Friday, February 18, 2011

A Hat Trick of Happy Things

They say that good things happen in threes and I am most definitely proof of that with three absolutely lovely things happening to me recently...

 I suppose I'll start with the most recent event. I've been nominated in the Best Food/Drink Blog category of the Irish Blog Awards 2011. And I thank you all for your lovely nominations - I've only really been blogging for a year and this is amazing. I found out on Sunday night & I screamed so loudly that the poor Hubs nearly fell out of the bed with fright. The poor man.


The second piece of happy news is thanks to James Whelan Butchers.  They held a competition in January to find the ultimate stuffing recipe so I decided to submit my Pork, Onion & Herb Baked Stuffing.  And it won.   And The Hubs got very excited because my prize is a voucher for their online store.  He now steals the laptop to browse through the categories and offers me his opinion on what he would like me to buy.  We'll see...

And now to complete my Hat Trick of Happy Things... I managed to win not just one, but TWO of the Irish Foodies Cookalong competitions.  This was a complete shock as I honestly believe that everybody else had far nicer and prettier dishes than mine.


The first one was sponsored by Llewellyns Orchard Produce in October with a theme of Autumn Fruits and I decided to try something new with an Orchard Fruit Shortcake.  We were so eager to scoff it, that we almost forgot to take photos.  My prize was a bottle each of David Llewellyn's apple juice, real cider and Apple Balsalmic Vinegar.  The only thing left is the vinegar, and not for long as it's a fantastic ingedient for dressings & marinades.



The second one was Winter Warmers in November and was sponsored by Cully and Sully.  This time out, I was inspired by a Domini Kemp recipe and produced a Daube of Pork with Apricots with Colcannon Mash.  My prize was a giant hamper stuffed to the brim with Cully & Sully soups, pies and hotpots.  We dined like kings after its arrival & my cooking output decreased dramatically!



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