with some anti-histamine. I keep taking them in the hope one day they'll will...

so this leaves us with one option:

-stop breathing altogether, which is not very practical at all either, for obvious reasons...

However, some website http://www.hayfever.ie/ is claiming since the main problem is reducing the amount of pollen we ingest, hayfever symptoms will be reduced by reducing breathing...

I rest my case

The Life of Cod

2010-06-17T08:23:00.001-07:00

Following my attraction to books with all-things edible I found myself reading the Voluptuous delights of Peanut Butter and Jam, as mentioned a couple of posts earlier.

The book turned out to be a great read - if not much of a culinary experience (I can't say I didn't see that one coming... )

The story focuses on the childhood memories of the main character and her little sister in a rural area of colonial Rodhesia (now Zimbabwe). The backdrop: the dramatic social changes affecting the country in the late 70s. It reminded me a little of the God of Small Things, partly because of the delicate writing and the exotic location, and partly because of the childhood memory story line mixed with tragedy and loss of inocence tale. I truly recommend it.

Following the food theme (at least in the title!) I finally got hold of Mark Kurlansky's 'Cod: the biography of the fish that changed the world'. This is a different kettle of fish (easy joke).

The book has some recipes (with Cod of course) rescued from publications from different countries at various times in history (did you know bechamel sauce was originally invented to go with salted cod?) but mainly it is a history book - a very good one though. It was originally published in 1999 but it feels pretty current still.

A bit like Bill Bryson, Kurlansky turns historic events into something enjoyable and readable - this is not your average history essay or text book. This history of many peoples around the globe are interlinked because of one single thing: cod fishing. From the Basque and Viking fishermen crossing the Atlantic to the Cod Wars and modern-day fish quotas, building riches but also taking them back. Who would think one single fish could have such power over so many nations?? No wonder Cod deserved a biography of its own. Next time I have cod on my plate, I'll have to think twice before munching it...

Plenty of interesting facts about the fish itself make it an unusual breed of book: part cookbook, part nature science, part historic tale.

Kurlansky is also the author of The Basque History of the World. (another superb book) and Salt, which might come next in my list of tasty sounding titles...

Scottish castles, weddings Eurovision and other random incidents

2010-06-10T05:03:00.000-07:00

So it is wedding season again. The worst thing about turning 30 is not the inevitable new decade crises: it is the amount wedding invitations you'll get per year. If you thought it was bad in the past couple of years... it is only about to get worse...
Is it some 30s nuptial virus? it is worth looking into it more scientifically, for sure.

You better forget about choosing a destination to go on holidays or for a short break. Sorry pals, the truth is the destination will choose YOU, or more like it: your soon-to-be-married friends will do it!

It also has its pros, of course. Since 2005, I have visited great places from Slovakia to Iowa, from Poland to Cork. Knots being tied all over the place. We had to leave out a couple of wedding invitations to Galicia and the Pyrenees that we couldn't attend (probably clashing with another wedding??) but it has been the perfect excuse to travel around and check out the local nuptial customs.

This year's invitations have come from Ireland (for a wedding in South Scotland), Swizterland, Wales and Slovakia again (not the same people though!).

So off we went a couple of weekends ago on our first wedding of the season. Destination: Scotland. The volcanic ash troubles were over, not that it affected us anyway: we were taking the ferry from Larne. Mark likes taking the mickey out of ferry travellers, mainly time-rich 'fuddy duddies' (and this is not my terminology) apparently.

The wedding location was Cromlongon Castle just outside Dumfries which is stunning, specially if you are lucky enough to have a sunny day, and more importantly: it celebrates civil ceremonies. I love civil ceremonies. I'll rephrase that: I loathe religious ceremonies.

It is bad enough this whole tradition of fathers giving away daugthers (talk to the Swedes about that!), whithout having to endure some patronising moral tale about sinners, judgement day and all the rest on top of things. So I was delighted to attend a civil ceremony in a castle. I was delighted as well for the bride and groom, of course, because I really like them, they have been together for years and they deserve their day as much as the next. Everything was so relaxed and easy going, you could almost get used to it: on holidays, being fed in a fantastic looking castle and drinking Pimms.

At 12, like Cinderella, we were packed on the bus back to the hotel (a golf hotel overlooking the bay) to get our beauty sleep and Saturday morning was back to normal and off to the Maldives for the happy couple.

Little Green Polo took us all the way up to Edimburgh, despite some issues with a flat battery (pure Murphy's law) where we met with another friend, Chris, who isn't getting married as far as I know, but lives there - so it was kind of handy to go up and say hello for a night or two.

He took us up to Arthur's seat, which is the dead volcano landmark of the city, with great views of Edimburgh all the way to the port. And to the port area he took us too, Leith, for a top notch lunch at a seafood restaurant called Skippers. If you are ever in Edimburgh .... you must go and try their crab and smoked salmon caneloni.

Another sign of being 30 is when you go to visit friends and, instead of going out clubbing and drinking , you go sightseeing during the day, go for fancy lunch and stay at home with wine and telly at night (Saturday night!). And this is exactly what happened in Edimburgh. But then, who would like to miss Eurovision??? it might be tackiest show in the continent but boy is it fun? Chris' German housemate was having a ball and, happiness, as we all know, can be very contagious in these sort of situations.

If you think that was bad, Sunday evening plans (on a Bank Holiday weekend) included some pseudo-golfing at the Meadows and a game of Scrabble. And they were both fun, I must admit.

Monday was back to Cairnryan ferry port and home to Ireland.

I wonder if all this ferry travelling is turning us into fuddy duddies at the tender age of 30...

next wedding in two weeks' time.

Organic lamb from the Wicklow hills!

2010-06-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

so you might have read the feature on young farmers publised by the Irish Times magazine a couple of weeks ago. It was a very interesting article on the lives and farming challenges of Debbie Johnston and her hubbie David, who run Sweetbank Farm in Co. Wicklow (you can read it here).

The farm specialises in organic farming, including artisan lamb and beef.
Debbie is also very actively involved with the Irish Horse Welfare Trust and for every box of meat purchased at the farm, Sweetbank donates €10 to the horse charity, helping them develop their horse rescue and re-training programmes.

The point is that this artisan organic lamb from the hills of Co. Wicklow is now available directly from them. Since there is now middle-man, and you can buy it from the producers (Debbie and her husband) it tursn out to be much better value than your average supermarket/butcher meat (something like 35% cheaper). It is certified organic, from a local business focusing on sustainability and you even get to meet Debbie in person!

Half boxes are €95 and a whole box costs €195 - cut to customers specifications. For more information check out the farm's website http://www.sweetbankfarm.com/ or give them a call on 0868184162

reBlog from gaelick.com: We Are Family | gaelick

2010-06-02T01:52:00.001-07:00

I completely agree: if every straight person knew a gay friend or colleague, there'd be no discrimination. The world would definitely be a much better place if we applied that principle a bit more freely in our every day lives ... MarriagEquality is launching a new campaign to put pressure on the Irish government to give equal rights to gay couples. Give them a hand. No one should have to fight to be equal, surely:

Forty years after the death of Harvey Milk and we’re still following his idea that, if every straight person knew an out LGBT person, there would be no discrimination. Most straight people have no idea that there is discrimination in Ireland; they go about their business oblivious. It’s campaigns like We Are Family, that will, hopefully, show the unfairness within their midst.gaelick.com, We Are Family gaelick, Jun 2010

Read the whole article on their site

Berlin Hide and Seek

2010-05-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

Grow season - part 2

2010-05-25T13:07:00.001-07:00

Since the weather conditions in Ireland have been almost tropical ;-) in the past few days the plants are thriving, especially the strawberries in Mark's green house, in only a month they have more than doubled in size, which makes for a promising strawberry season... if we manage to get the greedy birds away... the runner beans are out (after lots of TLC) and seem to be creeping up the trellis quite nicely. And the slug population seems to be ignoring them, which is unusual but a very welcome development...

