Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Because I know I won’t be able to post from the cottage on St Patrick’s Day – we’re down for the weekend to get the spuds planted on the traditional day, 17 March, in the Boyfriend’s painstakingly rabbit-proofed garden – I’m going to celebrate Paddy’s Day with a round-up of new Irish food blogs. If there’s anyone else out there, just let me know!

The Humble Housewife – an American Irishwoman, living in Edenderry with her American husband and two daughters, Deborah definitely has her hands full with a couple of blogs but is also thinking of getting back into food catering. Check out her recipes for Sticky Cinnamon Buns, Deborah’s Divine Dinner Biscuits and lots of family-friendly dishes.

Organico Bantry – this independent family-run café, shop and bakery in Bantry has a blog, although it takes a little fiddling around to locate it, with lots of great healthy recipes using organic, fairly traded and locally sourced products. Next time I get my hands on some beetroot, I’m going to try out their Organic Beetroot Salad. The last time we had beetroot I pickled it, using a recipe from Darina Allen‘s Simply Delicious Vegetables, and it was good but it did linger around a little longer than necessary. Anyhow, anything with yoghurt can always get my attention.

Stuff Yer Bake – although based in England, Sarah’s is very definitely an Irish blog, with a subtitle like: “The mad ramblings of a Northern Irish foodie”. Take a look at her picture of a delectable pork belly, just after an update on cake decorating and before one on her diet, which she illustrates with a picture of and recipe for the River Café’s Orange, Almond and Cardamom Cake. Diet? What diet?

Superyacht Chef – Niall Harbison is a private chef on super yachts and there’s plenty of video footage of his cooking on board. He’s also working on raising money for an orphanage in Africa and you can find more information on that project here.

The Diet Cast – Hayden’s blog about eating healthily, with plenty of information and links on growing your own food, sustainable living and food concerns. He has also just announced a competition on fellow site My Diet Friends for anyone interested in writing about sustainably sourced and prepared food. If we ever manage to grow anything in our rabbit-infested garden – or even manage to catch a few of the pests – I’ll definitely be up for that.

Val’s Kitchen – Val always has fantastic photos on her site – check out her spectacular St Patrick’s Day cookies – and I always love to read reviews of local eateries.

And here’s also a couple of websites about sustainable living in Ireland that are well worth taking a look at:

The Good Life: Self-Reliance In An Uncertain World

Irish Sally Gardens: living the sustainable dream in rural Ireland