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Posts Tagged ‘Irish Blogger’

Chocolate Irish-Whiskey Cake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 18/11/2015| 9 Comments »

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I am always on the lookout for Master Recipes. And when I say,  “Master Recipes”, I do not mean “Fundamental Recipes”.

Fundamental Recipes are good building block recipes: think grilled cheese sambos (sandwiches), American-style pancakes, thick-n-hearty Irish soup. You learn to make them by following a series of step-by-step detailed instructions. And, then, once you’ve perfected the basic recipe, you create endless versions of the original recipe. Cookbooks and the internet are chock-full of these dishes.

Master Recipes, on the other hand, are rare and wonderful. Once you find one, you realise it stands out from all the rest. It is exemplar and you wouldn’t dream of changing a thing about it. A Master Recipe becomes a dish you cook for the rest of your life. And, if you are lucky, you hand a collection of Master Recipes down from one generation to the next. They are what Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the founders of Food52, call “Genius Recipes”.

My whole life (and I have been cooking since the age of twelve!), I have been collecting Master Recipes. For me they are the recipes that tick the following boxes:

1) They are easy to make.

2) They taste great.

3) They look impressive and can be served to family, friends, and dinner party guests or taken to a special event.

4) Once tasted they almost always elicit a response like “Oh…my…that is delicious! Can I have the recipe?”

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A few weeks ago, I found and made my first chocolate cake Master Recipe. I think I may have danced a little jig across the kitchen after taking the first bite of this delicious cake.

The ingredients include pepper, whiskey and cloves…these really play up the chocolate flavour of this cake. It is incredibly decadent but, surprisingly, not heavy. I like that. And, oh is it moist! (That word cracks my kids up…”moist”.) So many homemade cakes are dry and need cream, ice cream, or icing to make them palatable…not so with this cake. Truly, a dusting of powdered sugar is all that is needed: though, if you really wanted to go all out, some Irish Whiskey caramel sauce might be nice or some sugared red berries.

In the weeks that have passed since I found this recipe, I have made the cake for family, friends, and even taken it to a board meeting. Everyone has loved it. So…get out your springform pan and your Magimix (food processor)…and get baking! I’m sure after trying it, you’ll add this recipe to your collection of Master Recipes too.

Chocolate Whiskey Cake

Serves Eight to Ten

Ingredients

174g/12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, more for pan

85 grams/about 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

12oz/1 ½ cups brewed strong coffee

4 oz/½ cup Irish whiskey

200 grams/about 1 cup granulated sugar

156 grams/about 1 cup light brown sugar

240 grams/about 2 cups all-purpose flour

8 grams/2 level teaspoons baking soda

3 grams/about 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

172g/1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Powdered sugar, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/325°F. Butter a 10-inch spring form pan. Dust with 2 tablespoons cocoa powder.

2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm coffee, Irish Whiskey, 12 tablespoons butter and remaining cocoa powder, whiskey occasionally, until butter is melted. Whisk in sugars until dissolved. Remove from heat and cool completely.

3. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Slowly whisk egg mixture into chocolate mixture. Add dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Fold in chocolate chips.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Transfer to oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, then remove sides of pan. Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if you like. 

Additional Notes, Related Articles & Credits:

* The New York Times is my go-to place when I’m looking for really great recipes to try. Here is a list of 30 Fundamental recipes, courtesy of The New York Times, everyone should have in their recipe folder.

** I found today’s recipe (where else?) over at the New York Times. They got it from Marti Buckley Kilpatrick, who adapted it from Dol Miles, the pastry chef at Frank Stitt’s Bottega restaurant in Birmingham, Ala.

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Ireland+Halloween+Apple Cake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 30/10/2015| 2 Comments »

We are smack in the middle of apple season in Ireland…

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And Halloween is just a few days away…

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In our Irish home that can mean only one thing…it’s Apple Cake time! 

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Oh yes…Ireland+Halloween+Apples = Apple Cake in our Irish home and today’s gorgeous recipe comes from the Allen family…Rachel+Darina+Myrtle Allen. This recipe has been in their family for generations and it is delicious to the very core! (Sorry…I could’t help myself!)

For a change, I deconstructed the Allen recipe and turned it into these adorable single-servings for our brekkie this morning. They would be absolutely lovely served, hot out of the oven, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream immediately following dinner.

