The blog is a year old…

…and here’s what I have to show for it

A 5 star experience at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud

We hadn’t eaten at any of Ireland’s Michelin starred restaurants before – some places with recommendations but none of the big names.  On the weekend of my birthday this year, my husband and I treated ourselves to a child free weekend (my parents are wonderful, generous grandparents who look for every opportunity to have the boys to themselves ).  Dublin was our destination so we chose lunch at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud on Saturday to celebrate my birthday in style.

Paying it Forward – Liebster Blog Award

I can’t believe it – 2 bloggers, both of whom I greatly admire, have nominated me for this: the Liebster Blog Award (particularly amazing as I haven’t blogged in 4 months!)

What do Irish people spend their money on? ~ World Food Day, October 16th 2011

My husband subscribes to Time Magazine (which I don’t often get the time to read!) but this week I did and an article by Jeffrey Sachs caught my eye. While he was writing about the inequality which exists within the American economy today, it was a chart which outlined how Americans spend their disposable income that piqued my interest. In 1970, 16% of American household disposable income was spent on food: in 2010, that had reduced to 7%.

The Markets, Killarney

I have very few words to say about this place. It’s not that I don’t know what to say but I’d run out of superlatives far too quickly (staff, location, facilities, and product lines are all superb) and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. So peruse the pictures below, believe me that they do not do justice to the true fabulousness of the place and most importantly, go shopping there at every opportunity!

Kerry Fish ~ Quinlan’s Fish Shops and a recipe

“You picked the wrong Saturday to visit!”, said Fintan Quinlan as he met me at the Kerry Fish Factory at Reenard Point, Caherciveen, “It’s the first Saturday we haven’t worked in months”. The reason there was no processing – the tail end of Hurricane Katia was battering the west coast of Ireland and windy weather means no fishing. There had been some landings in Killybegs on the Wednesday before I met Fintan but all the boats were in harbour until the winds died down again.

Meet Joe Daly ~ Valentia Island Dairy

This is Joe Daly. He’s a dairy farmer from Valentia Island who has diversified, along with his wife Caroline, into producing their own branded ice-cream, buttermilk, yoghurt, and milk from their farmyard. Joe is the third generation of Daly’s to farm the holding on Valentia Island and he took over the farm when he was 19. He started producing ice cream in 2006 and has been expanding his product range ever since.