Dine in Dublin 2013 Is Here!

It's that time of year again and as I'm away next week, I thought I'd give you a heads up because Dublin’s food festival, Dine in Dublin, is once again bringing a feast of cultural delights to the city this October for a fantastic 9th season. From Monday 21st to Sunday 27th October, the festival will see top restaurants throughout Dublin city centre get involved with giveaways, special events and of course, great value offers on meals in a wide range of the city’s best eateries.

 

Healthy Cooking Made Easy

Balancing the books and the nutrition in your family’s diet isn't easy at the best of times.  It’s so important to cover the five food groups – dairy, fruit, protein, starchy foods and small amounts of fat and sugar – while keeping it simple to alleviate time and financial pressures.  After all, most of us have busy lives and can’t spend all day in the kitchen (I wish...).  All that's needed is a plan.

Review : Lunch at Michie Sushi, Sandyford

Birthdays are a communal affair in work, with three of us celebrating ours on two consecutive days.  Naturally, such auspicious occasions must be marked, so we wandered across the road to the newest branch of Michie Sushi in Beacon South Quarter.

A Probing Issue

One of my essential pieces of kitchen kit is a thermometer.  No, not for me, for the food!  There's loads of different types from simple sticks with a dial, a bit like the clapometers from TV talent shows back in the day, to high-tech digital food meters.

Sainsbury's Magazine and Little Old Me...

The English branch of our family (Hi Uncle John, Auntie Pat, Nic & Si) have a long and illustrious career in retailing.  Ok, so it was only a summer job for some of them but it was in a supermarket that we didn't have here in Ireland.  Staying in my Uncle and Aunt's house on holiday was always a treat for me because they had totally different food from us and I loved going around the shops seeing new things and bringing home sweets like Raspberry Ruffles for Mum.  Mind you, I tasted one of those sweets the other day and it was rank.  They've definitely tinkered with the recipe and things ain't what they used to be.

I digress.  My cousins Nic & Simon worked in Sainsbury's and I have been a fan for years.  I love a good old browse through the aisles when I get a chance, I even have a Nectar card for my shopping trips up to Belfast and I positively adore their magazine.  It's one of the few supermarket magazines that doesn't read like a giant big ad for product, and instead focuses on food.  I have quite a few of them under the coffee table in the sitting room, as I like to hoard them and refer to them for inspiration.  I'm particularly fond of the Christmas editions and these are hidden away where The Hubs can't mistake them for recycling.  Yes, he's chucked out some treasured magazines on me in the past so once bitten and all that.

Sticky Lemony Gingerbread Cake

I don't usually talk about the day job but last week was great fun.  I've been working on a cake project for work for the past few months - doing it professionally is a lot more difficult than nipping into my kitchen and whipping up a cake - and a box of new samples arrived on my desk.  Being the caring sharing person that I am, I broke them out and got the highly qualified taste testers to give me their expert opinions. The cakes were universally well received (phew!) and then a little voice piped up "that would be even better if we could merge the two of them together".  Well JP, thanks for the suggestion!

Vanish : The Ultimate Stain Slayer

As you know, I cook and bake a lot of dishes at home so I can create delicious recipes for you here.  All of this experimentation isn't without risks as I am the queen of dropping spoons, creating splatter and generally covering myself in stains that can be pretty tricky to remove.  You name it, I've been coated in it : tomato sauce, chocolate, curry, oil, salad dressing, mustard.  And usually when I've forgotten to don an apron.  Clever...

Review : Ouzos, Dalkey, Co. Dublin

It's part and parcel of modern life that your friends and family members emigrate in search of a better or different life.  Luckily, not too many of our gang have left these shores but one wanderer returned from his new life in Australia for a visit home recently.  Being mature and mainly married, the lads decided that a sit down dinner instead of a night boozing was the appropriate manner to welcome Dave The Rave back home and a large table was booked at Ouzos in Dalkey.  Ouzos is part of a very small group of two small but perfectly formed restaurants, with the other being in Blackrock, Co. Dublin.  Owner Padraic Hanley is very proud of using the best local meat and fish to give customers great food at accessible prices. The Dalkey restaurant is a two storey long l-shaped room with windows to the front both upstairs and downstairs. The night we dined there was very warm so we were delighted to be sitting upstairs facing the three open windows and enjoying the breeze.

Image courtesy of Ouzos

Raspberry and Coconut Sponge Cake

One of my favourite Irish brands, Brodericks, make the most delicious raspberry and coconut slice.  It's so good that I have to stay away from the local shop in work otherwise I'd be eating one every day, and although that would be great for their profits, it wouldn't be so great for me!  As it's coming to the end of the soft fruit season, I decided to bake a cake as an homage to Barry and Bernie bringing together juicy fresh raspberries and a mixture of dessicated and toasted coconut to create a truly amazing cake.

The Childerbeasts Bake A Birthday Cake for ME

Good things happen in threes.  It's my birthday today (yes, I do look at least a decade younger than my real age, you're SO kind) and I thought it would be rather a low-key affair, being as it's not a major one ending in a zero.  This just goes to prove that even I am wrong sometimes, as the past few days have been very much a cakey love filled celebration.

There's nothing quite like teamwork...