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While I prepped and baked this morning, I couldn’t help but wonder how many Irish people remember that Ireland+Halloween+Apples have been closely linked for centuries. Probably not too many anymore.

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In my mother-and-father-in-law’s time, everyone knew: they hadn’t yet succumbed to the ways of other places. In our time, however, we have been snookered into looking at the world globally and taking on board the commercialism of our celebrations…this means Halloween-a-la-America in many places around the world.

But I digress…

A few years ago, while researching my second book, Irish love & Wedding Customs, I came across a collection of handwritten manuscripts from the last century at the U.C.D. Folklore Library. On the pages were story after story about how apples were used on Halloween in celebratory games and for marriage divination.

Weeks later, I came across a painting called Snap Apple Night. It was painted by Cork-born artist Daniel Maclise in 1832. It is said Maclise was inspired to create the painting after attending a Halloween barn party in Blarney, County Cork.

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Look closely at the painting…do you see the young couple sitting on the floor in front of the fire? The young man has his arm possessively around the dark-haired girl’s waist and just near her left hand is a bright green apple. To the right of the two love birds are a group of young men and women bobbing for apples. And, to the left of dead-centre, a man is trying to take a bite of an apple hanging from a string…he’s playing Snap Apple.

The people in the painting are “trick or treating” in an incredibly voluptuous way…a uniquely Irish way…a way we’ve lost sight of. (Sigh.) Can’t you just feel the tension of the lust and love and happiness between the people in Maclise’s painting? Fantastic…don’t you think?

Another Ireland+Halloween+Apples tradition from long ago, one not shown in Snap Apple Night, is a game of marriage divination whereby a person would peel an apple carefully in order to get one long piece of the skin. Then they would throw the skin over their shoulder and check to see what letter it formed on the ground. The letter was meant to signify the first initial of a future spouse.

I adore the old Irish ways and it is such fun to share the traditions and memories of long ago with my children. Much like the Allen girls handing down of a favourite family recipe, I hope that through my cooking and writing, I am handing down something from the past to the current and, one day, the future generations of our family. From our Irish home to you and yours wherever you call home…we wish you Oíche Shamhna Shona Daoibh (Happy Halloween)!

Irish Apple Cake

Serves 6

Ingredients

22g white flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

110g butter

125g caster sugar

1 (organic) egg, lightly beaten

about 50-125ml milk

1-2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped into bit sized pieces (Note: I suggest using 3-4 apples)

2-3 cloves, optional (Note: if serving in ramekins you will need 1 clove per ramekin)

egg wash

Directions

1. Preheat the oven t0 180C/350F.

2. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl.

3. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it resembles the texture of breadcrumbs.

4. Add 75g of the caster sugar.

5. Make a well in the centre and add the egg and enough milk to form a soft dough.

6. Divide dough in two. Put one half into an ovenproof plate and press it out with floured fingers to cover the base.

7.  Add the apples and the cloves.

8. Sprinkle over some or all over the remaining sugar, depending on the sweetness of the apples.

9. Roll out the remaining dough and put on top of the apples – easier said than done as this “pastry dough” is more like scone dough. (Note: my dough was too sticky to roll out so I just flattened it with my hands and then put it on top of the apples in the ramekins.)

10. Press the sides together, cut a slit through the lid, egg wash and bake for about 40 minutes or until cooked through and nicely browned on top.

11. Dredge with caster sugar and serve warm with Barbados sugar and softly whipped cream.

Additional Notes, Related Articles & Credits:

* From Living Library blog: “Lady Wilde, in her book Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms & Superstitions of Ireland wrote: “It is said by time-wise women and fairy doctors that the roots of the elder tree, and the roots of an apple tree that bears red apples, if boiled together and drunk fasting, will expel any evil living thing or spirit that may have taken up abode in the body of a man.”

* From The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids: “In a Medieval Irish story Connla the Fair, an Irish prince, fell in love with a beautiful Faerie woman, who arrived on the Irish shore in a crystal boat. She offered him an apple from the world of Faerie; he took the fatal bite, and was hers forever. They set sail for her magical island where the trees bore both fruit and blossom, and winter never came. There they ate an ever replenishing stock of apples, which kept them young forever. An Otherworldly apple tree magically makes music which can dispel ‘all want or woe or weariness of the soul’. In Irish lore, the God Óengus offered three miraculous apple trees from the magical woods, Bruig na Bóinde (New Grange), as a wedding gift for one of the Milesians. One was full in bloom, one shedding its blossoms, and one in fruit. The deliberate felling of an apple tree was punishable by death in ancient law).

