Are you Twilighting?

I robbed this wonderful picture from Ciara over at Milkmoon, to show you what my daughter has been up to for the last few weeks... Twilighting... 

And, it seems, so has everyone in the universe, it is everywhere isn't it?

So, I read it to see what the fuss was about.

I sat down yesterday, and over a couple of hours in a quiet room, and then another couple of hours in bed, I read the whole thing through.  I haven't done that since I was a teenager myself!

Holes in the plot aside (and there are many!) it was one of those stories that drags you kicking and screaming (with joy) back to your teen years, when books like this encouraged day dreams about the shopkeepers son, or that boy who catches the bus at the same time you do every day... At Marys age I would routinely fall in love with boys on the bus and while away the days dreaming of all the possibilities to come.  

This book reminded me of those daydreams, with all its inconsistencies, and it was probably the most romantic and sincere thing I have read in years... I threw my irritations at Meyer (who I think probably got a bit lost in the romance herself) away and jumped in head first... 

If you haven't read it - Do! True, it is a book aimed at 12-15 year olds, and it is FULL of holes (Which Meyer has attempted to resolve with Midnight Sun), it is a bit lazy, but... BUT... You will adore it... It will, he will, haunt you (You might even find yourself googling 'Edward Cullen' late at night!)!  Just let go of any adult expectations, and go with it...

Happy Reading!

Soul Food!

I went to see Joan Baez on Saturday.

I have been a huge follower of Baez since I was a young girl, intrigued by the cover of her 'Baptism' album, and transported by the airy soprano and her stories and life lessons.  As an adult I am a huge folk fan, from Kate Rusby and Bert Jansch to Nick Drake and John Martyn, but the music of Joan Baez is more precious than any other to me, it has been the soundtrack to my life in many ways! So to get tickets and sit in the front row, inches from the legendary chantreuse herself, as she sang all my favorites was an amazing privilege.

I love Joan Baez, she is a great example of a strong independent woman.  She has never compromised her femininity in order to speak as loudly as the men.  She makes no bones about her views and told us straight who she'd be voting for, she sang some political numbers which have huge relevance for today, and some new songs written for these times we live in now... She did a fantastic Dylan impression which had us roaring with laughter, and sang Swing Low Sweet Chariot without her guitar, or any accompaniment, which was phenomenal.  

She was wonderful, so personable and with such rapport, there wasn't a dry eye in the house at times, and the laughter lifted the roof at others... but when she encouraged us to sing along with her to Amazing Grace, it was almost religious...

I didn't think it was possible to love her anymore than I have for most of my life... but it is!

Here is a snippet I shouldn't have recorded but I did...

Mellow Yellow...

Ah comfort food, everyone has their favorite don't they? I have a million and one favorites - all stodgy, calorific and extrememly bad for me!!! My moms macaroni, steak and kidney pie, buttered bread with jam, chocolate pudding with extra chocolate, millionaires squares, chili con carne with plenty of sour cream, eggy bread with butter, sugar and cinnamon... oh dear! How on earth do I resist?

 Sometimes I wish I didn't enjoy cooking so much, its hard not to whip up a batch of scones when there is cream in the fridge and eat them all one after the other! I'm a "whole pack of biscuits with my tea" kinda gal, and that is why you will rarely find a biscuit in this house, they last all but five minutes!

Comfort food is rarely a salad (although a full fat chicken caesar is definatley a runner up!) never a piece of fruit  (unless encased in meringue) and absolutely rarely a raw vegetable! 

I have been watching what I'm eating for the last while, with my brothers wedding upcoming, and it has been difficult... the reason being that I find it impossible to make diet versions of anything, cheese on toast MUST be with doorstep bread, mature english cheddar, lashings of butter and a couple drops of worcestershire sauce! Whats the point in a burrito without sour cream, cheese, beans AND guacamole? Cream sauces MUST include CREAM!!! 

