Bibliocook - All About Food

Award-winning blog of Irish food writer and broadcaster Caroline Hennessy.

Category: Do

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Old china

My latest purchases One of the things I love about living in an old cottage is the excuse to furnish it in alternative ways. When I lived in New Zealand, I was an habitué of the op shops (charity shops) in Christchurch, always picking up old cake tins or nutcrackers, battered but usable cutlery, my old dining table and an odd assortment of small stools, used about the house as bedside tables, wee seats and useful steps. Space being limited in Ireland, I’ve avoided my worst NZ excesses, much to the Husband’s relief: there was once Words by the side of the street when one of my op shop chairs didn’t fit into the car. One thing I do watch out for, however, is old china. No trip to New Zealand is complete without a few items being secreted in the luggage for the journey home; last time I even managed to fit a collection of old fashioned spoons (to match the bone-handled knives and forks that I had picked up at the Bantry market last summer).

Site upgrade – hopefully 0

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Site upgrade – hopefully

Working on a site upgrade at the moment – please bear with me while I wander around the back end of things and figure out what goes where.

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Just in season…

Irish strawberries There was great excitement in Urru, Mallow on Wednesday when the first of the Irish-grown strawberries arrived from Rosscarbery amidst glorious sunshine. We stacked boxes of ruddy fruit on the shelves of the fridge, inhaling their fragrance all the while, until it was decided that we needed to open one – just for quality testing, of course. That punnet wasn’t long in being devoured, and – before they all disappeared with customers – I grabbed one for myself, to sit in the evening sunshine and eat, all tumbled on great scoops of Murphy’s Vanilla Ice Cream. The first real taste of summer.

The Glebe Gardens, Baltimore 0

Do / Eating Out

The Glebe Gardens, Baltimore

Just heard from a reader that the café at The Glebe Gardens in Baltimore is well worth a visit. Liz writes:”Just wanted to let you know of a café I happened upon last weekend. It is the Glebe Café, in Baltimore, West Cork, and it is one to rave about. The produce comes straight from their garden on to the plate and it is just spectacular. The website is www.glebegardens.com. I think they are only open at weekends right now but I think they start a weekly thing in the summer. I had Organic Beef Stew….yummy simple great food, it just excited me so much that I had to tell someone.”Last June, while the new Husband and I were honeymooning in West Cork (along with eight of his family, six English Engineers and an Irish terrier called Bridie) we visited the Glebe Gardens and loved it. Unfortunately the café wasn’t opened while we were there – although the Husband did meet the owner of the house and almost secured me a job while talking to him about me doing the course at Ballymaloe – but all the ingredients were present in the garden, just waiting to be used. Great to hear that it’s doing well – I’ll have to plan a trip back to the West this summer!

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James Beard Foundation Awards nominees

Nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award Just been checking out the James Beard Foundation Awards nominees and I see that congratulations are in order for Heidi Swanson for her nomination in the Healthy Focus category. Her book – Super Natural Cooking: Five Ways to Incorporate Whole & Natural Ingredients into Your Cooking – is a constant source of ideas and inspiration these days as I try out her ideas and experiment with new ingredients.

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Do / Grow

Sprouts ahoy!

Sprouting lentils Although there has been lots of salad planted in the garden on recent weekends, including mustard greens, rocket and mizuna (at least I’ll be able to distinguish between the plants after cramming in Ballymaloe for the salad leaves and herbs exams!), it’s going to be a while before any of the leaves are big enough to eat. Then, of course, because our planting in succession routine is not entirely developed – despite best intentions – we’ll have another glut to work through. But that’s all ahead of us and, until then, I’ve been growing my own salad on the windowsill.

Bibliocook in The Irish Times 4

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Bibliocook in The Irish Times

Woo hoo! Bibliocook got a brief mention in Marie-Claire Digby’s Webwatch in the food section of yesterday’s Irish Times Magazine. Unless you have a subscription, you can’t view it online so here it is (told you it was brief!)Webwatchwww.bibliocook.comRead about the culinary adventures of former entertainment journalist turned Ballymaloe-trained cook and food writer, Caroline Hennessy.Published: Sat 19 April 2008 – The Irish Times – Magazine

Slow Food Cork: An Crúibín 0

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Slow Food Cork: An Crúibín

Slow Food Cork has an event coming up this Thursday, 17 April, at a new bar called An Crúibín on Union Quay. Before it was revamped and made over, the venue was known as the Lobby Bar, site of many a night of musical madness and commemorated by inimitable Cork musician John Spillane in the nostalgic Magic Nights in the Lobby Bar. Now a tapas bar, An Crúibín will play host to, we are promised, a traditional evening of pigs trotters, tails, ribs and cheek, accompanied by bread from the Arbutus Bakery and pints of Beamish, my stout of choice. The event starts at 8pm, it costs €10 for Slow Food members (€15 for non-members) and bookings can be made at 021 4505819.