* The old Irish tree list here and a brief history by Irish forester, Fergus Kelly, speaks directly to the history of old Irish trees, including the apple tree.

* The secret steamy history of Halloween apples over at NPR.og.

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Hawaiian-Style Pork (Oven) Ribs

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 08/10/2015| Leave a Comment »

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Going, going gone! Such was the fate of the Hawaiian-style oven roasted pork ribs I made last night in honour of my grandmother Eloise’s eighty-fifth birthday.

Eloise was an island girl. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, she was fierce proud of her Chinese-Hawaiian heritage. Not only could she could play the ukulele well, she ended all personal letters with “Aloha”, kept cans-upon-cans of Spam in her larder, and always had a big pot of rice on her kitchen table at mealtimes…breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and ginger in this recipe are a nod to her Hawaiian ways. The marmalade is my special Irish touch. The ribs are Baby Back…but they could easily be Spare.

“What’s the difference?”, I hear you say.

Well…Baby Back ribs are cut from the place where the rib meets the spine, in a full-grown pig, after the loin is removed. They do not come from baby pigs.

Spare ribs, on the other hand, come from the belly of the pig, after the belly is removed. They are typically bigger, tougher and have more fat on them than Baby Back ribs, which can make them very flavourful if properly cooked.

I prefer Baby Back ribs…Spare ribs seem more of an appetizer. Whichever you can get easily at your super market or butcher is fine.

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Although most people think of ribs as being a “summer-time-only food”, something to throw on the barbecue, they are actually ideal any time of year when made in an oven. Tis true! What I LOVE about this recipe is how easy it is to make: a blessing in any busy home, but especially on a weekday evening when you are exhausted from work, the kids have homework to do, and there’s a dance practice or some other extracurricular activity on.

Mix up the marinade, rinse and dry the ribs, add some of the marinade to the foil pouch you make up in a few seconds, and put the whole kit and caboodle into the oven for 1.5 hours and your done! Wham bam, thank you ma’am…or as they say in Hawaii…”ain’t no big thing!”! Simple, delicious, healthy…now, that’s my kind of cooking.

Grandma would have loved these…I know you will too.

Aloha!

Hawaiian-Style (Oven Baked) Pork Ribs

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

200g/1 ¼ cup brown sugar

8oz/1 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

¼ teaspoon crushed red chile flakes

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoon ginger (more if you like)

3 tablespoons marmalade

2oz/ ¼ cup water

3-4lb pork baby back ribs

 Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Using aluminum, make a pouch big enough to hold the ribs and marinade.

2. Rinse and dry ribs. Set aside.

3. Whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chile flakes, ginger, marmalade, and water in a medium sized bowl.

4. Put ribs into the aluminum pouch, curved side up, and pour over enough marinade to coat well. Reserve the remaining marinade.

5. Seal up the aluminum pouch and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 1 to 1.5 hours or until the ribs are browned, glazed and tender. Remove from oven and let rest.

6. Heat the marinade over medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and syrupy. Transfer ribs to a platter, bush with hot marinade and serve.

Additional Notes & Credits

* For excellent photos and more indepth description of Baby Back and Spare ribs, visit thekitchen.

* The Irish BBQ Association was set up in 2002 to promote the sport of BBQing in Ireland. The Association has subsequently be responsible for bringing Ireland it’s first BBQ Championship, the World BBQ Cook-Off, River Feast, in Limerick May 2003. This event continued until 2008 attracting teams from all over the world to take part.

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October Round Up

Posted in Irish Fashion, Recipes, Share the Joy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 02/10/2015| Leave a Comment »

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Happy October! From our little Irish home to your home (wherever it may be), we wish you a Spooktacular month ahead!

Of course there are only two months left in 2015…yikes! And this is exactly the time of year when life speeds up…no wait…can it actually get any faster?! So, instead of writing a whole article in this week’s post, I’m doing the first In an Irish Home Roundup. Yep, that’s right…a Roundup!

