Culture File: Paul McLaughlin of Kelvin Cooperage
By trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancy Like my house that fell to progress, my trade’s a memory… The Rare Ould Times by Pete St John Our teacher wrote that song on...
Bibliocook - All About Food Blog
Fermentation, beer (and porter brownies) at the Theatre of Food
Last year, I spent August doing beer tasting and cooking demos with the Theatre of Food at the Liss Ard, Tall Ships and Electric Picnic Festivals. Do it again for Electric Picnic 2013? Once...
Garden gluts: Sausagemeat, Courgette and Apple Plait
Every year we plant one – one – courgette plant. Every year we still manage to have a glut. I’ve been getting more strict with these summer squash, always trying to pick them when...
Epic Chocolate, Porter and Potato Cake and a story of spuds
I didn’t eat potatoes until I was 30. Not voluntarily at least. Like almost every other Irish child I was weaned on milk-and-butter-rich pandy. But it wasn’t too long before I began to assert...
My homemade Crème de Cassis in The Irish Times and other blackcurrant ideas
It’s been a good year for blackcurrants. Normally I have to battle it out with the blackbirds to get a share for my kitchen but this year they have been able to gorge themselves...
Lyric fm’s Culture File: Miso making with Junko Hamilton
Sandor Katz has a lot to answer for. After interviewing him and attending his classes at the Ballymaloe LitFest, I got stuck into The Art of Fermentation, which led me down a number of...
Irish Examiner | Taking baby steps through Hanoi
In 2010, while coming back from Little Missy’s first NZ visit, the Husband and I were fortunate enough to get an invitation from a friend based in Hanoi. Take a 10-month-old baby to Vietnam?...
Devilled Eggs for summer eating
We were at a pre-wedding family get together in New Zealand some years ago, right before one of the Husband’s sisters got married – and I was checking out the buffet table. It was the...