Irish unions launch Fair Hotels campaign

2010-05-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today an interesting campaign was launched in Dublin. Supported by trade unions and some Irish hoteliers, the Fair Hotels Ireland initiative aims to be an ethical guideline to hotel customers booking rooms across Ireland. Similarly to Fair Trade stickers for products, those hotels complying with the Fair Hotels stamp (45 hotels listed on their newly launched website www.fairhotels.ie so far) will be allegedly offering ethical services, based on how they treat their employees.

Detractors might say there are many hotels left out of the list that treat their employees fairly but the hospitality sector is probably one of the industries, in Ireland and many other countries, where workers get some of the poorest working conditions. It was probably about time a 'quality' stamp was introduced to reward - or at least give some recognition - to those hoteliers treating their staff respectfully and complying with work legislation and workers rights.

To encourage customers, the site will also offer special deals in Fair Hotels.

kippers for breakfast

2010-04-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

A lazy sunny Sunday. Kippers and poached egg for breakfast out the back. A couple of minutes on the pan is enough to stink the whole house but the taste... is worth all the Febreeze afterwards...

something fishy...

2010-04-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

New research from University College Dublin has found that 25% of the fish sold in chippers and shops around the county as cod or haddock is not actually cod or haddock at all. The most common 'impostors' seem to be pollack an whiting, according the the study.

While it is quite worrying that one out four times the customer isn't getting the fish he/she is paying for, the survey also comes to show the public actually DOES eat (and seems to like) other (cheaper and more sustainable) types of fish besides cod and haddock... even if we are being tricked into eating it labelled as something else.

Guidelines on fish to avoid (from a sustainable point of view) can be found on: www.fishonline.org/advice/avoid/ and fish good to eat: www.fishonline.org/advice/eat/

grow-your-own season is here

2010-04-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

and Mark has been busy making a green house with mainly reclaimed plastic and nails, as well as some hazel branches. He's done a pretty good job. Hopefully the tomato plants will be happier this year. The rotten summer we had last year left them well, rotten... here are some pics of tomatito, the green house ready for some planting action and a pea just coming out...

Books and Food Titles

2010-04-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Every second Friday, the Wicklow Mobile Library comes to Shillelagh, which could be considered one of the highlights of the week in the village. Certainly of my week, anyway.

Today was library day.

I brought back a couple of books I've finished but I wasn't feeling very inspired in the what to read next department, so Karen (who runs the mobile library) suggested I take The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam, purely because of the title.

Here's the thing: you might think The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam, let's call it VDPBJ from now on, is a cook book or a full on essay on the culinary refinement of the peanut butter and jam combination - but no, my dear friends - VDPBJ is a fiction book. And judging by the cover, is 'set against the backdrop of civil war and the death of a colony' and her author, a young lady named Lauren Liebenberg, is a very talented author.

I probably took it purely because it was just before lunch time and I was starving - Peanut Butter and Jam didn't sound like too bad an idea - at all.

And then I remembered this wasn't the first time I took a fiction book with a food title from the library. A few months ago, I took something titled We need to talk about Custard, errr, sorry, no that was Kevin... well some little book with Custard in its title and a cover that looked like a print of the yellow, red and blue tin of Birds custard powder. The title will come back to me one of these days...

So there you go, a repetitive pattern in my library book selection modus operandi.
The story with the custard book was that I took it home, I kept it and forgot it for a few weeks, read something like 10 pages max and brought it back to the library. It is not fair to judge a book by its covers, I know, but surely by choosing to compare your book to custard, you are asking for trouble.

In one hand, you have the custard freaks, who love custard - for them the book is never be good enough, the bar is just too high. Expectations can't be met.

In in the other hand you have the custard loathers, who wouldn't touch custard, creme anglaise or any remotely similar, with a stick. So they probably won't even bring your book home for starters...

It's a tough gamble, this naming-your-fiction-after-food business. I suppose Laura Esquivel did a jolly good job with Como agua para Chocolate (Like water to chocolate) but if I remember well, there were some recipes included mingling with the story, which made it a sort of hybrid between cookbook, magical realism and chickflick- a whole new and very successful genre I suppose.

Whatever happens, I'm decided to give VDPBJ a fair go - after I finish with what I'm reading at the moment - to see if the story is anything vaguely similar to the jam/peanut butter combo. I'll let you know what happens.

Now that I think about it, I probably should read the custard one, if I ever come across it again.

The whole thing just got me thinking about why people would choose to name fiction titles after food. It is an emotionally charged weapon, I think. A cruel marketing trick to hijack your brain with yummy sounding titles, even if they have nothing to do with what happens in the story - purely trying to get to the readers' heart through their stomach, as they say.

Or maybe - like with food shopping - I just shouldn't go to the library before eating!

Walking in Tinahely

2010-03-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

Tinahely, in Co. Wicklow, is hosting a walking festival on the weekend of 17th and 18th April to launch three new looped walks, approved by Failte Ireland.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to check them out. Of the three options (from shorter to longer), we chose the middle one since we were only armed with a banana each and not that much time. It took us 3 hours in total - walking from the centre of the village up to the starting point, around the loop and back.

On the village's website http://www.tinahely.ie/, you can download the brochure for the festival activities and information about the new walks.

Here's a video to show you the views and the creatures we encountered. Next time, we'll try the long one and take a big fat picnic.

The Best Job in Ireland

2010-02-19T03:57:00.000-08:00

Could this be the best job in Ireland?

Around the globe travel, testing luxury venues, savouring exotic delicacies, + 20K on top of it.

It certainly could...

http://www.runawaybrideandgroom.com/ultimatejob/

Whistler nostalgia

2010-02-16T05:32:00.001-08:00

I'm loving the Winter Olympics yet I can't help thinking it is an act of pure masochism:

Firstly they remind me of how crap I am at skiing, ice skating and anything else involving snow, ice and -ing at the end.

Secondly, I'm definitely too old to fix it

AND more importantly: wouldn't it be nice to get up in the morning to catch a lift up the mountain, as opposed to a lift into work??

This time around, they also remind me of how much I enjoyed the time I spent in Whistler a few years ago.

Whistler, despite the hipster image (which is actually quite accurate), is a very lovable place.

First of all lovable placenames. We used to live in Marmot Place, Creekside. Just how cool is that as a name? 'Nice to meet you, I live in Marmot place.. you know? those funky animals? they like their good night's sleep?'

No John Street or Railway Road or any other boring name. The place of the Marmots...

The problem with lovely-sounding Marmot place was that it happened to be at the top of a bitch of a hill (these things tend to hapen in ski resorts... I know) which wasn't too handy when Mr. M broke his femur and had to conquer it every day with his crutches...

I suppose sometimes a friendly local would give him a lift up (usually leaving me carrying shopping and any other equipment up the fecking hill).

At the very bottom of Creekside there was a lake (you could walk - pre-femur busting - all the way to Whistler village along the lake) which was a great chilling out spot in the balmy late-spring weeks, when temperatures got well into their 20s and girls snowboarded in their bikini tops (seriously).

Posers and broken limbs aside, life in Whistler was like living in a bubble - relaxed and mobile-free. In fact, when I first left Whistler for Vancouver (briefly - to see Mr M in hospital) I felt like a wild animal out of its nature reserve - longing to get back to the mountain. Ok, a very shiny and decadent mountain but a mountain nonetheless...

From a skiing point of view, I was only a confused beginner (I correct myself: I AM still only a confused beginner) but ski-lovers and connoseurs will tell you resorts across the pond are much bigger and queue-free than crammed European ones. The runs... I couldn't tell but I'm sure they are greater as well. The pure hugeness of the whole landscape is a give away there...

-What I miss: the relaxed four months of easy going existence, maple syrup and Oreo biscuits ice-cream.