From decor to travel here are all the things that are on my mind or on my radar at the moment. Most of it centre’s around Ireland or has an Irish angle of some sort…some of it not. Either way, I think you’ll find it interesting.

And, so, without further ado…I give you the October Roundup…(trumpets blaring and drum roll please!):

We’re entering those rainy days of autumn now and these shiny black rain boots from Hunter and this Dusty Parka from Avoca Handweavers are perfectly matched for the weather ahead. The light-weight, knee-length parka is fitted, styled, and has a detachable hood. Great for a morning walk with friends or a wet afternoon on the pitch: super cute!

Rainy Days

Speaking of fashion…I read last month, in Elle UK, about Dublin native Oriole Cullen, the 39-year-old Acting Senior Curator of Contemporary Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She has a BA in History of Art from University College Dublin and an unbelievably fascinating job (not to mention great fashion sense). Check-out this article, Oriole Cullen “How I Got There”, from The Daily Telegraph: Oriole offers sound advice for how she landed one of the coolest jobs on earth. And if, like me, you’re gently guiding your offspring about how to get ahead in this world, you might like to watch this video about Oriole from Bazaar at Work.

While I’m on the subject of strong, amazing, women…here’s a story going round that has me kicking up my Jimmy Choo heels. It seems a group of researchers from the University of Western Australia decided to take a second look at a few Viking archeological remains only to discover that what was previously considered a group of males actually turned out to be a group of males and FEMALES buried with their swords and shields. It seems Shieldmaidens are not a myth! Who knew…I certainly didn’t!?!

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But seriously, this Crystal Amadeo decanter recently caught my eye. I love its flawless and graceful lines. What a gorgeous addition it would be to our/your dining table this autumn. Available at Mitchell & Sons and now reduced from €475 to €380.

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With Halloween just around the corner, our Irish home is already a buzz with conversation about costumes and decorations. Two of these spiderweb candelabra will do nicely…thank you very much Dunnes Stores. Spiderweb candelabra for €25 each.

Halloween

For year’s I’ve used an eyelash comb (namely a child’s toothbrush, clean of course) after putting on my mascara to smooth out those ugly clumps one gets from mascara. This folding eyelash comb from Tweezerman, called an Ilashcomb, is so much more ladylike. I think it will be my Favourite-Christmas-Gift-to-Give friends this year.

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Like many Irish women, I’ve just booked my pre-Christmas flights to New York! These Plimsolls and this leather backpack from Massimo Dutti will be perfect for running around The Big Apple.

Ease and Comfort

I hear London calling too…especially now that Simone Rocha has opened her first ever boutique at 93 Mount Street, London. Simone, the Dublin raised, 28-year-old daughter of Ireland’s famous fashion designer John Rocha and his partner-wife Odette, has turned a 19th century building and its Queen Anne-style interiors into a bright, warm, two-story space. I hear it’s gorgeous! Known for her unabashedly feminine style, Roche’s shop is nothing short of dreamy! Can’t make it to London just yet? Check out her Facebook page and website.

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Right now I’ve got foraging on the brain. Sure I could step into my own back garden and find plenty, but farther afield things look all the more interesting. That’s why I’m following Wild Food Mary and Forage Ireland for upcoming events and dates.

Blackberries

My latest food crush is on Irishman Donal Skeehan and his recipe for White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cake with blackberries has me dying to break out my food processor! Donal launched his own Youtube channel last year to great success. He recently announced that he’s got nearly 250,000 subscribers. I’m not the only one with a crush! Donal’s also got a two-part photography series with Cannon coming up…so check it out. He says anyone can take a good food photograph…so I’ll be watching in an effort to make my photos even better. Maybe I’ll even win Donals’s competition for a new Canon camera!! To be sure, I’ll be checking out his new cookbook Fresh.

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And finally, The Irish Times recently ran a competition for the Best Shops in Ireland 2015. Sadly my friends Patrick Ryan and Laura Moore over at The Firehouse Bakery in Delgany, Co. Wicklow didn’t win (they’re brilliant!) but many other wonderful shops, stores, bakeries, and emporiums did. Print a copy of the article and keep it handy…it’s a great snapshot of things to do if you’re visiting Ireland and wonderful to have to hand if you have the pleasure of living here full-time.

