Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Irish Living’

Dandelion Pesto: From Weed to Wonderful!

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 04/09/2015| Leave a Comment »

Dandelion Pesto

I’m an organic gardener…have been for over 20 years. And in my culinary garden, we never use chemicals.

So, when a plant recently popped up somewhere I didn’t want it to grow…a prodigious plant to boot…I wasn’t very happy.

I am, of course, referring to the tenacious Dandelion.

Dandelions are perennials that grow from a thick, unbranching tap root. We know them well because they produce bright yellow flowers that, after a few days, become fluffy white seed heads. Those lovely looking seed heads, the ones we used to blow into the air when we were kids, produce even more weeds bright yellow flowers. Oh, the blissful ignorance of our youth!

As I stood looking at the lone Dandelion growing amongst a bed of beautiful Lavender, I started thinking about how it might be useful. Then I remembered…Dandelion leaves were for sale in an exclusive grocer in our local village.

A few minutes later, research on the internet provided a plethora of recipes. Clearly one plant wasn’t going to be enough but it was a start. I hopped on my bike, quickly cycled down to the village, bought more greens, and came home to make the recipe I found over at The Kitchn for Dandelion Pumpkin Seed Pesto. David Lebovitz’s Dandelion Pesto recipe was equally interesting, but I wanted to use some leftover pumpkin seeds that were in my larder.

And that was that. On a fine summer evening, I served my family Whole Wheat Linguine Pasta topped with Dandelion Pesto. I didn’t tell them what they were eating until after they devoured their dinner…just in case the main ingredient put them off.

Fortunately, they loved it. What’s more, I enjoyed turning a would-be-weed into a wonderful meal. Hope you find ways to do the same.

Dandelion Pumpkin Seed Pesto 

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients

130gm/3/4 cup unsalted hulled (green) pumpkin seeds
3 garlic gloves, minced
25gm/1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 bunch dandelion greens (about 2 cups, loosely packed)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4oz/1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Black pepper, to tasted

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350°F.

2. Pour the pumpkin seeds onto a shallow-rimmed baking sheet and roast until just fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

3. Pulse the garlic and pumpkin seeds together in the bowl of a food processor until very finely chopped.

4. Add parmesan cheese, dandelion greens, and lemon juice and process continuously until combined. Stop the processor every now and again to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The pesto will be very thick and difficult to process after awhile — that’s ok.

5. With the blade running, slowly pour in the olive oil and process until the pesto is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Additional Notes and Credits:

* More about the Biology of Dandelions can be found here and their herbal uses may be found here.

* For some Irish Dandelion folklore see this post for Wildflower Folklore at Wildflowers of Ireland.

* Here’s a Dandelion Flower Fritter recipe from Darina Allen, as well as a radio interview of Darina at NPR.

* I am intrigued by this Dandelion Honey Recipe that appeared in the Irish Examiner for Dandelion Honey…which is more like a marmalade!

* Here’s another interesting recipe to try…Dandelion Colcannon from The New York Times.

* The Daily Spud has gotten in on the act too…with recipes for Dandelion Tea and Dandelion Fritters.

* Canada’s National Post did a wonderful article on Irish cheeses and ended it with several recipes, including this one for Salad of Lambs Lettuce and Dandelion Greens by Nuala Cullen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Wild Blackberry Jam

Posted in Recipes, Share the Joy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 04/09/2015| 7 Comments »

IMG_0061

For weeks I’ve been playing a game of “Watch and Wait” with mother nature. Whether on a walk in the countryside or a drive into town, I have been watching and waiting patiently for the blackberries ripening in the hedgerows near our home to be ready for picking.

Blackberries

While the berries have morphed in colour from green to red to a deep black-purple, I’ve been daydreaming about the many things I might make: scones, jam, cobbler, sorbet, ice cream, flavoured vinegar, even a blackberry whiskey concoction. It seems the list of things to do with blackberries is endless!

Finally, last weekend, I could wait no more. Truth be told…I nearly crashed my car last Thursday for looking at the berries ripening in the summer sun. I invited my friend Susan and her daughter Ellen to join my younger daughter and me for a morning of picking wild blackberries. It may not be true, but I have in my mind that it’s best to pick fruit and vegetables in the morning, when the energy of the earth is surging through a plant. So, with our bowls in hand, we four girls headed down the road to a hedgerow that was bursting with berries. When we’d picked it clean, we spotted more in a nearby field and, with the farmer’s permission, we hopped the gate and picked until our hearts’ were content. (My daughter did keep saying, “Mom we have to leave some for the birds!”)

Blackberries 2

Wild blackberries have been eaten in Ireland since Neolithic times. They come in many forms, possibly even several hundreds of micro species. Some are small and mean-looking, others fat and plump. None resemble the large, mostly tasteless, perfect triangle-shaped berries found in the supermarket. Packed with fibre and antioxidants, blackberries are a rich source of vitamin C and, best of all, when picked at their peak of ripeness, wild Irish blackberries are gorgeously delicious.

