I have loads of posts in drafts that I haven’t finalised yet and in my nesting state of mind I thought I’d throw some words down (or should I say up?) on things that if I don’t mention now I probably will forget about completely in the baby bubble that is to come in the next few weeks.
What’s to look forward to? Well there’s the “review” of the cookery course I did at the Tannery in March (SPOILER: I loved it) and my “Happiness Project” update on how I have been doing with my happiness quotient. They will be published very soon. Unless something unexpected happens.
There are lots of other bits of news and products that I wanted to share, so I decided to do a post that just bungs it all together, thereby easing my blogging guilt a bit and getting the info out there. Who knows when normal service will resume, or what normal service on this blog is anyway? Here goes!
The Kitchen Demo
About a month ago I went to a cookery demo at The Kitchen restaurant in Gorey, the team there have started running them recently, a demo combined with a three course dinner, and at €40 per person (or €35 each if you book two) they’re good value too. You might remember that The Kitchen was taken over by Clodagh McKenna in the RTE TV programme “Restaurant Wars” which was on over Christmas.
The demo itself isn’t in your traditional kitchen setting, but Ben the Head Chef addresses the group at a table and gives a talk and Q&A first on the dish that he’s cooking and then shows us the more complicated bits. Everyone was given detailed recipes and excellent notes and tips, and the mediterranean saddle of lamb and cherry tomato tarte tatin went down a treat. The atmosphere was lovely too, and it was good to see so many covers in a restaurant on a Tuesday night, and all in great spirits.
Wexford Food and Wine Festival
We paid a flying visit last Saturday to the Wexford Food and Wine Festival, but only got to see half of the produce on display as they split the festival between the two ends of the town. There was a great atmosphere and lots of people out, but the walk to the other end of town did put me off, and I didn’t get to see everything that I wanted. When I tweeted about it the organisers suggested that they’d have run a mini-train for my heavily pregnant self, and I genuinely think that it’s a brilliant idea!
Aldridge Lodge
To anyone who hasn’t been to Aldridge Lodge in Duncannon, all I can say is “Go”. I hadn’t been for years but decided that it was a perfect place for my birthday lunch this year and my expectations were well met.
Billy and Joanne (and Baby Kaitlin) run the small restaurant located just outside Duncannon village, serving the best of local produce and cooked simply but with flair. The doorway is so full of awards and plaques you could have trouble finding the door. The room itself is bright and airy, the service hospitable and the food excellent.
I had “Goats Cheese Mousse with beetroot textures, poached pear and toasted pine kernels” which looked too beautiful to eat, and was a gorgeous combination.
My starter
A duck main with braised red cabbage, wonton, kumquat compote (with a shared side of parmesan and truffle chips) and served with green salad, two types of potatoes and some carrots.
Main course with sides
and a divine chocolate pannacotta with Wexford strawberries (the best) for dessert.
Chocolate pannacotta with Wexford strawberries
With Sunday lunch at €28 for three courses (additional sides for an extra charge) this is great value for the quality of the food served, and we won’t be leaving it as long to come back to Aldridge.
Tayto Chocolate
Tayto Chocolate
The nice people at Mummypages sent me some complimentary Tayto Chocolate Bars when I tweeted to say that I hadn’t seen it in any shops. (Thanks Mummypages)
I’ve always loved the combination of chocolate and cheese and onion crisps but the bar didn’t quite hit the spot for me- I think a lot of the loveliness of this “do in the Parish Hall” combination is in the crunch, and the pieces of crisp in the chocolate are too small to give enough of a crunch to recreate the original taste. Crisp wise Tayto are not my favourite (see below) but I was delighted to get the chance to taste the chocolate, having read a lot about it in the press. So I’ve tasted it and and while I’m unlikely to buy it, I’m very likely to help myself to some if it is left in my vicinity. And wash it down with Club Orange for old times’ sake.
Glenisk
The nice people at Glenisk (Thanks guys) sent me yogurt vouchers and an invitation to visit their pop up shop last month. I won’t make it as they’re only there for the summer and my, eh, condition, means that I won’t be venturing too far in the next couple of months, but I’ve gifted the invitation to my sister who has promised me a full report and some babysitting in return. (This is a true test of whether she reads my blogposts or not).
We have a thing going at the moment with the big pot of vanilla for dessert, it’s especially nice with Wexford Strawberries, but the new peach melba flavoured Greek Style yogurt caught my attention as I used to bring L&N own brand (remember the L&N?) Peach Melba flavour yogurts to primary school in my lunchbox. The Glenisk ones are lovely, and the flavour combination a winner., worth a try.
O’Donnell’s Crisps
O’Donnells Crisps care package
The nice people at O’Donnell’s Crisps sent me a bump and birthday care package (Thanks guys, glad there were no sharing instructions). It may have been because they notice how many of their crisps I eat (and tweet about) on a regular basis, O’Donnell’s are definitely my favourite crisp, I love the crunch and the balance of the flavourings. I find that some crisp flavourings can be very artificial but these suit my palate to perfection. I happened on them first at the Gorey Agricultural Show a few years ago, and was very impressed last year by their stand at the Ploughing Match including a tractor full of O’Donnell’s Crisps!
An entire tractor (John Deere) full of O’Donnell’s Crisps
NOTE: this post contains some products that were provided to me on a complimentary basis by businesses. Where this is the case I’ve stated it clearly (and thanked them). I’m only mentioning here as I did really enjoy the product, that’s how it works for me 🙂