My friends often ask me how I am not fat as a fool, and although I'm no skinny malink, I have managed to maintain a figure of some description by running around after two children, always taking the stairs and eating regular portions, be they laden with the worst properties! I hope that including lots and lots of goodness in between the badness I will counteract it!  I have my cadburys fingers crossed!

Here is an all time favorite in our house, a comfort food that will have you tucked up in heaven as soon as its served, alongside buttered bread and lots of parmesan!

Easy Milanese!

You'll need

2 pints chicken stock

1 onion, finely chopped 

1 sachet of saffron powder (or generous pinch of the real thing)

6 tbsp butter (Just do it!)

275g risotto rice

75g parmesan cheese (plus lots more for serving)

Salt and freshly ground pepper...

Bring the stock to the boil, remove from the heat and add the saffron, leave to infuse. Melt half the butter in a saucepan until foaming, add the onion and stir for about 5 minutes, until translucent.  Add the rice and stir in the butter until the grains start to swell a bit then add some stock.  Stir over a medium heat, allowing the rice to absorb the stock before adding more.  Stir constantly, for about 20 minutes until the rice is done, with just a little bite.  Stir in the parmesan and  the rest of the butter.  Season and serve!!

Soul Food!

Those of you who have been reading our other blog will know that our little darling Joe is car mad.  So it is fitting that his first word be 'Car'!! I had my phone nearby so managed to capture his first proper word (apart from whasdas?) earlier today... 

My heart!

A stitch in time...

Last night, as soon as I wrangled myself free of little hands, I headed down to Ciaras for a very pleasant evening of chat and laughter.  Ciara has had a great idea of getting her girlfriends together under a backdrop of knitting and stitching, which is a great incentive to start projects and finish others!!! I have been putting off making the dashboard curtains for our campervan, and so this is a great opportunity to get them done, so I'm determined now to buy the material and get them done! Most of Ciaras circle are proficient dressmakers, and knitters, so its a good place to get help if something isn't working out!People brought mending, knitting and all sorts of crafty projects!

With lovely nibbles and copious amounts of tea, the evening was great fun, the conversation strayed from dressmaking to movies, food, music and back again, and I'm sure the sounds of raucous laughter at times rattled the wildlife! 

Can't wait for next month!

Eating flowers...

So it was the summer solstice this weekend, with the longest days of the year stretching ahead of us, and, as they do every year, Ciara and Jay invited us to their annual solstice party.  We look forward to this party every year, to see friends and family that we probably don't see except at the solstice!! Ciara and Jay live in a rambling cottage beside the sea in Wicklow, and with the sea on their front doorstep you'd think they'd be content... but no...they have to go have beautiful reed beds and a bird reserve on their back door step!! Some people!!!

But after a cool calm friday eve, with a promising red sky at night, we were rudely awoken in the early hours of saturday with the sound of monsoon weather hurtling against our little tin van... Ciara and Jay wisely called the party off but we stayed around for the day, taking the edge off the childrens disappointment.

Some who hadn't received the text to stay at home arrived, laden with bowls of good food, as is the solstice custom.  So it was a small but happy group who sat around in the kitchen, eating and drinking and making merriment... 

When faced with adversity they say laugh and enjoy it, and when passing by a beautiful flower they say... eat it?

Nasturtiums!

Listen...

I cannot, cannot, cannot stop listening to this song.  Ciara gave me this album a couple of weeks ago and I can't get over it.  It makes me feel swept away... We were born to hear music like this... It feeds the ancient part of us and speaks to the soul.

Roscoe by Midlake

Sunday Shining...

We got home from camping on Sunday lunchtime, after being evicted from our pitch by the campsite manager who was apologetic but firm, the space was needed by a large and ominous looking white motorhome who had arrived, either we paid for another night or shipped out by 12! 

So we found ourselves arriving back, a bit deflated, the sun still beating us from the skies, and nothing to do - which of course is the best part of camping but doesn't feel as good at home! So we rang Bills family and bullied them into letting us cook them dinner.  