In no time at all, we girls were scraped and prickled by the thorny bushes and our fingers were stained red-pink from the sweet berry juice. We didn’t mind, however, as we were happy to have our bowls filled to the brim with nature’s bounty and countless ideas for what to do with them running through our heads.

Picking blackberries is a rite of passage in Ireland and I’m so glad to be able to share in this tradition with my daughters and our friends. I hope you and yours find time to enjoy a blackberry picking expedition of your own this year too!

IMG_9883

Classic Irish Blackberry Jam

Makes 4 x 250ml jars

Ingredients

1kg/2 lbs Sugar
1kg/2 lbs Blackberries
Juice and zest of one lemon

Directions

1. Place a salad plate in your freezer. This will be used to test whether or not your jam is ready later.

2. Place sugar, blackberries and juice and zest of one lemon in a large pot.

3. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring until all the sugar dissolves.

4. If you like whole berries in your jam, stir occasionally and cook for approximately 15 minutes. If you like your jam with the berries crushed, use a potato masher to crush the berries and continue cooking as previously directed.

5. While the berries are cooking, put clean glass jars and lids into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer the jars and lids to sterilize.

5. When the 15 minutes are up, take the plate out of your freezer and drop a dollop of hot jam onto it. Let the jam cool for a few minutes on the plate and then, with your finger, push a bit of the jam up towards the middle to see if it “crinkles”. If it does, the jam has set and you are ready to bottle it. If not, continue to boil for another 5 minutes, then test again.

6. Remove from the heat and carefully transfer to hot, dry, sterilized jars. Fill them as near to the top as possible. Cover each with a disc of wax paper and seal tightly with a lid. Keep in a cool dark place for up to 12 months.

Notes:

* If the jam doesn’t set after cooling and potting, tip it all back into the pan and boil again, adding the juice of a small lemon.

* If mould develops on the surface of the jam in a jar, remove it with a spoon, along with about half an inch (1 cm) of the jam underneath…rest assured, the rest of the jam will not be affected…and place a waxed disc dipped in brandy on top.

Additional Reading:

Irish Blackberry Ripple Ice Cream over at Irish Food Guide blog.

If you’re musically inclined, visit 8Notes.com to hear The Blackberry Blossom song, an Irish folk song.

The golden rules for picking blackberries can be found here at Good Food Ireland’s website.

For a wee bit of folklore regarding Irish blackberries visit the Irish Cultures & Customs website.

Seamus Heaney, Irish poet, playwright, lecturer, and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote a poignant poem about blackberries…you can read it here.

It may be called “English’s Fruit Nursery Ltd“, but you can buy blackberry plants from this company in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford!

Check-out these gorgeous looking Blackberry and Custard Doughnuts over at Donal Skeehan’s website…I may just have to try these and report back!!

Visit here for a video on how to test jam from BBC Good Food.

Read Full Post »

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

Read Full Post »

Irish Love

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 14/02/2015| 3 Comments »

The Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederic William Burton

The Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederic William Burton

One of my favourite paintings in The National Gallery of Ireland is Hellelil and Hildebrand, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederic William Burton.

This richly coloured watercolour painting depicts the ill-fated lovers Hellelil and Hildebrand, meeting on the stone stairway of a medieval tower. The princess and her bodyguard had fallen in love but her father regarded the young soldier as an unsuitable match for his daughter and ordered his sons to kill him.

The painting captures the couple’s poignant final embrace. Burton’s inspiration for the painting was the story of the ill-fated lovers as told in an old Danish ballad.

It seems I am not the only one smitten by this exquisite painting. Back in 2012, RTE ran a competition to find the country’s favourite piece of artwork and The Meeting on the Turret Stairs was the winner.

In 1864, Burton sold the painting to a dealer, Edward Fox White. Interestingly, in the contract they signed, Burton retained the copyright. The painting changed hands a number of times over the following 30 years but in 1898 it was bought by Miss Margaret McNair Stokes (sister of Whitley Stokes).

An article by Jeanette Stokes in the Irish Arts Review, (Vol.26, no.3, 2009) refers to the fact that there are tantalising hints in some of Margaret Stokes’s letters to her family that her interest in Burton was something more than friendship. Margaret Stokes was writing a biography of Burton when she died in 1900, in her will she bequeathed the painting, along with a number of other works by Burton, to the National Gallery of Ireland.

Sadly, the painting is only available to view at limited times each week, due to its medium and sensitivity to light. The National Gallery’s website states: “The Meeting on the Turret Stairs will be back on limited display from 2 March 2015. Viewing Times from 2nd March: Mondays and Wednesdays: 11.30am to 12.30pm. Admission is free, but a timed-ticketing system will be in operation. No advance booking. Tickets are limited and available on the day, from the Information Desk in the Millennium Wing, on a first-come, first-served basis.”

