Lightweights. I guess they have acclimatised. Either that or after months of being "absolutely freezing" this feels like being thrown into an oven!
We're off to the beach tomorrow, can't wait!!!
The First week of December
1 week ago
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Heat wave ;-)
Well, the mercury SOARED to 27 degrees celsius here in Dublin today. You would think my Aussie boys, well used to temperatures in the thirties, would have still considered this bordering on cool, but no, here they are wilting in the sun at an after-school picnic with friends.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Dublin Coddle
No don't leave!!! I know it looks horrendous but I promise you it's delicious!!! :-D
This bowl of boiled potatoes, onions, sausages and bacon (or rashers as we call bacon here in Ireland) is called "Dublin Coddle".
It's a really old Dublin recipe and if you grew up here, chances are your mum or granny made it for you regularly.
If you're not Irish but are looking for some yummy, comfort food, especially for all you Aussies who are in the middle of Winter right now, then this could be the meal for you.
If you google "Dublin Coddle" you will find hundreds of recipes, all with slightly different variations but here's my take on Dublin Coddle.
Ingredients:
16 Irish pork sausages (Irish sausages are so delicious and salty, the closest I could find in Australia taste-wise were David Jones' Gold Medal sausages).
8 strips of back bacon.
2 large white onions
8 large potatoes
2 chicken stock cubes.
Method:
This couldn't be simpler, just peel and chop your potatoes and add them to a very large saucepan or casserole dish. Add your sausages, slice each piece of bacon into thirds and add to pot and lastly slice your onions into large slices and add to the pot. Fill the pot with cold water and add the 2 stock cubes and bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for approx 80 minutes.
It's that easy! The potatoes and onions melt a little while the water is reducing which results in a nice thick sauce, the sausages and bacon will taste so tender and salty and delicious.
Serve with your favourite bread or roll, I love it with a slice of Brennans bread with Kerrygold butter :-)
This bowl of boiled potatoes, onions, sausages and bacon (or rashers as we call bacon here in Ireland) is called "Dublin Coddle".
It's a really old Dublin recipe and if you grew up here, chances are your mum or granny made it for you regularly.
If you're not Irish but are looking for some yummy, comfort food, especially for all you Aussies who are in the middle of Winter right now, then this could be the meal for you.
If you google "Dublin Coddle" you will find hundreds of recipes, all with slightly different variations but here's my take on Dublin Coddle.
Ingredients:
16 Irish pork sausages (Irish sausages are so delicious and salty, the closest I could find in Australia taste-wise were David Jones' Gold Medal sausages).
8 strips of back bacon.
2 large white onions
8 large potatoes
2 chicken stock cubes.
Method:
This couldn't be simpler, just peel and chop your potatoes and add them to a very large saucepan or casserole dish. Add your sausages, slice each piece of bacon into thirds and add to pot and lastly slice your onions into large slices and add to the pot. Fill the pot with cold water and add the 2 stock cubes and bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for approx 80 minutes.
It's that easy! The potatoes and onions melt a little while the water is reducing which results in a nice thick sauce, the sausages and bacon will taste so tender and salty and delicious.
Serve with your favourite bread or roll, I love it with a slice of Brennans bread with Kerrygold butter :-)
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Vikings
Back in January I posted briefly on a hike we took to Luggala in the Wicklow Mountains just outside of Dublin. I have been dying to go back ever since and today we packed up our boys, jackets, hats and scarves (it was one of those changeable days weather-wise) and a nice lunch into the car and set off.
Last time we went it was Winter and it was stunning enough but today, oh wow, it was just breathtaking!!! Of course I was VERY excited to see that the set for "Vikings" was there on the beach, complete with all the huts, viking ships etc (and of course food vans etc for the crew and actors, who sadly were nowhere to be seen, I wouldn't have minded running into Ragnar Lothbrok ;-)
This time we took a long hike to Lough Dan, it was downhill most of the way, yay, not so yay for the long uphill trek back with 3 little boys, but they were troopers.
I know I've said it before, but I truly feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful country and love that our boys are now old enough for nice long hikes without too much fuss.
I loved hiking with my Dad as a kid and my love of the outdoors and mountains probably comes from all the walks he brought myself and my sisters on when we were kids.
