Well, why the hell not? Of all of the vegetables that lurk around my fridge, courgettes are probably one of the least popular. I quite like these tubular squashes but I just find them ever so slightly uninspiring. I’ve made Jamie O’s lovely bish-bash-bosh courgette carbonara innit a number of times and it is lovely. […]
One of my dreams is to own a B&B in Dublin’s city centre. I’d cater for all manner of lovely people but I would especially want to open my doors to travelling bands and musicians who usually have to put up with generic hotels and terrible food when on the road. I’d have great food […]
A few weeks back, I challenged my friends Lucy and Ferdia to a Come Dine With Me 2013. Very 2011, I know, but we had been talking ALL year about cooking for each other last year and it never happened. I thought putting a competitive spin on it might get us all together long enough […]
If you’ve been hanging around this blog for long enough, you’ll have realised by now that I tend to be somewhat uneasy when it comes to baking. I’ve had lots of recent successes (especially since this breakthrough) but my cakes, pies and buns still leave a lot to be desired. Take these banana muffins, for […]
I love giving friends edible gifts around this time of year. In the past, I’ve given Christmas spiced cupcakes and chutney, or simple bundles of cheeses and crackers. Finding myself a little stretched for time this year, I was looking for something simple yet special to help pals and colleagues ring in the festive season. […]
Photo courtesy of Folláin Irish Preserves I am delighted to be guest hosting the Folláin Christmas Masterclass next Thursday the 22nd of November in Andrew Rudd’s Medley in Dublin’s city centre. I’ll be joined by Peadar and Mairin O’Lionáird, who’ll be sharing with us the history of their preserve, jam, marmalade, salsa and relish making careers. […]
I’m still on a total pomegranate buzz and even squeezed two pomegranate-based recipes in to Weekend magazine in The Irish Independent last weekend. I shared a pistachio and pomegranate pavlova for the Naughty foodies. The first time I made this I did it with regular salted pistachios – it was sort of weird but sort […]
Last Saturday was the first weekend that I hosted Naughty or Nice solo in The Irish Independent’s Weekend magazine. For more than a year and a half, myself and Aoife Barry wrote the weekly column together, sharing ideas for main ingredients or types of dishes to help inspire each other’s recipes. It has been such […]
I love Halloween. I love the ghouls, the parties, the tricks and the treats. I’m looking forward with giddy abandon to putting my Jack O’Lantern in its place in the front window this evening and covering my hall and front door with black bin bags to create a haunted house effect in preparation for trick […]
Sometimes life as a food explorer can be rather magical. I’ve talked before of how one of the (many) unexpected side affects of having this food blog has been a growing appreciation and exploration of my own country. If you had told the skinny, music-loving, just-home-from-a-three-year-stint-in-London, maker-of-one-meal (pasta and pesto from a jar) 21 year […]