If you’re in Dublin, stop by The National Gallery of Ireland…and, if you’re lucky, you too will catch a glimpse of this exceptional Irish love painting.

 

 

Additional Reading:

http://www.nationalgallery.ie/Home/Collection/Irelands_Favourite_Painting/Burton

http://www.historyireland.com/medieval-history-pre-1500/irelands-favourite-paintingthe-meeting-on-the-turret-stairs/

http://www.thejournal.ie/irelands-favourite-painting-is-announced-and-its-a-romantic-one-462651-May2012/

http://thewildgeese.com/profiles/blogs/burton-s-helellil-and-hildebrand-the-meeting-on-the-turret-stairs

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/irelands-favourite-painting-reveals-that-were-a-country-of-old-romantics-at-heart-26857335.html

 

 

Read Full Post »

Brooklyn a Huge Success at Sundance 2015

Posted in Interviews, Sundance Film Festival, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 31/01/2015| 1 Comment »

Sundance 2015The Sundance 2015 Film Festival ends this weekend and it has been another strong year for Irish filmmakers and Irish co-productions. Brooklyn, The Hallow, and Glasslands, in particular, have been very well received in Park City, Utah.

The period drama Brooklyn has received the highest praise: not surprising given the power houses (both Irish and not) involved. Based on the novel written by Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn was adapted for the screen by novelist-turned-script writer Nick Hornby. John Crowley, whose earlier work included Intermission, Boy A, Is Anybody There? and Closed Circuit, was the director. Irish actress, Saoirse Ronan, plays the lead character beautifully and is supported superbly by Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Waters and Jim Broadbent…to name but a few.

Set between Ireland and New York in the early 1950’s, the story line follows a young Irish woman’s coming of age while being pulled between the home she loves and the life she leads. Brooklyn received a standing ovation at the Eccles Theatre at Sundance when it premiered. Twenty-four hours later it started a distribution bidding war, which Fox Searchlight won, shortly thereafter.

As someone who’s left home (America) and started anew someplace else (Ireland), I felt the heartbreak and joy of Saoirse Ronan’s character deeply…so too, it seems, did my fellow audience members. Together we laughed, cried, gasped and enjoyed the film. Here’s what the press had to say about Brooklyn at Sundance:

“Brooklyn premiered at the Sundance Film Festival without much advance buzz. But when the lights at the Eccles Theatre in Park City came up two hours later to a rapturous standing ovation, it was clear that Sundance had just screened one of the best films of the year. Within 24 hours, Fox Searchlight defeated its rivals (including the Weinstein Co. and Focus Features) in a heated bidding war and landed “Brooklyn” for $9 million. That deal, the biggest at this year’s festival, also kicked off the Oscars 2016 race.” – Entertainment Weekly

“A robust romantic drama, rich in history and full of emotion, “Brooklyn” fills a niche in which the studios once specialized, using a well-read and respected novel as the grounds for a tenderly observed tear-jerker. With a classical, literate script from Nick Hornby unfussily interpreted by Crowley, the film satisfies the reason audiences of a certain age go to the movies in the first place: namely, to feel something”. – Variety 

“…this movie is magical…In an increasingly cynical age of cinema—especially at a Sundance where it feels like every film is about people dying—it’s remarkable to see that romance can still connect with an audience. On the shuttle after the standing O at the screening, I’ve never heard so many people proclaim a movie their favorite of the fest.” – RoberEbert.com

“Classily and classically crafted in the best sense by director John Crowley and screenwriter Nick Hornby, this superbly acted romantic drama is set in the early 1950s and provides the feeling of being lifted into a different world altogether, so transporting is the film’s sense of time and place and social mores…this British-Canadian-Irish co production is splendidly decked out in every department, notably including Yves Belanger’s cinematography, Francois Seguin’s spot-on period production design, Odil Dicks-Mireaux’s lively costume design and Michael Brook’s evocative scoring”. – The Hollywood Reporter

“Brooklyn captures that bittersweet mix of excitement and longing really well, Crowley directing with patience and understatement. He’s helped immensely by his lead, Saoirse Ronan, who does wonderful work here—her Eilis isn’t always likable, she’s sometimes prickly and aloof, but she’s fully human, intelligent and determined and decent…the movie belongs wholly to Ronan, who at just 20 years old is such a remarkably poised and confident performer.” – Vanity Fair

There were many video interviews with the cast and crew of Brooklyn this past week. These are amongst the most interesting:

 

And, finally Anya Jaremko-Greenwold of Indiewire did a short but interesting interview with John Crowley. You can read it here.

 

Notes:

The photos at the top of this blog post are courtesy of Sundance.org. In the collage: the photo from The Hallow was taken by Martin Maguire, the photo from Brooklyn was taken by Kerry Brown, and the photo from Glassland was taken by Pat Redmond. The photo single photo from Brooklyn was also taken by Kerry Brown.