-What you probably won't miss: the overpriced groceries and the very irritating fact that taxes are never included in the prices (not very useful if you are strapped for cash).

ADVICE: don't be a fool (ahem) and get a visa that allows you to work legally if you are going for a season. Otherwise you might find yourself struggling financially and that's one thing you don't need hapenning in Whistler (or anywhere else...)

Happy New Year

2010-01-07T06:20:00.001-08:00

It is hard to go back to the old routine after two weeks holidays.

I might just stick this picture of Anzere, in Switzerland, here so I can remind myself of the good times...

Happy New Year!

cheesed off

2009-12-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

There is more to Irish cheeses than cheddar (and technically speaking cheddar is not even that Irish...). While you might not find them in your average supermarket, if you head to any farmers market around the country you'll be surprised by the variety of great cheeses made in Ireland by small producers with tasty recipes - and usually at much better value than those cheeses you will find in the supermarket.

Here are my favourites - that I buy at the Gorey's farmers market on Saturdays:

-Clonmore

is a very tasty hard(ish) goats cheese made in county Cork.

-Gubbeen, made in West Cork

is a cow's milk cheese, creamy and great to eat with chutneys. There is also a smoked version.

-Mature sheep cheese (such as Cratloe Hills)
if you like manchego, you'll love this.

-Carlow cheese
based in Fenagh, they make cheddar-type cheeses with unusual flavours, such as nettle and sundried tomatoes, chilli, etc...

-if you are into blue cheese (not my case): then try Wicklow Blue or Cashel Blue.

Wicklow has a whole range of its own cheeses. Wicklow Baun is a brie-type cheese and Old MacDonnells farm in the Glen of the Downs makes not only probiotic yogurt but also soft spreadable sheep cheese.

If you want to investigate for yourself, this is a very useful site, if you are interested in learning a bit more about great cheeses made in Ireland: http://www.irishcheese.ie/

Nollaig Shona!

before, during and after - Mauerfall Berlin

2009-11-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

I'm totally in with Berlin's mayor when he says the city 'might be poor but it's sexy'. Capital of cool, Berlin's unemployment is surprisingly out of line in a country like Germany but then that might be explained by the high number of students, artists, musicians, etc... counted among Berlin's residents...

while this might not reflect particularly well on the financial sheets of the State, it is what gives the city its welcoming character. The city, that just celebrated the 20th anniversary of fall of the wall (mauerfall), has been the 'muse' of three great movies - reflecting live in the city (or cities!) before, during and after the Mauerfall.

-The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) - Before

Released in 2006, this masterpiece focuses on the invisible relationship of a Stasi agent and a couple of intellectuals he is 'surveying' in the East Berlin of the 1980s. Rightly so, it won an Oscar for Best foreign language film. One of the best movies in a long time.

-Good Bye Lenin (2003) - During

This hilarious drama/comedy follows Alex's troubles. His mum has been in a coma for a few months, missing one of the most important episodes in the history of the country: the fall of teh wall. As he tries to keep his mum from finding out the Berlin wall has fallen, in order to save her fragile health, Alex keeps their flat in East Berlin as West-free as possible, with very funny consequences.

-Run Lola Run (Lola rennt - 1998) - After

This popular thriller sees Lola literally running across different parts of post-wall Berlin trying to find 100,000 marks in cash to save her boyfriend Manni. Three options on three different ways Lola could have solve this problem unfold... offering some Berlin sightseeing along the way.

Cork among top 10 cities to visit in 2010

2009-11-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

Lonely Planet has just discovered what we had known for a while: Cork is fab. Cork city has made it to the Top 10 cities to visit in 2010 by Lonely Planet's 'Best in Travel 2010'. The guide - that was just launched this week - praises Cork for being 'sophisticated, vibrant and diverse', while still relaxed and charming. Beat that!

The other cities in the Lonely Planet Top 10 are: Cuenca, Ecuador; Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Kyoto, Japan; Lecce, Italy; Singapore; Vancouver, Canada; Istanbul, Turkey; and Charleston, USA.

Get your checklist started and get down to Cork, quick! The Film Festival is on this month so you can still get ahead of the crowd.

Arriving late for Berlin Wall Fall 20th anniversary celebrations

2009-11-04T04:36:00.000-08:00

I'm gutted I didn't check my facts before booking my flights to visit my brother in Berlin. It turns out, we will be arriving 5 days after the big 20th anniversary celebration of the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall. dammit.

Anyway, I'm getting into the Berlin Wall Fall celebrations mood by watching George Lee's 4-part series Beyond the Berlin Wall that started last night on RTE (you can catch it on RTE Player at www.rte.ie) even if I'll be arriving when all the party is finished!

So we might be too late for the Wall celebrations and too early for the Christmas markets... now that's what I call good planning. I hope my brother is around at least ;-)

Cork nostalgia + veggie spots for hungry meat-eaters

2009-11-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Agnieszka has been telling me off for not updating the hungry rambler a bit more often so I promise, mala, I'll be good in the run up to Xmas. The truth is that I've been quite busy: I was in Cork for a few days around the October Bank Holiday for a friend's wedding and took the chance to go and check on some other friends we hadn't seen for a while.

The thing about Cork is that I never want to go back home after being there. I always have a wannaliveincork type of crisis that lasts for a good few days. I'm only recovering now!

Anyway. It was the chance to finally go for a meal at the reknowned Cafe Paradiso, meant to be the best veggie resto in the country. IT was a bit pricey but boy was it good... (I only write 'boy' because I'm just back from Cork you see... they say boy all the time down there... I kind of like it - it makes sentences sound much stronger...)- to sound like a real Corkegian you need to add that to emphasise your opinions, as well as adding 'like' at the end of each phrase (if you want to emphasise it or not). Try it at home. IT's safe ;-) and great fun. I like 'like' myself quite a lot. It probably drives most people scatty but once you start, there is no stopping.

I was too stuffed to go for a dessert and that's saying something: vegetarian doesn't mean you have to go hungry. I really think meat-eaters should try a good veggie cafe or restaurant every now and then. They'll be pleasantly surprised.

As for myself, I couldn't really become a full-time vegetarian, for two reasons: meat lasagna and chorizo sausage. And seafood, of course.

However, if out and about looking for some good food, try a veggie restaurant/cafe if possible: they rarely dissapoint. You will find they are in general more creative with their menus than conventional cafes.

If you rather test it at home first: Cafe Paradiso has a cookbook out (this is high end cooking mind you), if you'd like something more 'doable' at home go for the Cornucopia one.

Cornucopia is another great veggie spot, this time in Dublin, where the amazing smells of the place and just looking at the desserts are enough to kill your hunger. This is definitely another recommended spot for meat-eaters in search of their inner veggie-self.

But back to Cork: The Quay co-op is another veggie cafe (more suitable for recessionary budgets) that is well worth a visit (I have never been to Cork without eating at least one at The Quay).

If you are still not convinced that going veggie (even part-time) will be good for you and for the planet, then don't miss the Farmgate restaurant at the English Market: they have amazing desserts and definitely the best flan (creme caramel) I have tried since I visited Cuba.

And by the way, the jazz festival was on: in between treats we went to see Imelda May at the Savoy. She was such good fun - almost as good as the flan!

brides trash the dress for Sightsavers - in Wexford

2009-10-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

Since tomorrow is World Sight Day, I've decided to post this video I just finished editing at work.

It was a gorgeous bright day and had a great timing doing the filming. The photo session was in aid of Sightsavers and shows how lovely Wexford can be with a bit of sunshine!!

spot Mark's mini!

rush hour heading to Shillelagh!

2009-09-25T03:04:00.001-07:00

orange and nothing but the orange - going organic

2009-09-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Recent research by a well known UK university shows organic food doesn't have more nutritional value than average produce. This study caused quite a stir back a few weeks ago, shocking many - which surprises me, in fairness, since an carrot still remains an carrot - be it organic or not.