PS Happy Fathers Day to all the lovely Dads out there, I am blessed with a truly wonderful Dad, who is just brilliant, fun, loving and absolutely always there for us no matter what. As I grew up I always hoped the man I married would be a brilliant Dad to our kids and thankfully I hit the jackpot there too :-)
Last time we went it was Winter and it was stunning enough but today, oh wow, it was just breathtaking!!! Of course I was VERY excited to see that the set for "Vikings" was there on the beach, complete with all the huts, viking ships etc (and of course food vans etc for the crew and actors, who sadly were nowhere to be seen, I wouldn't have minded running into Ragnar Lothbrok ;-)
This time we took a long hike to Lough Dan, it was downhill most of the way, yay, not so yay for the long uphill trek back with 3 little boys, but they were troopers.
I know I've said it before, but I truly feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful country and love that our boys are now old enough for nice long hikes without too much fuss.
I loved hiking with my Dad as a kid and my love of the outdoors and mountains probably comes from all the walks he brought myself and my sisters on when we were kids.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Homemade Lemonade
It's gotten warmer here in Ireland the last week or so and my boys are loving it! On Saturday they asked if we could make some homemade lemonade, unfortunately we don't have the luxury of a lemon tree in our garden anymore but a quick trip to Supervalu got us the required citrus haul.
This is the simplest drink to make and so delicious and refreshing!
First we put one cup (250ml) of water and one cup of sugar in a saucepan, brought it to the boil and mixed until the sugar had completely dissolved, (this makes a nice sugar syrup which works a lot better than simply adding sugar to lemons and water which would be gritty and just sink to the bottom), we then set it aside to cool.
While the syrup was cooling we squeezed 6 large lemons to get one cupful (250ml) of lemon Juice. We got a large jug, added the cool syrup and lemon juice, lots of ice and cold water to fill it to the top, gave it a good mix and topped it off with thin lemon slices.
A nice simple way for kids to help in the kitchen with a treat at the end of it :-)
This is the simplest drink to make and so delicious and refreshing!
First we put one cup (250ml) of water and one cup of sugar in a saucepan, brought it to the boil and mixed until the sugar had completely dissolved, (this makes a nice sugar syrup which works a lot better than simply adding sugar to lemons and water which would be gritty and just sink to the bottom), we then set it aside to cool.
While the syrup was cooling we squeezed 6 large lemons to get one cupful (250ml) of lemon Juice. We got a large jug, added the cool syrup and lemon juice, lots of ice and cold water to fill it to the top, gave it a good mix and topped it off with thin lemon slices.
A nice simple way for kids to help in the kitchen with a treat at the end of it :-)
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Tidy-ish
I cleared and sorted out this cupboard earlier...
I'm very happy with how lovely and neat it looks now :-)
I think this one will have to wait till next week!
I'm very happy with how lovely and neat it looks now :-)
I think this one will have to wait till next week!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Airfield Farm
Family outings with 3 little boys are lots of fun but can be a bit chaotic sometimes! So I really love when I get the chance to bring just one of my boys out with me somewhere they really enjoy and can give them my undivided attention. Last week I got to bring my little middle man out, he absolutely loves animals and is obsessed with cows so I thought a trip to Airfield Farm in Dundrum would be nice :-)
We got to see the eggs being collected (naturally I was in love with the gorgeous blue eggs). S was delighted when the hens came up to us and chatted "bok bok bok" :-)
There's a cute little play area for little ones and some vintage cars to see.
We went to the lovely restaurant, S had a giant cookie and I had a lovely breakfast made from Airfield Farm produce.
S loves looking around houses with me when we go house hunting so I knew he'd love to do the house tour. He was especially impressed with the light up globe.
But of course the absolute highlight of the day was getting to pat the beautiful moo cows :-)
We just had the loveliest day, my little S is the sweetest, most loving and kind child and is just such a treasure to be with, I got so many cuddles and kisses, I am blessed :-)
It really is a lovely place. S was delighted with himself running around exploring the different paths, buildings and of course the hill!
Lots of pretty flowers in the gardens.
Yaaay, lots of dandelion seeds to blow away :-)
Cute donkeys sleeping under the trees :-)
We got to see the eggs being collected (naturally I was in love with the gorgeous blue eggs). S was delighted when the hens came up to us and chatted "bok bok bok" :-)
There's a cute little play area for little ones and some vintage cars to see.
We went to the lovely restaurant, S had a giant cookie and I had a lovely breakfast made from Airfield Farm produce.
S loves looking around houses with me when we go house hunting so I knew he'd love to do the house tour. He was especially impressed with the light up globe.
But of course the absolute highlight of the day was getting to pat the beautiful moo cows :-)
We just had the loveliest day, my little S is the sweetest, most loving and kind child and is just such a treasure to be with, I got so many cuddles and kisses, I am blessed :-)
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