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Sundance Interview: Writer-director Gerard Barrett talks ‘Glassland,’ his directorial choices, and working with great actors

Posted in Interviews, Sundance Film Festival, tagged , , , , , on 31/01/2015| Leave a Comment »

Featured Image -- 5019

Read Full Post »

Letter to a 14 Year Old Daughter

Posted in Parenting, tagged , , , , , , , , on 26/01/2015| 4 Comments »

Today a friend of mine posted a letter on Facebook that was written by a mom to her fourteen-year-old daughter. It stuck such a cord with me, and is such a perfect follow up to the post I did last week entitled “Teen Angst“, that I had to interrupt my Sundance blogging to share it with you.

As my friend Niamh wrote on FB…” (it’s) relevant to anyone navigating the world with teens or preteens.” AMEN to that sister.

Rearing kids isn’t easy. Rearing a teen/preteen is bloody hard work. And, I would do it all again…in a heartbeat…because I love my children.

Thanks Niamh for sending this my way. Amy Foster…you stole the words right out of my mouth.

A Letter to a 14 Year-Old Daughter

By Amy Foster

Dear Daughter,

Right now you are upstairs in your room thinking that life is completely and totally unfair.

The whole world is against you because there is not a single person in it that understands you. You would say that you love your friends, but the truth is that  you love them more on Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram than you do in real life. In real life, you can only handle spending so much time with them before they start to annoy you because, as I mentioned before, no one really understands who you are.

Your room is a pigsty. The clothes that you beg for me to buy you are crumpled in a heap in the corner. When asked to clean – when asked to do anything, really – you roll your eyes (not to my face, because you are smart enough at this point to know that will set me off) because you have a thousand more important things to do like watch Teen Wolf or check your phone.

You are both obsessed with and terrified by boys.

Some days you think you are pretty. Some days you are certain you are the ugliest person on earth. You are sure you are being left out.. of something. Some party, some conversation, some sleepover is happening and you were deliberately excluded because no one cares how you feel. You have every right in the world to be moody because life is hard. Grade 8 is pointless. There isn’t a person alive who hasn’t been able to get into the college they wanted to because they got crappy grades in Grade 8. Mostly though, life is just hard and complicated and difficult and confusing. Despite this, you are never given the credit you deserve for always knowing what’s what. You know what is best for you and there is nothing more irritating than someone else (like me) presuming that they know.

I realize that when I broach these topics with you, you will not hear me. Despite all appearances, you are not a small adult. You cannot reason like an adult and so it is impossible for you to understand that I am trying to help you and guide you and not, ruin your life. This privilege I exert does not necessarily come from biology, it comes from the fact that I have been exactly where you are and I have been navigating this life for a lot longer than you. It is true that everyone has a story, and everyone’s story is unique, but loss, pain, anger, confusion and sadness are universal. These feelings don’t separate you from the world, but rather they bind you closer to it. Someone out there is feeling the exact same way you do right now, including me, my dearest girl, and I am only a few feet away. There will never be and can never be another you, but you are part of a magnificent community of humans. Humanity at times can be brutal and petty and mean-spirited, but that’s never an excuse for you to be that way. You are so much more and so much better than a bad day.

I am not your friend. I don’t care what you think about me. I am not aiming for popularity in our house. Most importantly, we are not equals. Think about it: how can we be equals if you depend on me for everything? If you’re going to take the iPhone, then you have to take my rules. Some people call it parenting. Mercenary me, I call it leverage. When you don’t need me for things, only advice and council, then we can explore a friendship.

When I ask you to do something right now, I am trying to teach you something about success. Procrastination is a dream killer. No one ever became a grand success by doing it later. You’re right, your room is yours. I am less concerned with the state of it than I am of your mind. Ever see a happy person on Hoarders? It sounds ridiculous to you, but a clean space makes it easier to be creative and productive. When you let your room slide, you are likely to let everything else slide too, like homework.

I am not a Tiger Mom. I am not interested in you getting straight As (though, of course, that would be great), I am interested in you doing your absolute best. Sometimes you do your best and you fail, and you need to learn to be okay with that, too. You must learn to be good AT school, so it will be easier for you to be good AT college and AT work. Yes, of course, it’s pandering to a system, but everyone, regardless of status has to work within a system, unless you’re becoming a hermit which let’s face it, is never going to happen. When you become overly concerned with pleasing your friends and making them happy it takes away from your focus, your job, which right now is school. The balance you learn to strike right now will carry you through your entire life where friendships can be vital. But, you cannot rely on a great friendship to buy you a house.

I don’t tell you often enough how beautiful you are. Even though you are stunning, I do guess I do this on purpose. Being beautiful should never be the most interesting thing about you. A girl who relies on her looks is setting herself up to be a woman lost as sea as she gets older. We live in a world where beauty can and will open many doors, but how you choose to open them and what you do inside becomes about character. Character, moral aptitude, empathy, grace- these are the traits that will carry on your beauty far after your looks are gone. You aren’t anywhere near understanding this right now, even though I am trying to lead this charge by example. When you look at me all you see is old, and mom.