The issue is not what organic food HAS but what it DOESN'T have: pesticides, hormones and a whole selection of unsavoury chemicals no regular producer would dare adding to their produce labels...

It is not about getting more vitamin C for your orange, it's about getting orange and nothing but the orange. At least, that's the way I see it. Stripping not only veg but also meat and poultry of any additional extras that aren't really needed and might be harmful to your health - and usually not very eco-friendly, as far as production goes...

The myth: organic is more expensive. The truth: sometimes.

Anyway, if you are still on the pro-organic side, try The Farm, an organic restaurant in Dublin 2. The bright and luminous decor might make it look like a trendy cocktail bar but don't judge it by its cover, the food is brilliant and the huge menu will please all, from vegans to omnivores alike.

The puds are brilliant - and with an early bird of under €20 you can't go wrong really.

Kisses - for the most amazing views of Dublin City

2009-09-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Kylie and Dylan are 'after running away'.
To some it might feel like another nitty gritty Irish movie focusing on disfunctional families, rough around the edges suburbs and pained childhoods. But I just love Lance Daly's Kisses.

Set in contemporary Dublin, this Ken Loachesque take on Irish society (back in vogue since the economy has gone dire straits) is a 5-star movie and it has some of the most amazing footage I have ever seen of Dublin city: when Kylie and Dylan hitch a lift from the dredger guy.

Have a look at the trailer on http://www.kisses.ie/

A birthday, a wedding and a lobster

2009-09-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

So it has been a busy weekend, the last one. First of all I turned 30 on Friday... which is scary enough but as someone said you'll get used to it (but by that time you'll probably be nearly 40...) that sounds about right...

Then, we were also travelling to Herefordshire, in England, for our friends Kate and Tom's wedding- which was amazing... and I really mean it. After crossing in my list weddings in Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Poland, the UK and the US I have to admit I'm always impressed with the simplicity, practicality, elegance and excellent food I've enjoyed at English weddings.

On Thursday night (before getting the ferry from Rosslare to Pembroke on Friday morning) I finally got to have dinner at this famous seafood restaurant in Co. Wexford, The Lobster Pot.

Since 30 is quite a birthday I decided I'd go for the lobster, of course ;-) - after all, I was driving so didn't spend much on the wine/booze department...

The staff were super friendly and the place has a lot of character, looking more like a gastro pub than a fancy resto. However, I'd say the average age of the clientele was waaaay passed my big Three O, and it might as well - it made me feel young again!

Not that I'm ageist but in these sort of places you usually find ladies like the ones sitting next to us on the waiting table. The waiter is politely asking how the meal was and she points out the potatoes were 'awful' - they had eyes on them... Mark actually thought she meant there was ice in the spuds, which made it even funnier...

anyway, the grumpy old bat got a free pudding... so maybe that's the only reason people complain at restaurants... specially about potatoes having eyes or ice or whatever it was she felt it was wrong with her spuds.

Our food was lovely. However, I'm slightly disappointed with the range of the menu- I sort of expected a wild selection of creatures available (I'm from Galicia after all!) that simply wasn't there. The puddings were nice but a touch overpriced and not really matching the quality of the main course. It was definitely worth the drive though, and that lobster was really tasty...

On Friday morning we took the 9 ferry to Pembroke, which in theory only takes 3 hours and 45 min but, in my experience, it always ends up taking at least 4 hours - and it feels quite long...

This seems to be another hot spot for OAPs, I've noticed... and I wonder if they get a special pass or if they are just scared of flying... any ideas???

Tom and Kate's wedding was in this lovely manor house called Whitney Court, in Whitney on Wye, just by the Welsh border (very near Brecon). It has the most stunning views of the countryside -helped by a weekend weather of remarkable sunshine and summer temperatures!

What I loved about Tom and Kate's wedding was:

A/the fact that there was no religion involved (Churches have hijacked weddings for way too long people!) and

B/ it just fitted their personalities so well. It was warm, welcoming and featured all local produce - including booze.

Then there was dancing and drinking and more dancing and drinking ... and then Cornish pasties at midnight. Who said the Brits can't pull a gastro fest? well, if someone can that has to be Tom and Kate, which I hope are having a brilliant time in Croatia.

I wonder if they eat Cornish pasties in Croatia...

Galician Pipers at Viveiro's mighty party: Naseiro

2009-09-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a little clip of some Galician pipers (gaiteiros) doing the 'vermut' rounds at Viveiro's mighty summer party: Naseiro.

As a teenager, growing up in Viveiro means suffering a pretty bleak winter but a prospect of a damn good party-fuelled summer AND counting down the days for Naseiro.

Old and young build the shacks where they'll spend the five best days of the summer: day and night. Basically, Naseiro is like a massive picnic gone out of hand. Whereas my grandmother's generation used to go down to their nicely set up temporary tables to have a few dances and enjoy a few drinks and food with friends, the whole thing has now evolved into a shanty-townesque mad structure spreading along the river. Imagine cramping a whole town into a few acres of land. The whole town moves temporarily for five days. That's Naseiro. And Viveiro people love it.

All the excesses are allowed: too much food, too much drink, cross dressing, maybe a few unplanned pregnancies as well... Since Naseiro means the end of the summer holidays for some, the energy that goes into the whole affair is phenomenal - had it been organised in early June, the myth of Naseiro, the mighty party of Viveiro, might not be quite as huge.

Each of the five days is dedicated to a traditional Galician dish but the most popular one is Octopus Friday, cooked 'a feira' style (fair/market style - what the non-Galicians call Galician Style).

I've loved it since being a child, I worshipped it as a teenager and now, living abroad, I don't get to go to Naseiro too often. In fact, until this year, I hadn't been for a good few years. Having enjoyed the sesion vermut (the midday dance and drinks session), some tasty pulpo and a couple of dancing nights, I'm back to work feeling homesick - and counting the days for next year's.

If there is one thing that a true Viveiro person doesn't want to miss, that is Naseiro- without a doubt.

Yoga retreat in Thailand

2009-08-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

My friend Gina will be resident yoga teacher at this amazing looking place in Thailand called Koh Ra Ecolodge.

If you are planning your next holiday have a look at the website.

The ecolodge is a sustainable resort located on a remote island with very little development (so far!).

You will be helping to save the rainforest if you book the yoga retreat through Gina's website, as part of the procceds will be donated to the World Land Trust

http://www.pureyogabliss.com/section303034.html

http://www.thaiecolodge.com/

Hook Lighthouse in Co. Wexford

2009-08-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Chilling in Mullaghmore... literally

2009-08-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

There is a sign at Mullaghmore beach in Co. Sligo warning beach goers, swimmers, etc... this year there will be no life guards, since a herd of cows has taken ownership of the strand...

Surreal as it may sound, there is no wonder only the cows venture around the shores of Mullaghmore these days, since we've had yet another miserable wet, wet summer. Fair play to them. No forecast is going to spoil their fun...

Despite the rain, Mullaghmore Point is a brilliant spot for a relaxing weekend. Beware though: as soon as a ray of sunshine comes through the murky skies, a batallion of canooeists, sailing beginners, walkers and, yes, cars... will pop up instantly, only to disappear again as the torrential rain comes back. So no wonder the cows reclaim their space, at least while they can or the rainy season lasts...

Thanks to the cheap and cheerful SuperValu Hotel breaks, it is actually possible to stay at one of the hotels bang on the harbour without breaking the piggy bank. The hotel has amazing views over the bay but shocking dinner options ... Beef, salmon or chicken as main course option for a resto by the harbour is just not on! Ah well, it was just too good to be true.

Beautiful Sligo.

