Author: Caroline
Busy days at the cottage
My latest baking project – one that even takes longer than the three-day Sourdough Bread-making event! – is almost completed. All going well, the Husband and I hope to welcome a small new inhabitant to the cottage early next month, to join our family of two humans, three hens and one cat (yes, we’re back to one again – sadly the road by the cottage claimed Large, our big tom cat earlier this week).
Eggs for St Patrick’s Day
It’s looking like summer has already arrived in North Cork and the hens, although their numbers were reduced to three of the original four after a run in with a fox during the winter, are thoroughly enjoying the sunshine. No matter what weather we’ve had, they’ve still managed to produce a steady source (especially after I found their secret stash!) of dark yellow-yoked eggs for baking and cooking, as well as being entertaining company in the garden.
What’s going on….
If you’re in the North Cork area this month, then don’t miss the Killavullen Farmers’ Market, which takes place on Saturday 14 (tomorrow!) and Saturday 28 March, from 10.30 am to 1pm at the Nano Nagle Centre.
Your daily bread: Sourdough
No longer having the easy access to Arbutus Bread that was one of the perks of my job in Urru Mallow, I’ve gone back to baking my own. At the moment I’m on rotation between three different breads – the Seedy Spelt Bread that I mentioned a few weeks ago, a Brown Yeast Loaf that still needs a bit of work and my old favourite, the Sourdough that I mastered while in Ballymaloe.
Befani’s Mediterranean & Tapas Restaurant, Clonmel
A quick trip to Clonmel today led to lunch with the Clonmel-Based Cousin, who said that she’d book us into Befani’s Mediterranean & Tapas Restaurant. Never being one to turn down a recommendation from a local, especially one who loves food as much as I do, I was more than happy to meet her there.
Slow Food: Meat Master Classes start tonight
With meat so easily available from the supermarket in bloodless plastic packs, we seem to be moving further and further away from knowing where our food is coming from. Going to the butcher as a child – I always loved the queues so I could watch the butchers at work for a few minutes – at least I got to see the carcasses hanging up and the hard physical work that goes into preparing them. When the Little Sister (I predate supermarkets, she’s rarely been near a butcher) caught sight of sides of beef hanging in a truck recently she almost got sick.
Bloggers on The Tubridy Show
Maman Poulet, Damien Mulley and Val from Val’s Kitchen all popped up on this morning’s Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio One talking about blogs, bloggers and blogging. You can find a link to today’s show here and the podcast should be downloadable from here.