Unbelievably though, I was young (and not so long ago, I might add) once, and nothing you can say will shock me. In point of fact, if I was to over share and talk about some of the things I’ve done, or still do actually, on a pretty regular basis with your step dad, it is you that would be shocked. Don’t worry, I would never, because like I said, we are not friends. I promise you this, though: as long as you tell me the truth, you will never get into trouble, though I can’t promise I won’t be disappointed.

Until you have children of your own, you won’t realize the depth in which I love you. I would do anything for you and it is the great irony of life that the person I love most, I get treated the worst by. I am your greatest cheerleader and your biggest fan. Sometimes you scream “Why do you hate me!” when I am doing my job as a mother. You don’t understand that if I indeed hated you, or felt a far more heinous thing, indifference, I simply wouldn’t bother. I would let you get on with it and shrug my shoulders and not say a word. When I stand my ground and open myself up to your vitriol and disregard and general railroading, that, my dear, is love.

The most important thing for you to understand is though you may be convinced otherwise, whatever happens in this crazy, upside down life, you will never, ever be alone. So maybe, just once in a while, will you keep this in mind and be a little kinder to me.

Your ever loving,

Mom

AMY FOSTERview all posts by Amy

Amy S. Foster is an award winning songwriter, author and mother of 3 who lives in Portland. Sometimes. When she needs an escape, she goes to The Heatley Cliff, a pretend Manor house in the English countryside where she can knit, talk to grown ups and watch the BBC uninterrupted. She is lucky to share The Heatley Cliff with her non-sexual life partner Sheryl Zenter, where they podcast every week about their lives as ladies of leisure (and their real lives too, which do not include a staff made up of Helen Mirren and Henry Cavill, but are still pretty cool none the less). You can check out The Heatley Cliff at their website, or find Amy at her website and Sheryl on her Tumblr.

 

Read Full Post »

Sundance 2015…It’s That Time Again!

Posted in Sundance Film Festival, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 24/01/2015| Leave a Comment »

It’s that time of year again. Yes, the Sundance Film Festival ~ the largest independent film celebration ~ is in full swing in Park City, Utah and I am here with nearly 50,000 other attendees. The air is crisp, the days are bright and we could care less. One doesn’t come to Sundance for a holiday: you’re either here because you support independent films or you’re in the business surrounding them.

For more than 30 years, Robert Redford has introduced some of cinema’s best filmmakers to the world, including Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine), Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, and Videotape), the Coen brothers (Blood Simple), Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project), to name but a few.

Superb Irish films or Irish-backed films have been here too! In the last few years, award-winning Irish/Irish-backed films have included: The Summit, Calvary, Irish Folk Furniture, Frank, and The Last Days of Peter Bergmann.

For the past two years, I have tried to see all the Irish films and report back the news. This year, I am in Park City to do it again. There are five films to see. They include:

Brooklyn – Set on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Brooklyn tells the story of Eilis Lacey, a young Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, she departs Ireland for the shores of New York. Her initial bouts of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating charm of love. Soon, though, her new vivacity is disrupted by her past, and Eilis must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within. Directed by John Crowley. Starring Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) and Domhnall Gleeson (Frank). The official trailer has not yet been released. This film will screen in the Premieres section at Sundance. It was produced by Wildgaze Films, Finola Dwyer Productions, Parallel Films and Item 7, was filmed in Wexford, Dublin and Wicklow, and was co-financed by the Irish Film Board.

Glassland – Young Dublin cabdriver, John barely makes ends meet. He shares social housing with his mother, Jean, an alcoholic who is systematically drinking herself to death. Desperate to save his mother, John takes a shady job from the ambiguous criminal element he’s loosely connected to and is forced to make a life changing moral decision. Directed by Gerard Barrett. Starring Toni Collette (Sixth Sense, Little Miss Sunshine), Jack Reynor (What Richard Did and Transformers: Age of Extinction), Will Poulter (Son of Rambow, We’re the Millers), and Michael Smiley (A Field in England, Kill List). This film will screen in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section at Sundance, which only selects 12 films from thousands of entries. It was produced by Element Pictures, was filmed in Dublin, and was produced with support from the Irish Film Board.

 

Strangerland – New to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari, Catherine and Matthew Parker’s lives are pushed to the brink when their two teenage children, Tommy and Lily, disappear just before a massive dust storm hits the town. With temperatures rising, and the chances of survival plummeting with each passing day, Catherine and Matthew find themselves pushed to the brink as they struggle to survive the uncertainty of their children’s fate. Directed by Kim Farrant. Starring Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes. The official trailer has not yet been released. This film will also screen in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section at Sundance, which only selects 12 films from thousands of entries. It was produced by Fastnet films and Dragonfly Pictures and was funded by the Irish Film Board, Worldview Entertainment, Screen Australia and Screen NSW.