We were up there like a shot, Barbeque lit, salads being tossed like there was no tomorrow. Although in Ireland, from a barbeque's perspective, everyday could be its last! Even as I type this the rain is pelting down and my sunburned shoulders are looking quizzically at me "did I dream this?"

Anyhoo, the barbeque was a great success, with good wines and great ingredients!  Let me share with you what we ate...

Cool Salmon skewers

For six

You'll need

4 large salmon darnes

1 small pot natural yoghurt

handful dill, finely chopped

juice of half a lemon

2 green peppers, chopped roughly

Chop the salmon into large pieces, and pop it into a bowl containing the yoghurt, dill, and lemon juice. Skewer between lumps of green pepper, season well and barbeque on one side only, they are done when the flesh is opaque throughout.

We served these, along with more of saturdays sausages, with cous cous, tossed with chopped peppers, feta cheese, and a dressing of oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic, and a potato salad, roughly chopped new potatoes, in their skins dressed in a mix of half sour cream to half mayonaisse, spring onions and parsley.  

BBQ TIP - Don't keep turning everything over and over, once is enough.  Oil your grill before starting and if you go to turn something and it sticks, its just not ready to turn, leave it a while linger and it'll turn over just fine.

Coddle, v. (1) to pamper, to treat indulgently, to baby. (2)to cook in water just below boiling point

The weather shifted today, although its been brewing for the last few days, we woke up to rain. It was cold, windy and raining, and everyone around had gloomy faces.

I appreciate the rain, God made me waterproof and fair enough no-one likes to be soaked through but is there much nicer than a hot shower and clean pyjamas after being out in the heavy rain? I especially love the rain at this time of year (but preferably not every day) as the glistening leafy green reflections in the road can be quite magical!

So it was along these stunning mirror pictures I drove today, to pick up my daughter and her pal from school. Only I couldn't find her, only two bedraggled kittens sat where they would normally be. So I took them home instead, to blankets and a roaring fire, some daytime tv, hot cups of tea.

Somedays everyone needs a bit of coddling... its funny how comfort is sometimes defined with food we know really well, things that are simple... jam sandwiches, chocolate cake, mashed potato... The things that comfort people are homely, warm, known... The foods that comfort aren't the delicate, intricate and unusual, they are the normal everyday foods, where the ingredients speak for themselves, cheap and easy to make, made with love and more welcome than anything else to those in need of some TLC! We've a saying here in Ireland "to warm the very bones of you" and its usually used when handing a nice bowl of stew or soup to someone just in from the cold.  I mean who would want to come in from the cold, wind and rain, after a hard day and be handed a salad?? 

Bill rang me at four, he'd be late, he was starving - hadn't managed to grab lunch in the end of month mayhem. He'd be home at 6 and by the sound of him, he too needed some coddling...

Dublin Coddle

for four

You'll need

8 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 medium sized leeks, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

6 thick cut rashers

12 Irish sausages

Handful parsley

750mls Chicken stock

1 can of Campbells Golden Vegetable Soup

Some butter.

Method

Place the potatoes, leeks, onion and parsley into a pan with the knob of butter. Fry gently until the leeks and onions become translucent and then transfer to a large pot. In the pan fry the rashers and sausages until lightly browned. Transfer to the pot. Cover with the stock and stir in the soup (I pour mine through a sieve to leave behind the little veg pieces) and allow to sit, just under the boil for about thirty minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked. Just under the boil is where there is a fizz, not bubbles in the water. However some cooker heat is harder to control so if it does boil, don't worry about it a jot! It'll turn out fine.

Serve how you like, we plop big spoons of it onto cooked spinach leaves and eat with brown soda bread covered in butter...

Some people add various vegatables and pulses to coddle, I'm a purist so I don't! There is also a brown coddle which uses oxtail soup instead of golden vegetable, although some people would say you shouldn't add soup, and just use stock but I picked up the tip from a friend of mine who is a real Dub, born and reared in the inner city, so I think its authentic enough!

...And the living is easy...

Ah summertime, living here in Ireland can oft be a confusing existence.  One glorious sunny daydoes not a summer make.  We see it all here - it can be bright and sunny and then suddenly snow as late as April, it can rain at the drop of a hat and nothing is certain.  In fairness it only serves to endear this little island deeper into our hearts, and God love the visitor who is overheard by Irish ears complaining about the weather in Ireland!

 

So usually when a day starts with clear blue skies and a heat in the pavements, the supermarkets quickly stock their shelves with skewered meat and charcoal.  Its queues are long with happy cavemen discussing fire, and women looking at each others legs comparing shades of white with the hope that a gold sheen might be there by the end of the day.

...and we are there like everyone else, grabbing the small smidge of summer by the collar while we can...

We grabbed a disposable Barbie, a couple of breasts of corn fed chicken, and some bits and pieces and headed to my moms to take over her garden and enjoy a day outside.  

My moms garden is really lovely, she always has a great wine to offer, due to her impeccable taste and vast knowledge of the vine, and the food was great, so that when the cool air filtered through the warmth it was a reluctant family that headed home.

Picnic in the park...

What a beautiful day we had today...

We had to have a picnic in the park! It was wonderful! 

The menu was, Cheese and Onion Sandwiches (literally - grated cheese, chopped onion,

lots of mayo) and Salmon and Cress Sandwiches, an Oxford Lunch cake and then strawberries and cream 

afters!

Lazing around on the grass for hours, with a clear sky above and an evening sun warming the bones is food for the soul...so we went home mind and body fed... tired from all the fresh air and fingers crossed for another day in the sun tomorrow!

Sigh..

Oxford Lunch Cake

This is a recipe I took from the side of a flour packet years ago and its the nicest Oxford Lunch I've tried! 

Ingredients

350g Cream Flour
225g Margarine
25g Ground Almonds
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
675g Sultanas
225g Caster Sugar
5 Eggs, beaten
Juice and zest of 1 Orange
125g Glace cherries, M&S do natural coloured ones!

Sliced Almonds if you have some!

Method

Cream margarine and sugar together. Then add the eggs bit by bit, beating well after each addition. Fold in the ground almonds, zest and juice.
Sieve in the flour and baking powder. Fold into the mixture.
Stir in the cherries and pour the mixture into a lined loaf tin. Scatter sliced almonds on top if you have any! 
Bake in a preheated oven at about 150°C, Gas 2 for 3 hours approx. Check at intervals after 2 hours until a knife comes out clean.  It takes ages baking but I just set my timer and forget about it. Its worth it! What you can also do is put it in the oven and head out for about two hours, if you take this out of the oven some time between 2 and 3 hours it'll be fine, so there is never that "AGH MY CAKE" moment that I'm famous for and usually involves breaking amber lights and falling out of the car!

Allow to cool completely before slicing!

I remember you!

I know I've just done a non-food post and I would prefer to pop them in only from time to time but I've meant to post for such a long time about my and Joes weekly visits to his "NeeNee" (my Nana) and "Eddie" (my Grandfather) in their house in Dun Laoghaire, so if its okay I'll do it now. Most thursdays, at about 12 or just after, we head down to Dun Laoghaire and up the lovely drive of my grandparents cottage. Its so lovely to see his little face light up with recognition when he sees them - I know you! He has a little routine, in he goes, checks the phone is in the right place, unpacks the shopping with NeeNee,
has a quick dance to Frank Ifield "I Remember You", his 'elevenses' and then goes through the ornaments in the glass cabinet. Once thats done he heads for the door, waving as he goes. My daughter Mary has enjoyed a very close relationship with my grandparents, due to being a daily fixture in their house as a toddler! I would love a similar experience for Joe and so try to make it down once or twice a week. Its certainly no chore - I would move in if they'd only let me, I love being around my Nana and have discovered a new friendship with her since I had children. Her house is so familiar and has my whole life mixed up throughout it, I try to breathe in as much of it as I can as I know there will be a day when I will stand longingly at the gate wishing for one more minute inside with them.

I enjoy these visits as much as Joe, because I adore my Nana and Granddad of course, and the fact that there is something about my grandmothers knack for all things culinary that makes the visit all that bit more enjoyable. Even a plain cheese sandwich in her house tastes better than any! And her fruit cake? Divine!

I'll be wrangling her tea brack recipe from her soon and of course will put the result up here as soon as I make it - in the few seconds it will have before its scoffed of course!!

Food for the soul...

It always happens in the same sequence, just as I'm fine again about where we live, and resigned to staying there for another while because it makes sense, I end up meeting Ciara and Carole for a walk along the sea in Greystones followed by coffee in the Happy Pear, and again I'm restless and haunted, hating my house and dreaming of moving. We will, and not too far in the future, but sometimes I feel like a child a week before christmas... How much longer, how much longer?

Well, wouldn't you be?

Oh i love Avoca...

There is a recently new cafe in Avoca Handweavers called The Fernhouse... Myself and dear C have been too many times to count, always going for the same thing - the mushrooms on toast which are delectable! Its such a lovely environment, so peaceful even when full to the brim... the decor is really different, hotchpotch of different tables and chairs, huge chandeliers hung with cutlery and ribbons, big wooden windows with views of the wood, lovely touches here and there...

So this morning myself and Ingrid (recently in receipt of a new baby girl) headed off with our "under the armers" for some coffee and a bite, and the obligatory browse which usually ends with an "i never knew i needed it but i do" purchase!It was a fine morning, after a nights raining, so the ferns and trees were wide awake and glistening and sitting by the huge windows was therapy indeed.

The two babies slept for most of it, although Joe did stay awake long enough to pick the raisins out of a scone, and we had a great catch up session! And after a browse in through the wares and sections we headed back again for another coffee and a slice of their sumptuous cheescake!

The food as always was beautifully presented, grandmother helpings, and very tasty! The service is laid back (sometimes slow but who cares) and friendly and the surroundings are unmatched... just the perfect way to spend a leisurely morning!

The air that we breathe...

Sometimes it is the soul that needs feeding, and company of like minds is good fodder indeed. So today, even though my plan was to mope around the house, eating chocolate (St Patricks Day being an unofficial day off lent!) and watching the twee Oirish films on tv, an impromptu invite to see the parade in Wicklow, with the lovely Roches, was a welcome one.

I love Greystones. Both of us do... It suits the life we would like to be living and can't where we are, stuck on the side of a hill with construction everywhere we look and the type of neighbours that belong on american chat shows. Greystones is the place for us. We've been to see a house there, and the plan would be to move into something similar next year. It is such a lovely authentic place and there is nothing nicer than a walk around its perimeter followed by a cup of coffee outside the Happy Pear with dear C.

The parade was on today though so no walk, nor happy pear, but instead we sent the 'tweeners off by themselves while we plopped down on a grass verge to watch the smorgasbord of floats pass us by.

The 'tweeners

Watching the parade!

It was lovely to breathe in the strong sea air, watching the floats and chatting about anything and everything.

Then we walked up through the seaside town, to net our young folk, red cheeks from their first taste of independance and as C put it "an inch taller" from it.

There was a smell of chips in the air so we were all hungry by the time we got back to C's for tea and a spot of lunch.

Talk about hitting the spot! Tea, lots of bread and butter, and sausages! A few tempters for idle hands, olives, tortillas, nuts... and a gorgeous caesar salad! Just perfect! C always finds the nicest olives, the best bread - even tea tastes nicer in her house! The sausages were Quorn, something I haven't tried before, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised - very tasty considering they never spent any time on four legs, they were like mild hotdogs. Nice to know it is possible to be a veggie without having to forgoe the sausage sandwich which has to be one of the nicest things known to man, and the only sure hangover cure.

The older kids grabbed sausages in hunks of bread and headed out into the garden which is endless due to being parked on the edge of a nature reserve, while I enjoyed the delicious spread and good genuine conversation, intermittant with seeking out my adventurous toddler from his travels.

A lovely lovely day! Thanks to Ciara, Ru, Finn, Ed, and Billy!