Climbing Croagh Patrick

2009-07-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Mayo Mountain Rescue Team has advised for the first time that pilgrims climbing Croagh Patrick this weekend (Reek Sunday is this Sunday) should wear some shoes heading up the holy mountain, which is, by the way, quite a tough climb.

The first time I tried climbing it (just for fun, not for religious reasons) was two years ago and didn't even make it half way up. The mist started coming down, which combined with the crowds, the rocky path and the lack of decent walking shoes made the experience a bit of a nightmare. By the time we got to the B&B we were all soaking wet and miserably disappointed. Failed attempt.

Last year was a different story. Two factors helped the successful mission: it was an unusually glorious June bank holiday weekend and we took the road less travelled to finally reach the top (it had to be done at any cost!).

A great starting point is Westport Camping, where we were staying by chance. Just outside of Murrisk, this is a brilliant spot located at the foot of Croagh Patrick further, south from the official and crowded starting point. The camping place is cheap, friendly and just 5-10 min walk to the beach, which is definitely a bonus. Climbing from that side of the mountain was the best thing we could have ever done: no crowds, no painfully rocky paths (actually, no paths whatsoever!), no race to the top... it was just perfect, while still tiring. We had to dodge some bullocks on the way out from the camping area but sure, that just added to the wild off-piste feeling of the whole experience.

Reaching the top was a relief and a privilege, since they don't get may sunny and warm days like that in County Mayo - and the views of Clew Bay and its little islands on a clear day are just amazing - and totally worth the climb.

Heading back down the usual crowded path felt like a triumph, having at last climbed the holy mountain of Ireland - and having managed to avoid the crowds.

Still, a speedy barefoot woman in her 70s overtaking me on the way down left me thinking for a few days ... I really hope she is wearing some shoes this year.

Saturday mornings at the Gorey Farmers Market

2009-07-05T03:56:00.000-07:00

Humans are creatures of habits. We find great comfort in some of our little routines. I love Gorey on sunny Saturday mornings. The buzz of the main street and all the people going about their business, shopping, chatting, walking their kids- in the summer, Gorey's Saturday mornings are particularly upbeat.

Part of the appeal of those Saturday mornings is the farmers market down in Esmonde Street. It is one of the comforting routines I have acquired. A very tasty habit.

First there is Martin and his fish van. He is the most cheerful man, always a big smile on. It is the best fish you can get in the area, by far. Variety depends on: a- how early you arrive, b- the time of the year and the weather. There is always the usual favourites (and maybe not very eco friendly) cod, haddock, hake and salmon, but sole, mussels, prawns, sea bass and monkfish are often regulars too.

Then, we move on to O'Neills quality meats, where we alternate between the organic or free range chicken and some lamb and organic mince beef. The chickens go quickly, so the earlier the better.

The falafel stall is next and this is UNMISABLE. They are the best falafel wraps I have ever tried and has become my staple Saturday brunch. Unfortunately, the Lebanese family that runs the stall is on holidays in Lebanon for three weeks now... and I am missing my fix of chickpea delight...

The next stall is the vegetables one, run by a Ferns family. They have great local produce at very good prices. They also sell plants in the spring for your own garden: courgettes, toms, peppers, lettuce... their own vegetables and their local apples (once they are out) are the best.

The cheese stall has a good selection of Irish cheeses and some other European favourites (such as Manchego...). The market also has a couple of stalls for free range eggs, breads (the olive and oregano one is amazing), crafts, chutneys and, in the summer, French crepes and a burgers. The local Greens Berry farm tends to have a stall once the famous Wexford strawberries are out.

The Organic Farm, from Co Wicklow, also has a pretty big stall, where you can stock on tasty fruit (in the past couple of weeks, cherries have been a big sensation), ususally imported but organic. Avocados, grapefruit, oranges, apricots, plums, fair trade bananas...

just the thought of it, it's making me hungry...

During the boom years, people seemed to find farmers markets across the country a bit over-priced and overly trendy. But I don't think this is the case, at least in the Gorey one. Good quality food has to sell at a price that shows exactly that: the quality you are buying... You can try and compare but you'll find that you'll probably pay the same or more in the supermarket for similar produce.

The Gorey farmers market is on from 9 until 2pm every Saturday. But you might find other similar near you (I doubt they have the same falafels though!):

http://www.wexfordfarmersmarkets.com/

http://www.irishfarmersmarkets.ie/

3 facts about Muscatine

2009-06-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

Muscatine might be an unusual stop, definitely off the beaten touristy track and not on many guidebooks; but if you are on the way from Chicago to somewhere in (southish) Iowa, is a great place to stop over for the night and have a taste of the real small town America (as described by Bill Bryson in his childhood memories). You probably haven't heard of it before (neither had I until it was chosen as a Motel night destination) but there are some interesting facts that might make you remember Muscatine:

-Its name is unique, as it isn't used anywhere else in the US (and that's unusual, apparently!) and it is supposed to come from the name of a Native American tribe who lived locally.

-Mark Twain once said the best sunsets in the world were here (by the mighty Mississippi River)

-It was once the Pearl Button Capital of the World (no less!), as clams were harvested in the Mississippi to manufacture clam shell buttons. (Nowadays there is a museum in town and a hundred things with the name 'button' in it but not many signs of real clam shell buttons anymore).

And don't be fooled, behind the huge The Button Factory name hides a cafe/restaurant.

Full of Beans...

2009-06-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

This wacky sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park might be called Cloud Gate but it has been nicknamed as The Bean, which I reckon is more catchy and vox-populi friendly... I just loved it. A million pictures later and you still want to take another shot of The Bean... it's like a magnet (literally, there is always a crowd around the sculpture).

New York's grub spots

2009-06-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Tried and tested:

-Carmine's Italian Seafood restaurant
in the Seaport area, near Brooklyn Bridge, this spot was a real discovery. Great food at great prices. A huge main of fried calamari for just over a tenner really makes your day (a pasta and tomato side and a salad are included in the price). Established in 1903, there is a good reason why this place is still up and running in 2009. It is cosy, it has an authentic Italian feeling about it, it has great food, in a great location, at unbeatable prices AND the best baked cheesecake ever... If you are around the area, definitely give it a try.

-Dojo Restaurant
This low key, Japanese style restaurant in the University area, is cheap and cheerful. The noodles with stir fried vegetables and prawns are super tasty. Specials for $9.

-Wholefoods Market - Union Square
The idea is nice and simple: you shop downstairs and go and sit down to eat it upstairs. Despite being totally crammed (and it is only Wednesday morning!), it is totally worth it, for the sushi, amazing selection of salads (and this is very elaborate salads, not just a few leaves of lettuce!) and other Indian and international delicacies, are some of the best we've tried. If you are in a rush, this is the best grub to go.

Brooklyn bridge on a rainy summer afternoon

2009-06-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

Invisibles - a great exhibition about Barcelona's hidden side

2009-05-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

My friend and great photojournalist Esther Taboada has opened her exhibition 'Invisibles' in Barcelona (Galeria Sargadelos is the venue). If you happen to visit Barcelona before 30th May, you should definitely go and check it out.

Esther's blog http://elparamonaranja.blogspot.com/ has a video on the exhibition to give you an idea of just how good a photographer she is ;-)

Only 6 days and off to the US

2009-05-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

In the past years, I haven't chosen my holiday destinations, they have chosen me. Or more like it: friends' weddings have done it.

My holiday destinations as a wedding guest have included Bratislava, Strzegom (in Poland) and the UK. This year the wedding guest travel plan is: the US in May, Galicia in August, UK in September and Cork in October.

I must admit the US wasn't top of my to-visit list but I have warmed up to the idea, specially since it is getting closer (only 6 days left!).

Here's a snapshot of my pre-trip impressions.

Reads:

The itinerary is Chicago - Iowa - New York. So Des Moines born Bill Bryson is a great read to get into the Iowa mood. His childhood memories growing up in Des Moines, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, have got me quite excited about checking out small town America. Although, I am probably in for some disappointment if I'm expecting the 50's bright life of Bryson's tender years.