The Hallow – Deep within the darkness of a secluded forest in rural Ireland dwells an ancient evil. When a conservationist from London moves in with his wife and infant child in order to survey the land for future construction, his actions unwittingly disturb the horde of demonic forces. Alone in a remote wilderness, he must now ensure his family’s survival from their relentless attacks. Directed by Corin Hardy. Starring Joseph Mawle (The Awakening, Game of Thrones) and Bojana Novakovic (Devil, Burning Man). The official trailer has not been released yet, but you can see the unofficial version here (unfortunately, you are forced to watch an advertisement first). This film will screen as part of the Park City at Midnight section at Sundance. It was produced by Occupant Entertainment and Fantastic Films, was filmed on location in Galway, and was funded by Prescience, Altus Media, Hyperion and the Irish Film Board.

The Visit – Imagine an event that has never taken place: mankind’s first encounter with an intelligent life from outer space. Through tantalizing interviews with experts from NASA, United Nations, and the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, among many others, this film constructs a chillingly believable scenario of first contact on Earth, beginning with the simplest of questions: Why are you here? How do you think? What do you see in humans that we don’t see in ourselves? Directed by Michael Madsen (Into Eternity). This will screen in the World Documentary Competition section at Sundance. It is co-produced by Venom Films, with support from the Irish Film Board.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Teen Angst and a Side of Irish Caramels

Posted in Parenting, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 20/01/2015| 9 Comments »

Two moms talk about teen anxiety over a cup of tea and a side of caramels.
Recently my friend Niamh and I spent a few hours catching up over a cuppa and some homemade caramel. As you do, we talked about life: our homes and gardens, the people we know, and our children. It’s when we were talking about our children that Niamh said…

“You know…they need to kill-us-off in order to grow up.” 

And for about an hour we talked about what she meant. She’s no stranger to teens, my friend Niamh. She has three and she is surviving. I, on the other hand, have only one at the moment and, some days, am barely hanging in there.

Don’t get me wrong, we have our moments of greatness. But for the past year-and-a-half, those are becoming “occasions” and not “the norm”. What happened to my sweet girl with the great belly laugh, who used to say, “thank you” and “I love you” and “look what I made for you Mama!”?

I miss that girl.

Sometimes I secretly wonder if she’s been abducted by aliens in the middle of the night and replaced with a girl who looks like ours but is often surly, angry, insensitive, self-centered, and entitled.

In the past year I have thought “is it us?”…have we done something to change her? Are we too controlling? Have we become her bully…always passing judgement on the way she looks, how much time she spends on social media or how she never seems to buckle down and just get her flippin’ homework done at night?

Screen Shot 2015-01-19 at 8.40.44 AMThanks to Niamh, I am starting to look at our teen angst differently: they need to kill-us-off in order to grow up. Clearly we’re not talking about grab the kitchen knife and stab us in the heart kind of “killing”. We’re talking about the “separate themselves from us” kind. Either way, it is slow and painful for us. And, in reality, it’s not fun for them either. In pushing us away…our teens oscillate between wanting their independence from us and wanting to depend on us, which makes for an intensely confusing time.

Case in point…the other day our daughter was complaining about 1) not being able to find her gloves; 2) having to get up at 6am for school; 3) sharing a bathroom with her younger sister; and 4) being forced to eat a hot home-cooked breakfast before going to school…all this grief before 7am. Then, in the car, she says to me, “Mom, I wish I could go back to being young again so I didn’t have so much responsibility.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or to throw my arms around her and give her a cuddle. She’s up before the sun, faces a tough day at school, plays sport, comes home after dark, and then has at least two to three hours of homework. On the weekend, she’s got more sport and more homework. Thanks to peer pressure and social media…she’s also got to stay up-to-date with Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat and Vine. My husband and I think she’s relaxing when she’s looking at her computer but, in reality, she’s scanning those pages much the same way we scan The Irish Times, The Sunday Business Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. It’s fun but it’s also work.

Screen Shot 2015-01-19 at 8.34.37 AMKilling us in order to grow up…that’s what our teens are doing. If we want to keep our teens close in the years ahead, we’re going to have to pick our battles. I don’t mind telling you that I sought out some professional help on this one. My recent visit to a therapist taught me that we need to decide what we want in the long run. Do we want our kids leaving home one day “thankful to be gone” or “looking forward to calling in”? The other piece of advice I was left with is this: let them fail…let them make mistakes. Sounds simple but it bloody well isn’t!