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Irish Mixed Berry Scones

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 27/09/2015| 1 Comment »

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A few weeks ago, my dad telephoned from America to ask if I had a favourite scone recipe I could share.

You see, where he lives, a scone is a plate-size, golden-fried roll served with honey-butter, syrup, or powdered sugar.

Tis true.

In his neck of the woods, a scone is like a beignet..a sopapilla…a doughnut even. In Ireland they’re nothing of the sort. An Irish scone is a light, moist, baked pastry that falls somewhere between a cake and a well-made muffin.

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The differences don’t stop there, however. Irish scones have far less butter and sugar in them. Though, with the salty Irish butter and the sweet raspberry jam we load them up with, this may be a moot point! Also, Irish scones rarely have fancy add-ins: Craisins, chocolate chips, crystallised ginger, for example, just don’t make the cut here. Currants or raisins are about as “crazy” as scones get in Ireland…and even then some people feel those muck up a perfectly plain scone. And finally, Irish scones are never fried or shaped into fussy triangles. What is it about triangle-shaped scones my fellow countrymen/countrywomen like?!

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But don’t start thinking there is only one way to make scones in Ireland! There are many, many different ways to make them. For example, in a basic Irish Master Recipe, some bakers will use vegetable oil, others prefer lard, but most use butter. When using butter, there is a debate as to which is better: chilled or room temperature. Milk is nearly always used in making scones, but there are people who swear buttermilk is the only way to go, and there are others still who use cream. And where flour is concerned there are at least three options to choose: self-raising flour (self-rising if you are Stateside); cream flour (All Purpose); and cake flour.

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Ok…I have digressed…let me circle back to the beginning…my dad asked me for a scone recipe. Today I am offering him the one below. It is my favourite recipe which makes up the loveliest mixed berry scones. This recipe calls for self-raising flour, milk and chilled butter…in case you’re wondering. It works well if you omit the berries (or substitute them with raisins/currants). And, I suppose, you could change them out for something else…cherries perhaps or lemon rosemary…but why bother? Real Irish scones are simply delicious.

Irish Mixed Berry Scones

Makes about 18-20

Ingredients

For the Scones

900g/2lb/7 1/4 cups self-rising flour

50g/2oz/1/3 cup caster sugar

3 heaped teaspoons baking powder

175g/6oz/12.5 tablespoons butter, chopped & chilled

3 room temperature eggs

450ml/15fl oz/2 cups milk

2 handfuls raspberries, 2 handfuls blueberries or 4 oz raisins or currants

For Glaze

1 egg white, whisked with a fork

2 teaspoons water

granulated sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 230ºC/450ºF.

2. Mix the 1 egg white and 2 teaspoons water together to make an egg wash.

3. Sieve all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

4. Whisk the 3 eggs, add to the milk, and set aside.

5. Rub butter into the flour until it’s well incorporated and the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

6. Add the mixed berries (or raisins/currants) and mix lightly.

7. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the milk and eggs. Mix quickly into a soft dough: do not over mix.

8. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead just enough to shape the dough into a circle about 2cm (1 inch) thick.

9. Using a scone cutter (a tall cookie cutter will do), stamp the dough into round scones. Place scones onto an ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with the egg wash and sprinkle on some sugar.

10. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top.

11. Cool on a wire rack.

12. Gather up the remaining dough into another circle and stamp out more round scones until you’ve used up all the dough. Finish as directed above.

Additional Notes, Related Articles & Credits:

* http://bakerette.com/homemade-utah-scones

* Scones do not keep well for more than a day, but for best results place in an airtight container.

* Read Sarah Kate Gillingham’s article over at thekitchn.com about a trip she took to Ireland where she learned, first-hand, how to make Real Irish Scones.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Compote for Breakfast

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 19/09/2015| 2 Comments »

 

IMG_8248Each spring I make strawberry rhubarb compote from the fruit grown in our kitchen garden. Some of it we use straight away, the rest we put into the deep freeze for later in the year (like now).

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Compote, which is really just a stewed fruit, is easy to make and can be served up in many ways. I like to layer it with yogurt and Nadia’s Muesli for my breakfast, but it is equally delicious over ice cream, slathered on Pavlova, whipped into a Fool, mixed into an alcoholic beverage, or stirred into a bowl of hot porridge.

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On its own, rhubarb is quite tart. Sugar makes it more palatable, but pairing it with ripe strawberries means you can use less sugar. I know of people who add honey for sweetness. If you like honey…I say, “Go for it!” The honey might add a nice flavour note. Ginger, cinnamon or mint are other possibilities. As for me…I like it plain and simple…truly old fashioned.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Makes about five cups

Ingredients

450g/4 ½ cups red rhubarb

450g/2 ½ cup strawberries

500ml/2 cups water

125g/ ½ cup sugar

Directions

1. Remove and discard the rhubarb leaves, wash stalks well, and cut into 1″ pieces.

2. Hull the strawberries, wash well, and slice lengthwise (and once again if very large).

3. Put the rhubarb, sugar and water in a nonreactive (stainless steel) saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the rhubarb is soft.

4. Reduce to a simmer and add the strawberries and continue to cook until the strawberries are soft, but not mushy.

5. Cool, pour into a clean jar, cover with a lid and keep in the fridge or pour into freezer bags and freeze until needed.

 

 

 

 

 

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Perusing Peter O’Brien’s Latest Collection Over Brekkie

Posted in Irish Fashion, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 18/09/2015| 1 Comment »

This morning, while enjoying a healthy and yummy breakfast of Strawberry Rhubarb Compote layered with organic yogurt and Nadia’s Muesli, I poured over the photographs of Irish clothing designer Peter O’Brien’s latest collection for Arnotts. O’Brien wowed a packed audience with his Autumn/Winter 2015 showcase the night before last…and no wonder…his designs are divine.

Photo Credit: Peter O'Brien Design

Photo Credit: Peter O’Brien Design

His colour palette (mostly black, navy, and cream, with the occasional pop of mustard yellow) is perfect for our Irish weather. His use of flowing fabrics, pleated designs, and silk, velvet and knit fabrics is indicative of a man who knows refined elegance intimately, but still offers it up with a dash of flair.

Photo Credit: Peter O'Brien Design

Photo Credit: Peter O’Brien Design

Culottes are there for those choosing to follow the trend, but so too are the timeless wardrobe staples: military coats, triangular-shaped skirts and dresses, hats that evoke a different era, and boxy blouses with buttons up the back. I am coveting his Sleeveless Dress in Navy for any luncheons that pop up this year and his Pleated Collar Dress with removable white collar for a look that will go from day to night in a snap!

Photo Credit: Peter O'Brien Design

Photo Credit: Peter O’Brien Design

Going back to the hats…his milliner Amanda Byrne of Highbury Design was a big hit at the show. I’d love to wear one of those gorgeous hats, but am probably not that daring.

Photo Credit: Peter O'Brien Design

Photo Credit: Peter O’Brien Design

In total, there are 46 pieces in the Peter O’Brien A/W 2015 collection at Arnotts with prices ranging from €95 to €495.

Additional Notes & Credits:

* The recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Compote will be posted tomorrow!

* You can learn more about Peter O’Brien here.

* Click here to follow Peter on Twitter.

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Practicing Patience

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on 06/05/2015| 7 Comments »

Patience. Some say it’s a “virtue”, others say it is “a companion of wisdom”. I say, when exercised correctly, patience is an act of love. We practice patience with our children, particularly when they are young, with our spouses when they make us crazy, and sometimes…if we remember…with our parents…especially as they are aging.

My sister-in-law, Rosaleen, is a person with infinite patience. As her mum’s health slowly declined, Rosaleen’s patience exponentially increased. Everyone in our family watched in awe (and with gratitude) as she courageously stepped into the role of caregiving daughter and lived in that space for many years without complaint.

When Mama wanted to go to bed, Rosaleen was there to assist. When Mama asked the same question for the twentieth time, Rosaleen answered with kindness. When many of us thought Mama should enter a nursing home, Rosaleen resolutely disagreed. Taking Mama out of her beloved home was not an option to consider. Instead, Rosaleen got outside help to come to her and together everyone practiced patience in helping my magnificent mother-in-law leave this world.

By the grace of God, Rosaleen was near to Mama when she took her last breath…but she nearly missed the moment. The doctor, having been called to the house, examined my mother-in-law, and asked to see Rosaleen in the hall. For a few tense minutes they whispered about the inevitable and reentered the bedroom where Mama was resting. Not a second later, Rosaleen saw her mum turn to look at the sepia coloured wedding photograph of herself and Dada hanging on the wall. Mama then took one more breath and that was it. She was gone. Someone not practicing patience might have missed it, but not Rosaleen. She was there.

She was there in that moment and she was there for everything that happened in the whirlwind of a week thereafter. She made the arrangements for a celebration of life to honour Mama. She arranged the wake at home, the removal, and the sit-down lunch at the hotel after the burial. She cooked and baked and fed our large family and the many visitors that called in. She made endless cups of tea and opened more bottles of wine than any of us want to remember. Ah, sure, she’d tell us it was nothing with a wave of her hand or she’d say “many hands make light work” or give the credit to someone else. But we know…it was her. And now she quietly and patiently goes through a home filled with a lifetime of memories and cherished objects, passing things on to the next generation or recycling and giving away what she can whenever possible.

So today, on this the Month’s Mind of Mama’s passing, we not only remember the woman we called Mother, Granny, Great-grandma, admired Mother-in-law…we stop to thank the person who practiced the most loving patience we ever witnessed. Dear Rosaleen, we are so very grateful. Thank you.

Additional Reading & Listening:

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2011/0715/646810-radio-documentary-house-strictly-private-irish-wake/

http://farmette.ie/2010/03/03/the-irish-country-wake/

What Irish Funerals Can Teach Us About Celebrating Life

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/Ancient-Irish-funeral-and-wake-customs-recalled-this-Halloween-season.html

https://www.funeralwise.com/customs/irishwake/

http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/others/it-may-be-a-stereotype-but-the-irish-do-great-funerals-138564194-238119711.html

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Multi-Generational Road Tripping

Posted in Trips/Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 16/08/2013| 3 Comments »

Day five of a road trip is a good time to stop and take a break. So today we are resting in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota {which has absolutely nothing to do with Detroit, as my eldest daughter keeps pointing out}.

Image from Detroit Lakes Chamber of Commerce Magazine

Image from Detroit Lakes Chamber of Commerce Magazine

At first glance this little town of 8,600 is another American tragedy, with strip malls and fast food restaurants to greet you as you exit the highway. Head down to the lake shore area, however, and a  wonderful little village of shops and restaurants opens up. Located just 40 minutes east of Fargo-Moorhead, Detroit Lakes is in the heart of Minnesota’s famous “lake country”. There are some 400 lakes within 25 miles. Today, I care only about this one.

Driving with my dad and two daughters across the country has been more difficult than I thought it would be. The moment my father disciplined my youngest with a stern, “Because your mother said so!” and she replied with an equally stern, “I wasn’t speaking to you!”, I wanted to find the eject button in my car and fly myself someplace less stressful. You see, my youngest child and my dad are birds of a feather who definitely can’t flock together for too long. Both are strong willed and short tempered. I have been the little piggy in the middle more than once and I am not sure how much longer I can go on without a burst of tears to clear the air. Family road trips…don’t you just love them?

IMG_4163

Sun Setting Over Detroit Lakes

As I sit here at the lake, watching the sun set, I’m trying to figure out if this family drive was a good idea or a bad one. Are we really only half-way through it? In this exact moment, this trip feels like a bad idea but, maybe {just maybe}, when time has sanded the edges off the harsh reality that is four people, three generations, two kids all in one SUV, I will be glad we had this time together. Thank goodness the car isn’t smaller.

I’m being called for S’mores on the beach. Gotta run. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Just one last question for the night…do you think there’s any chance those S’mores will come with a side of wine?

Related Articles:

Pairing Wine with S’Mores at Sunset.com, Wine and Good Food, and Real.Good.Wine.com

Semifreddo S’Mores Recipe at Food & Wine

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South Dakota and a Dollop of Presidential Ice Cream

Posted in Recipes, Trips/Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 18/07/2013| 2 Comments »

The Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota

The Corn Palace

To a writer, the open road and a blank page are a lot alike: both are ideal spaces for creating a good story. As I climb into bed with my laptop tonight, I wonder what kind of story we will have written by time this epic holiday is over: a thriller, a horror story, a comedy, perhaps?