I watched Colm Toibin's interview with Pat Kenny (unusual for me) in the Late Show last Friday so his new book Brooklyn in my list now.

Useful Sites:

www.visitnewyork.ie is an Irish site with all-things NY. IT has a great online tool to create your personalised to-do list, depending on interests (the attractions one is quite helpful).

I'm also trying to use the travel plan application in LinkedIn but haven't given it much time yet.

www.aerlingus.com to check the requirements to enter the US (clear)

The worst thing, so far:

Scare mongering: about two things mainly: swine flue and entry requirements. I was born on Sept 11th,will they hold it against me???

Hotel prices (pretty high, even for budget hotels)

IT Girls in PCLive! magazine

2009-05-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, it is not really anything to do with food or/and travel but I really like this article I have written for this month's PCLive! magazine. The girls had all a lot to say and they made a great feature. Let's consider it a late International Women's Day celebration! ;-)

Aerlingus Gets Lost in Translation

2009-04-29T05:51:00.000-07:00

I like traveling with Aerlingus and I find them very reliable as well as friendly. But some things can’t just be let go…

Aerlingus’s customer service department must have forgotten that golden rule of communication which says the whole purpose of communicating is to get some feedback from those you are trying to communicate with… That is: if you try to communicate with other people in a way they will not be able to understand you, the whole effort is just useless.

A couple of weeks ago, my parents bought flight tickets to come and visit. The route: Santiago de Compostela – Dublin. The process was initially simple, as the Aerlingus website allows users in different countries to book flights in different languages.

But yesterday, my mum texts me URGING me to check an email she has just forwarded to me from Aerlingus. It is a simple Travel Advisory note from Aerlingus, trying to flog car rentals and other products – just in English!. Of course the note might as well have been written in Chinese for neither my mum nor my dad speak English. And I think: this is just wrong.

If you sell tickets to people in different countries, at least make the effort to use that same language you used to sell your tickets for any communication with your customers afterwards… pure manners really (not just customer service best practice).

So my mum is freaking out but I tell her everything is ok and nobody is to kick her out of that plain coming to Ireland on Saturday. She is such a pain sometimes but I must admit she is 100% right on this one.

I remember the last time they came she was totally annoyed because nobody on the plane back to Santiago (and that is not one single crew member) spoke even Spanish. And I say EVEN, because for most Galicians (including me), Spanish is their second language, not even their mother tongue.

Can you imagine getting on a plane from Dublin to … let’s say Moscow just for the craic… and discover all the crew members spoke just Russian? The world would be up in arms.

It just reminds me of a friend’s neighbour who went on holidays to rural Andalucía. When she came back she explained she had a ‘lovely’ time but was a bit upset as the locals ‘didn’t have any English’. As she put it: “they didn’t make any effort with the language”. Now, if she couldn’t be bothered, why should the locals?

Maybe it is an understandable attitude coming from an old lady, but surely Aerlingus should know better…

Test your Geography knowledge!

2009-04-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a cool application to test your Geography knowledge!

http://www.lufthansa-usa.com/useugame2007/html/play.html

Pictures of lovely Curragh Mor Cottage - Ardara, Donegal

2009-04-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

Is Maith Liom Dun na Gall

2009-04-15T13:30:00.001-07:00

A visit to Donegal had been in my to-do list for quite a while (something like 6 years!) and finally got ticked this Easter weekend.

The first mission was finding a proper house for the long weekend for four people. Trying to book a holiday home online can be quite a challenge, due to the vast amount of websites and properties on offer, quite often not very informative! Discover Ireland is usually quite a good guide but there are so many pages of them it is difficult to short-list.

I ended up finding a couple of options: a website called http://www.homesofdonegal.com/ and a listing for a lovely looking thatched cottage called Curragh Mor, all roughly located in the same area (around heritage town Ardara).

Curragh Mor was just perfect: a two bedroomed thatched cottage with all the facilities and a bunch of sheep running out the back ... brilliant. The most relaxing of landscapes in the middle of the boggy mountains.

DAY 1- Gorey to Donegal

After a miserable rainy and cold Thursday, Good Friday looks surprisingly enough how it should: Good.

We leave Gorey at 10 am on the dot (that was the deal) to make sure we cover the roughly 370 km that separate us from the other corner of the country by 6pm.

We stop just outside Navan for a wee - at a petrol station with shockingly filthy loos. Next stop is Cavan town: while it looked eerily quite as we entered the town from the N3, the main street area was actually quite lively and we even managed to get a bite (despite the whole Good Friday All-pubs Closed mess) in a pleasant cafe called Chapter One with very friendly staff.

We keep going. While we managed to escape the rain all the way up, it finally catches up as we are getting to Boa Island (just outside Enniskillen) to visit the Janus Stone, refreshingly pagan but now stuck in the middle of a cemetery.

Donegal is just around the corner now and we make it to the Curragh Mor cottage just before 6pm to find an even better place than I expected from the pictures sent by the landlady, a trusting Donegal woman called Ann. This is the life.

DAY 2- Inishowen peninsula

I don't like getting up too early when I'm on holiday, naturally enough, even if there is sightseeing involved. Leaving around 10,30 / 11 is plenty of time, after a relaxed breakfast. Heading all the way to the top of the Inishowen Peninsula maybe we miscalculated the time, as the drive back from Malin Head took forever.

The day started with lots of energy though and we headed happily towards Inishowen via Glenties and Letterkenny. Fist stop is the fort on top of Grianan Hill, near Burt. A very impressive fort on top of the hill with great views of both the Loughs Swilly and Foyle, as well as Inch island and Derry city. And just in time for one of the best defined rainbows I have ever seen (check out the picture!).

Signposting within Inishowen drives me insane. After eating some hearty pub food at Tir Na Ri pub in Carndonagh, it took us almost an hour and half to find our way to Malin Head (which is supposed to be only 15 kms!) but we finally reached the most northernly point of the country. The worst thing: the drive back to Ardara seemed endless.

DAY 3- South West Donegal

Second day: glorious weather in the West. Plans of visiting Tory Island out the window. Too much driving the first day has left the crew a bit tired of sitting in the car. Instead we head through the impressive Glen Gesh Pass towards pretty Glencolumbcille. The weather is perfect and we do the 2 hours 'blue' walk trail around the village and up the mountain where we enjoy amazing views of the sea and the local beaches.

After a quick visit to Malinbeg looking for somewhere to eat, we head to Carrick for fish and chips, before driving down towards Teelin and the Slieve League cliffs, meant to be one of the highest in Europe.

Back in Ardara we get some shopping for a quick exhausted BBQ before going to a deserved bed after a long sunny and active day!!!

DAY 4- Back home via Sligo

Miserable day and I don't think anybody wants to go. We decide to stop in Sligo before crossing the Midlands and drive back to Co. Wexford. Creevykeel court tomb, one of the best examples of its kind in Ireland, is first stop and the rain is actually not too bad. Pictoresque Mullaghmore harbour is the next: a swim for the lads (mad!) and a hot cuppa for the girls.

The Midlands are next (someone should really put something interesting in the middle of the country - let's say between Longford and Mullingar- to attract hungry tourists coming back from the West- they would really make a killing...), the traffic jams, the M50 and finally Gorey. And it hasn't stopped raining yet...

In short:

I really loved Donegal. I just wish next time we can go for at least a whole week (at the very least) ...

Still in the to-do list:

A visit to Tory Island

A walk in the Glenveagh National Park

Finding a seafood restaurant

Howth is Magic - really

2009-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

There aren’t many places in the East Coast of Ireland where you can find the variety of fish and seafood you will find in the fish shops of Howth’s Pier.