Our daughter goes to a fee paying school and I can tell you that when she chooses to blather away an hour rather than study for an important test…I see red! When she doesn’t turn in a homework assignment or paper she’s completed because she’s forgotten to put it in the right place and she can’t put her hand on it…I feel frustrated by her disorganization!! When she’s roaring and shouting at me because she can’t find something in her room in the morning (because it looks like a nuclear bomb went off)…I want to shout back…”THEN CLEAN YOUR ROOM WHEN YOU GET HOME!!!” None of these reactions are helpful to her or me.

My friend Moe recently said to me…”When my son gets frustrated and starts shouting, I imagine that we’re at the train station, walking along the platform. His destination is Crazy Town and I don’t have to get on the train with him. I can let him climb aboard and wave to him from the safety of the platform.” I like this imagery. Now, when our daughter starts getting puffed up and cross, I try to remember what Moe said…she’s headed to Crazy Town and I don’t have to go.

Screen Shot 2015-01-19 at 9.00.10 AMRaising a teen…be it a son or a daughter…is not easy. I think it’s helpful to realise these years are not easy for them either. In the heat of the moment, let’s remember why they are killing us off (hint: they have to grow up)…and be sure to pick our battles carefully (so what if his/her room is a mess)…and stay focused on what we want our relationships with them in the future to be like (positive and loving)…and let them fail (failure leads to success)…and, finally, remember the phrase “Next stop Crazy Town” (you don’t have to get on board too!). Then and only then will we all survive in one piece. Lastly, be thankful for dear friends who remind us that, though it may kill us, our kids will grow up. Now…where are those caramels?

Vanilla Caramels

Ingredients

225g (8oz) salted butter

225g (8oz) granulated sugar

4 tablespoons treacle or golden syrup (light corn syrup)

1 teaspoon vanilla

400g (14oz) tin of condensed milk

8x12in baking sheet, lined with parchment paper

Directions

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Melt the butter is a heavy-bottomed saucepan (about 8″ wide) over a medium-low heat.

3. Add the sugar and then add the treacle or golden syrup.

4. Add the vanilla and stir until well mixed.

5. Add the condensed milk and stir constantly until the caramel is a rich golden brown colour. To know if the caramel is done cooking, use a candy thermometer. When the temperature reaches 118ºC/245ºF, you’re done. To confirm, fill a small glass with ice cold water and drop a tiny amount of the hot caramel syrup into the water. Pull the cool caramel from the water and check the consistency. The caramel should be firm but pliable.

6. Carefully pour the hot caramel syrup onto the baking sheet. Using an off-set spatula, quickly spread the caramel syrup to desired thickness. Let cool completely.

7. When caramels are cool, lift them off the baking sheet and onto a cutting board. Cut the caramels into candies with a sharp knife. If the caramels stick to your knife, spray your knife with nonstick cooking spray.

8. Wrap the caramels in wax paper a little longer than the caramels, twisting the ends to close. Caramels will keep at room temperature for about two weeks.

Additional Notes, Related Articles & Credit:

1. 15 Sites and Apps Kids are Heading to Beyond Facebook from Common Sense Media.

2. Teen drama overload article at NPR.org.

3. Irish Whiskey Salted Caramel Recipe at Cheese and Chocolate

4. This New York Times article that came out on October 11, 2017 is brilliant: though, having been in the trenches as long as I have, it could have gone into even more depth. It’s well worth your time to read it, however.

5. Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation is another recent article, from The Atlantic, that is worth reading. And, this continuing conversation over at NPR.org with the author of The Atlantic article, Jean Twenge, is good too.

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Visiting Washington, D.C.

Posted in Trips/Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 13/01/2015| 2 Comments »

DSC00253In the spring of 2013, I had a real bee in my bonnet about taking the family to Washington, D.C. The driving factors for this all-American holiday were: 1) my husband and I wanted to take the kids on a trip of cultural and historical significance; 2) Barack Obama had just been re-elected to a second term in office and talk of American politics was still raging and; 3) the girls were just the right age to introduce them to a bigger dose of their American heritage.

My parents took my brothers and me to D.C. when we were about 3, 8 and 9 years old…a trip that took our family of five from Los Angeles, CA to Hartford, CT and return in a 1966 Mustang! Those were the days when a family road trip meant long hours spent playing “spot the license plate” and singing John Denver songs. Nevertheless, the city left such a profound mark on me that I would eventually return many times as a college student to work on Capitol Hill. At one time, I even thought I’d have a career in politics.

DSC00076From the beginning, my husband and I agreed we wanted to make the most of the experience and come away with a feeling of having garnered some knowledge. This meant planning the trip with military precision because, surprisingly, a week in Washington really isn’t enough time to see everything. Fortunately, there’s no better woman than yours truly to plan a holiday. Heck, if I can plan a July 4th celebration in Ireland for an American Ambassador and a 500+ people cycling event around Dublin City Centre at midnight for a fundraiser, surely I can figure out how a family of four can take in the sites, sounds and tastes of D.C.! Here’s how the trip went:

Day 1 ~ Travel Day. Get to D.C., check-in at Westin Georgetown Hotel. Unpack bags, walk to dinner at Westend Bistro and walk into Georgetown to stretch our legs and get some fresh air.