The first two days have gone well. The kids are delighted with the movies I bought a few days ago at Walmart. They have watched them back-to-back nonstop since we left. Some of you Dear Readers may abhor this idea, thinking kids should be looking out the window at all the lovely changing vistas before them but to that I say: “Ha! You clearly haven’t been on a road trip since your parents last took you!”

Yes, my friends, road trips have changed. Back in the dark ages {that’s when you and I were kids} there was nothing to do in a car except look out the window, listen to whatever radio station your parents deemed appropriate, play classic car games like Spot the License Plate, play cards with your siblings {when you weren’t wishing them dead for bothering you} or go to sleep.

Crazy Horse Memorial

Crazy Horse Memorial

Nowadays, particularly in America, but also in Ireland, cars and parents are equipped with so much modern technology that kids are used to and expect to live in a bubble of full-on entertainment. And, while I know there’s been no scientific research done on this, when forced to stare out the window for long periods or listen to our music or deal with one another for hours on end, modern kids may actually spontaneously combust! I don’t know…I’m just saying…

My dad is a young 70-year-old. He remembers, very well, driving my mother, two brothers and me across America in a two door Mustang many years ago. I can tell he’s not completely happy with the way families today road trip. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very thankful my girls aren’t fighting like cats in the back seat, but he wants them to SEE America. Several times, in the last forty-eight hours, he’s stopped their movie-viewing pleasure with comments like “Girls! Do you see the cows?” and “Hey, look, antelope!” I haven’t the heart to remind him that, when you live in the country, live-stock and wild animals are something you see every day, and that I’m ok not having to bring peace to the middle seats while driving at 85+ miles per hour.

The other thing I can tell my dad’s not really au fait with is spontaneity. He’s much more of a “we’ve decided to do X, so that’s what’s we’re going to do” kind of guy. Right now he’s tolerating our unplanned stops and no-hotel-booked-laissez faire attitude but I’m not sure how much longer that will last.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

Since leaving yesterday, we’ve ticked Wyoming, South Dakota and a wee bit of North Dakota off our “states of the north-west” trip. We’ve stopped for our first chocolate dipped ice cream cone at Dairy Queen, had our fill of fast food, and visited the Badlands, The Corn Palace, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mount Rushmore. We did not stop at Wall Drug Store, the Ingall’s Homestead (of the Little House on the Prairie book series), Custer State Park, the Jewel Cave, the 1800 Town, the Wind Cave or many other local attractions because there just wasn’t enough time. Who knew there are so many beautiful, historical, interesting, and kitschy places to see along U.S. Highway 90?

Tomorrow our plan is to drive to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Before I sign-off this evening, I’ll leave you with a recipe we saw at Mount Rushmore for Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream. It dates back to the 1780s and was served to guests at a state dinner in 1802. Enjoy!

jb_progress_icecream_2_m[1]Thomas Jefferson’s Ice Cream Recipe

2 bottles of good cream

6 yolks of eggs

½ lb. of sugar

Directions

1. Mix the yolks & sugar.                                                                                                                                                                                        2. Put the cream on a fire in a casserole, first putting in a stick of Vanilla.
3. When near boiling take it off & pour it gently into the mixture of eggs & sugar. Stir it well.
4. Put it on the fire again stirring it thoroughly with a spoon to prevent it’s sticking to the casserole.
5. When near boiling take it off and strain it thro’ a towel.
6. Put it in the Sabottiere (an ice cream mold).
7. Then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served. put into the ice a handful of salt.
8. Put salt on the coverlid of the Sabotiere & cover the whole with ice.
9. Leave it still half a quarter of an hour.
10. Then turn the Sabottiere in the ice 10 minutes.
11. Open it to loosen with a spatula the ice from the inner sides of the Sabotiere.
12. Shut it & replace it in the ice.
13. Open it from time to time to detach the ice from the sides.                                                                                                                    14. When well taken (prise) stir it well with the Spatula.
15. Put it in moulds, justling it well down on the knee.
16. Then put the mould into the same bucket of ice.
17. Leave it there to the moment of serving it.
18. To withdraw it, immerse the mould in warm water, turning it well till it will come out & turn it into a plate.

Related articles

* Recipe information sourced at: http://www.mtrushmorenationalmemorial.com/jefferson-ice-cream-8850.html, http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/ice-cream, and http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-thomas-j-10903.

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