Just 30 min by train (you can check times at http://www.irishrail.ie/) from Dublin City, it is a popular day-trip for Dubliners and tourists alike. Going up on the Dart on a Sunday afternoon feels like being on a train of fleeing evacuees from some sort of conflict zone: crowded- very crowded. It almost makes you wonder if you are really in the right train and not on the way to Croke Park for a big GAA final.

It might be overly populated on a Spring Sunday afternoon but Howth is worth all the hassle. Of course, its Farmer’s Market is part of the attraction on Sundays, and the fact that all the fish shops along the Pier are open to the public. Sunday is a big market day in Howth: cakes, fish and chips, falafels, fruit and veg, curry sauces, fried calamari and all sorts of delicacies are on offer.

There are plenty of bars and restaurants along the Pier and the seafront (all of them cashing in with the fishy menu) but my favourite is The Oar House (http://www.oarhouse.ie/ ) not only for its wide variety of fish and seafood on offer at a fairly good price but also for its low key marine décor. While Aqua (at the end of the Pier) does have an amazing 360-degrees seaview, the menu is not quite as impressive as in The Oar House.

The initial mission that took us to Howth in the first place (a couple of months ago) was trying to get hold of an octopus we could cook Galician style. Third time around the mission has been accomplished and the octopus is now happily living in the freezer waiting for its time to come.

‘Howth is magic’ seems to be the tourist board’s motto for this peninsula so close and yet so far of Dublin city. And it really is…

The cliff walk (specially the long route, that will take you around 4 hours) is a refreshingly quiet affair (compared with the market flocks) and will give you some of the best views of Dublin Bay. Feeding the seals (quite obviously very well looked after by the tourists, judging by their size!) is another popular attraction for those strolling along the harbour.

The Best Of Howth:

The seafood

The Worst Of Howth:

The crowds

The Brighton Side of Life

2009-03-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

On a sunny Spring Friday afternoon, Brighton seemed welcoming, bright and cheerful. A short train journey from London-Gatwick Airport (45min approx), no wonder Londoners and tourists alike invade Brighton in the long summer days to enjoy a bit of sunshine by the sea front.

Unlike other seaside resorts (and I’m not going to name any…), Brighton has survived its Victorian heyday gracefully, reinventing itself into a trendy, gay-friendly, University town hot spot. Locals are probably exhausted by the amount of hen parties and day trippers they get every weekend but surely that gives the place its upbeat look of constant-holidaying atmosphere.

However, under this shiny layer of busy cafes, shops and yoga centres, you can still sense the 1930s Brighton described by Graham Greene in its murder novel Brighton Rock. Maybe because its mighty pier seems so timeless. Maybe because (besides a few out of place apartment blocks from the 60s) Brighton’s skyline is quite untouched and preserved for a city of almost half a million people. I suppose there is always a slight dark feel to seaside resorts they can never quite shake off... or maybe I’m just taking too seriously that idea of an underworld of local mafia so well described by Greene.

Anyway, for the most amazing breakfasts, lunches (the best haloumi cheese salad ever) smoothies and cakes, go to Bill’s (http://www.billsproducestore.co.uk/ ). Good weather and good food can definitely made a holiday! For some traditional Brighton lazy afternoon fun, head to The Pier for amusements and some easy-going gambling, waffles, crepes, fish and chips and other old-style delights.

Dublin's Paddy's Day for your mobile

2009-03-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/12469/comms/paddys-day-goes-mobile
This is a handy story from Silicon Republic for those spending St. Patrick's Day in Dublin and interested in what's happening between 12th and 17th March for the capital's St. Patrick's Day Festival.

Fishy dinner at Richard Corrigan's Bentleys

2009-03-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

If there is something I like that has to be seafood. When I got invited to a friend’s ‘fancy’ birthday dinner, I was delighted while a little bit daunted by the idea of going to a posh restaurant. The destination was unknown to me until I was literally in Dublin for the feast (up from my culchie life in Co. Wexford) and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the grand yet unpretentious ambiance of Bentleys, Richard Corrigan’s restaurant in St. Stephen’s Green (Dublin).

Maybe I was a bit star-struck too, since it is the first time I go to a restaurant where the chef is almost more known for his newspaper columns, cookbooks and TV appearances than for his culinary delights.

We got a round table by the window, which was great - beautiful and a bit more private-, but I was secretly waiting for the moment we sit down and open a menu featuring a list of anaemic sounding dishes garnished with overweight prices. But it never happened. The menu was written in plain English and fairly priced, with main courses starting at just over €18 if I remember well (the puds were a bit on the pricey side but they were worth it).

The artichoke and smoked salmon soup was delicious and unusual (for me), and so was the lemon tart with raspberry sorbet. Traditional fish and chips sounded like a good idea and it was tasty but, in retrospect, I should have gone for something more adventurous, specially after seeing the pictures of the fish pie dishes in his book (the day after!).

After dinner, we headed upstairs to The Aviator’s Lounge for some drinks. It was relaxed and quaint but the average age was quite a bit older than our party. Overall, it was a highly enjoyable experience, recession-proof and highly recommended (And I think the birthday boy also had a good time, which was the point of the whole shebang).

If you want to check it out, Richard Corrigan’s cookbook is called: The clatter of forks and spoons. Also, in last Sunday’s The Sunday Business Post Agenda magazine you can find his recipe for fish soup http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=FOOD+AND+DRINK-qqqm=nav-qqqid=40008-qqqx=1.asp

And if you want to book and try it for yourself, you can do it online at http://www.brownesdublin.com/. I’m told by the party organiser you must book well in advance to secure a table.

Sunday walking in the Wicklow Mountains - The Spinc trail

2009-02-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

For its easy access, well marked path, beauty and being just the right length, The Spinc and Glenealo Valley trail in Glendalough, County Wicklow, has to be one of my favourite ‘Sunday Walks’ and probably one of the best walks in Leinster.

Pros, hikers and other extreme walking creatures will tell you there are plenty of routes and beauty spots to be discovered in the Wicklow Mountains without the crowds of popular Glendalough, but beware: maps of the routes and other useful (and essential) details on the terrain for us amateurs is scarce. Google searching for maps is enough to put you off walking altogether if you are having a good day, enough to drive you insane if you are having a bad one.
Glendalough’s trails, on the other hand, are almost ‘idiot-proof’, easily explained and classified according to levels and manageable for walkers of all types.

There are three trails involving the ‘Spinc’ - all circuit walks:

-Red trail:
Heading up the Spinc and then linking up with the famous Wicklow Way (there is a dedicated website www.Wicklow way.com)but lacks the detail of the trails at Glenda Lough, if you are not a ‘hardcore walker’ you will not find much useful information for you, which is a shame). 11km (4 hours approx.)

-White trail:
Spinc and Glenealo Valley. 9 km (3 hours and a half walk approx.)

-Blue trail:
Shorter version cutting through the forest. 5 km (2 hours approx.)

The White Trail takes you up to the Spinc (or ‘pointed hill’) overlooking the Upper Lake of Glendalough, around the boggy Glenealy Valley and down back to the car park along the Miners’ Trail. Starting the walk from the left hand side of the lake will allow you to get the sharpest climb of the walk out of the way at the beginning, which tends to be an easier approach. After conquering the 600+ steps that take you to the top of the Spinc, the route becomes much easier.
A boardwalk takes you along the ridge (with some photo spots on the way) and down to the valley, where the path eventually becomes a rough stoney track (but who cares? we are going downhill now…). Overall, it is a very enjoyable circuit with amazing views of the valley of Glendalough, perfect for a Sunday outing and long enough to get you some fresh air and renewed energy to start the week...

IN SHORT:

-The Best of Walking in Glendalough:
Very well marked paths and trails, explaining difficulty and type of terrain.

-The Worst of Walking in Glendalough:
It is ALWAYS crowded. The best time to go is probably January, when some hotels are closed. The higher level of the walk, the smaller amount of people you will encounter though. Definitely avoid Bank Holiday weekends.