IMG_3636Day 2 ~Monument Day. Borrow bikes and helmets from the hotel. Breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien. Cycle to Georgetown University to show the girls an American college and then cycle over to the national monuments. You can take a trolley tour or double-decker bus tour, but riding bikes was great fun and left us in control of our day. Visit Lincoln Memorial, FDR Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Reflecting Pool, WWII Memorial, and the Washington Monument. Dinner at Meiwah and walk back to Georgetown for an ice cream at Thomas Sweet.

Day 3 ~ Museum Day. Breakfast at the hotel and a walk to the Air & Space Museum, American History Museum, and the Natural History Museum. Tip: Do a Google search of each museum prior to your trip to find out the exhibits you are interested in. Make a list and immediately upon entering a museum go in search of the things on your list. This way, you’ll see what you want to see and probably have time to wander about at your leisure or go to another museum without wasting time! After a day on our feet, we took a taxi back to the hotel and had dinner at Blue Duck Tavern and DSC00199we walked into Georgetown to have frozen yogurt at Pinkberry.

Day 4 ~ Shopping Day. Back to Le Pain Quotidien for breakfast and then spent the day strolling around Georgetown shopping. The shops range from antiques to wigs, so there’s something for everyone. Pack a spare duffel bag in your luggage, as you’ll find all sorts of wonders to bring home. Here’s a great “Shopping in D.C.” article from the Washingtonian.com. Dinner at Cafe Milano…this isn’t your Cafe Milano as we know it in Ireland. This is better!

Day 5 ~ Capitol Hill Day. Breakfast at the Old Ebbitt Grill, a D.C. institution. Sight-seeing for the day: the Capitol Visitor Center, the Capitol Rotunda, The Senate and House Galleries, Library of Congress, Supreme Court Tour, the White House, and the White DSC00240House Visitor Center. At White House Gifts we had a family photo taken behind a replica of the Presidents’ Resolute Desk and Press Office Podium, which was fun for the kids. If you’re an American citizen, contact your Senator or State Representative to see about joining a tour led by a member of his or her staff and getting a pass to enter the Senate or House Galleries. For tours of the White House check out this site. Dinner was picked up at Chop’t on our way back to the hotel. We ate in our room and watched Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (a fun way to get the kids to test their memory of the places we visited in D.C.!).

Day 6 ~ Mount Vernon. After breakfast at the hotel, we jumped into a taxi and took a twenty-minute drive to the gorgeous and interesting Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon is the plantation home of America’s first President, George Washington, and his wife DSC00343Martha. A visit there offers a glimpse into 18th-century life through beautiful gardens and grounds, intriguing museum exhibits, and immersive programs honoring the couple’s life and legacy. There is so much to see, we spent a whole day touring around at our leisure. Dinner at Founding Farmers, farm-to-table restaurant. Later we walked from the hotel into Georgetown to get cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake.

Day 7 ~ Last day…The Spy Museum and brunch at Poste Moderne Brasserie at the Hotel Monaco. We didn’t have much time on this last day as we were flying back home. The kids loved The Spy Museum…my husband and I not so much…it felt very “touristy”. I have no regrets of going, however, as the kids had been so good all week about visiting places of cultural and historical significance.

DSC00362Tips for visiting D.C. with kids:

1. Wear your runners (tennis shoes) or your most comfortable walking shoes. If you are like us, you will be walking everywhere every day.

2. Do not carry backpacks. Many of the museums and destinations require security searches which can mean waiting in long lines. The girls and I carried cross-body bags and in them we each had a reusable plastic rain poncho, an umbrella, a water bottle, iPod/phone, headphones for using iPod/phone, and a map of DC. I also carried a notepad and pen and every day I had my notes for the places we would be seeing.

3. Pack appropriately for the weather. In the summer, DC is hot and humid. In the winter and early spring, it’s very cold. Autumn is a lovely time to visit, but be ready for rain.

IMG_36564. Before you travel, research each place you plan to visit online for special exhibit listings and opening and closing times. For each day you will be in DC have a typed agenda highlighting what you want to see and why you’re going. For example, we had five typed packets: Monument Day, Museum Day, Shopping Day, Capitol Hill Day and Mount Vernon Day. Each packet listed the places we were going, the highlights of each place, when the places opened and closed, and the historical or cultural significance of each. I realise this is a lot of extra work, but it saved us from having to carry a travel guide with us.

5. Pick up a map from the concierge of your hotel. They’re light weight and easy to carry.

Additional Resources:

1. For a resource of things to see and do check out 100 Things to do in Washington, D.C.

2. Excellent responses about what to see in Washington from DC locals at Ree Drummond’s blog.

3. Kid Friendly Museums and Hands On Attractions here.

4. Sight-seeing information from Old Town Trolley Tours here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »