Award-winning blog of Irish food writer and broadcaster Caroline Hennessy.
by Caroline · Published February 2, 2012 · Last modified February 12, 2020
A freezing cold afternoon plus one trying-to-avoid-too-much-caffeine-mother and a grumpy-from-her-nap-toddler. The only solution? Two cups of warming Spiced Hot Chocolate. When I was in college, a mug of this – made with lots of...
I love using handcrafted things in the kitchen. This espresso cup is a piece of Ardmore Pottery, a souvenir that I couldn’t resist buying after we had a Very Lovely Lunch at the Cliff House Hotel...
During the three months that I spent at Ballymaloe Cookery School, I saw Kenwood mixers – the workhorses of the kitchen – put up a lot of punishment. Mixing cakes from morning to night? Not...
Eat Only Irish? Why of course, when you can pick up the most amazing Irish buffalo mozzarella in Cork’s English Market. The Real Olive Company stall has just started selling the creamiest balls of...
by Caroline · Published April 13, 2011 · Last modified January 8, 2019
Moving house is a time for simple, uncomplicated recipes that use up ingredients already in the fridge, freezer or storecupboard. Dishes that can be prepared in advance and let to bubble slowly in the oven or slow cooker are also a big plus.
This baking event was a long time in the planning. Little Missy and I had been sent a Doodle Bread kit to try out before Christmas and, after watching the super-speedy how to video online, we were dying to try it out. The cold weather, however, combined with a non-centrally heated cottage meant ridiculously slow bread rising times. This is why we normally use the bread machine. But, with the recent arrival of warmer days, we decided to get stuck in.
A winter warmer? It’s just got to be Sloe Gin. The first time I tasted it was in 2002 when the then Boyfriend and I were staying with the IT Specialist near Cambridge and an unlabeled bottle was produced late at night. I savoured every last drop and remembered enough the next day to ask our friend for his grandfather’s recipe. As I remember, it was along the lines of “half fill a bottle with sloes, add sugar and gin. Shake every day and then strain through a gorse.” A gorse? I hear you ask. Well, Chinese whispers meant that there was something lost in translation between the English grandfather and the Irish girl demanding the recipe. I thought he must have some kind of “traditional” knowledge and quietly determined to use a sieve myself. It was only months later that we discovered that he had meant gauze rather than an actual branch of a gorse bush. So much for traditional knowledge.