You can find a listing of all trails at:
http://www.wicklownationalpark.ie/pages/walkingtrails.php
How to get there- if you don‘t have a car:
http://www.glendaloughbus.com/ (from Dublin city and Bray)

3 scams you should know about before travelling to La Habana

2009-02-16T09:54:00.000-08:00

Travelling in Cuba is safe, it is not a myth. However, travelers need to be aware of one of the things more likely to put them off ever going back there again: hustlers.

Having said that, the ‘hustling phenomenon’ seems to be almost exclusive to Habana (and Varadero). In places like Matanzas and Pinar del Rio, hustlers just seem to be non-existent, and friends travelling further afield to the East of the country seem to confirm similar experiences.

A fact that is helping the ‘hustlers’ business’ is general ignorance about the double currency system in place in the country. Most tourists in package holidays seem to be unaware of the fact that there are two currencies in Cuba: Peso Convertible and Peso (also called Moneda Nacional or MN). Ditch the Lonely Planet, no guide can keep up with the changes happening in Cuba, specially in relation to currency matters, the importance (or lack of it) of the US dollar, the status of the euro, etc… Take Euros with you and get them changed ONLY in official places (at the time of travelling, I had made the mistake of changing Euros for US dollars only to find that the change to Pesos Convertibles from dollars was penalised by 10%, as well as having a terrible exchange rate).

Basically one Peso Convertible is almost the same value as one Euro and will buy you approximately 27 Pesos (MN). While you will pay (over pay) in ‘Convertibles’ in cafes, shops and access to attractions (such as the Museo de La Revolución); you can use ‘Pesos’ (MN) in street food stalls (pizzas and cakes in people’s ground floor), fruit markets and some cafes aimed at Cubans (very few, though). Be alert and watch your money.

Taking this into account, these are 3 of the most popular scams you are likely to encounter in La Habana:

-The Coin with Che
We all want to go to Cuba to see the ‘real Cuba’, and get back home with great souvenirs. Not just the same old funny-looking ashtray made of coconut shell or the voluptuous mulata-incense-holder, we want ‘the real Cuban souvenir’. So for those not aware of the double currency issue, a coin with the face of Che is a great opportunity to show off in front of friends and family back at home. This guy is so great he will not make any money from it, you see? It says 3 pesos on the coin and that is exactly what he will do: he will swap with you his Che 3 pesos coin for YOUR 3 pesos coin (Convertibles though!!!). You might come home as happy as Larry but you could have got nine of those for one euro if you had gone to the bank. AREAS of ACTION: seen often outside Capitolio.

-The Milk Scam
She has a hungry baby or so you are told. You might be a bit wary but she assures you she doesn’t want any money, powder milk (a luxury for Cubans) is all she is after. So you go and buy her some powder milk for her hungry baby in the nearest shop, and you go back to your hotel or ‘casa particular’ feeling great about yourself, after all you are not just giving money to beggars, you are doing something Good, with capital G. Anybody would fall for that, right? I wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings but what this woman will do next is go back to the shop and get ‘your’ Convertible money back (or at least a fraction of it). And the child isn’t even hers. AREAS of ACTION: usually hanging around the park across the road from Hotel Inglaterra and the Galician Centre.

-The hungry kid
As Cuban friend Mirta said to me once: no one dies of hunger in Cuba. She might be disappointed on Fidel but let’s call a spade a spade. Hungry kids in La Habana don’t ask you for a bite of your ‘pan con lechon’ or a sip of your ‘jugo de guayaba’, they will ask you for ‘a dollar, sir’ or ‘a dollar, lady’. What they are going to do with the dollar, I don’t know, but it will definitely take away their hunger. AREAS of ACTION: As the number of naïve tourists increases, kids seem to go ‘hungrier’ around Habana Vieja, but you may find them in other parts of the city.

Useful Tips to enjoy Cuba:

-Don’t listen to stories, whatever you are told NEVER change money on the street (on top of getting a raw deal, you could actually get jailed for it).

-Always check your change and ask for a receipt to check if you are being overcharged (if they don’t want to give you one, chances are you probably ARE being ripped off).

-Enjoy the street food and fruit markets – mainly located in Centro Habana and Vedado - like Cubans do (here you should only pay in Moneda Nacional).

-Less is More: as far as hustlers go, language barriers are almost a blessing and will help you resist their incredible pester-power. Not understanding could save you from being dragged into more complex and convincing scams Spanish-speakers usually fall for.

-Using taxis could actually save you money. Walking through some areas of the city at night-time (such as Centro Habana) is not recommended. While it isn’t particularly dangerous, you do run the risk of getting your bag taken or suffering other minor petty crime incident. If a Cuban says an area is a ‘no-go’ at night time, believe it. Only one thing: make sure you get a fair deal for your taxi ride home.

-If you want to find paradise, avoid popular Varadero and go for any of the other many ‘Cayos’ in the island. Cayo Levisa, off the coast of Pinar del Rio, has all the peace and quite you miss in Habana - but bring along plenty of mosquito repellant.

In short:

After living two months in La Habana, I felt a mixture of sadness and joy when leaving: sadness leaving some great people behind but happiness at the prospect of being able to sit to read a book in a park without someone coming to piss me off (excuse the language) for one reason or the other. By the end of it I was sick of: hustlers, park attendants, museum guards, kids in general, police, taxi drivers and poorly looking dogs (if you are an animal-lover you will not like Habana).

-Worst of travelling to La Habana: the constant fight with hustlers and other chancers.
-Best of travelling to La Habana: If you are lucky enough to have friends in Cuba (or friends of friends), meeting them and seeing first-hand the genuine Cuban hospitality will save your image of the country.

5 Restaurants worth a visit in Ireland

2009-02-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

Tried and tested.
In no particular order:

-Sha Roe Bistro (Clonegal, Co. Wexford/Carlow border)
-The Wicklow Heather (Laragh, Co. Wicklow)
-The Oar House (Howth, Co. Dublin)
-Co-op cafe (Cork city)
-The Tavern pub and restaurant (Murrisk, Co. Mayo)

Valentine's Day is overrated …

2009-02-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

Valentine’s Day is overrated but it is definitely a good excuse to get out and do something with your weekend. These are some options worth considering:

1-No man is an island.

Remote and beautiful are the best way to describe places such as Inishbofin and the Aran Islands. http://www.irelandsislands.com/ lists all the islands off the coast of Ireland, making ‘choosing’ your island extremely easy. It has an interactive map with a comprehensive list of resources, allowing you to search for accommodation and services, check sailing times and activities available in each of the islands.

2-City lights- Dublin and Cork.

Dublin and Cork offer a great range of activities all year round from theatre to concerts, great cosy cafes and excellent restaurants. Those things us townies miss from our daily mucky lives. For cinema lovers: Dublin hosts the Jameson International Film Festival from the 12th until the 22nd of February. Cork doesn’t even need an excuse. Give me Cork any time. The Kino cinema has art house movies as good as those in any film festival, without the queues for the tickets and the ‘book well in advance’ warning.

3-Walking.

The weather this year might not be ideal to go exploring places like Carraontouil or The Spink but walking is A/ good for you and B/ it will open your apetite for dinner time.

http://www.walkireland.ie/ has a search engine with a range of walking trails in Ireland for walkers of all levels. For a more relaxed outdoor Valentine, Altamont Gardens, just outside Tullow, in County Carlow, celebrate their Snowdrop Week from 9th February until 15th February.

IN SHORT

-Best of Valentine’s Day: Eating out.

-Worst of Valentine’s Day: Cheesy cards with stale declarations of love such as ‘The key to my heart’ and ‘You are the one I love’.

Snowing in Gorey - Co. Wexford

2009-02-12T12:27:00.000-08:00