Week Eight is Here?!

A whirlwind few days it’s been, but it’s been a lovely weekend. Can’t believe I haven’t blogged since Thursday night! Hopefully I don’t miss anything! I had a great morning in the kitchen on Friday, made what we would call salad rolls with a dipping sauce, and an apple tart with short crust pastry on the bottom and flakey on the top. As I was finishing my tart, had the top on, and was decorating it, I glanced over at the massive bowl I had used to measure my sugar, and had a small moment of, “oh %$*# what do I do?” Mamie to the rescue, she suggested I use a cookie cutter to cut through the pastry to add the sugar, and then cover the holes! Not a bad fix, and the tart ended up tasting delicious. I also made white soda bread, I am determined to check off all of the bread that I have to do over the next two weeks. I love making bread, and have made it most days, but sometimes forget to have it signed off.

Friday night I snuck out of demo a wee bit early and headed into Cork to meet mum and dad at their hotel. We went to the fish bar at Electric, which Rory says is one of the best restaurants in these parts. It was F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C, and I am so glad we were able to get in. Mum and I stayed up and had another drink in the bar, and tasted two different local whiskeys (gross!). Saturday we headed to The English Market to buy a few bowls, and then took a cab to Kinsale stopping at Charles Fort on the way. It’s too bad it wasn’t a beautiful sunny day, but we were still able to get a good feel for the town. I can’t imagine how beautiful it must be in the summer. We stopped at a little place for a cup of tea and a snack called Poet’s Corner, which was was quaint and had tasty food. We managed to do a bit of damage in a few stores along the way, but I am very happy with our purchases – that’s all that matters right? There was a 50^th birthday party at the hotel that kept us awake until after 6am, which was a bit of a disappointment. We headed down for breakfast, packed up our stuff and headed out to my part of The Emerald Isle. Again, really crummy weather which is very disappointing, but such is life. The wind was howling, and it was raining on and off all day, so we didn’t manage to do The Ballycotton cliff walk, I am hoping mum and dad are able to do it in the morning if the weather is okay. We had lunch at Ballymaloe House after mum and dad checked into their hotel in Castlemartyr (about 8 minutes from the school), lunch did not let us down, we had a delicious meal, and tasty pudding to end of the meal. Tonight we had a little snack in the bar at the hotel, and then I headed back to the farm just before 9. It is nice to be back, and I am looking forward to showing mum and dad around the school and grounds tomorrow, and of course getting back into the kitchen tomorrow morning.

We also stopped in at Stephen Pearce Pottery today, I bought a set of three bowls, and mum bought a set of three plates. They use his work quite a bit at the school, and I am so glad I was able to get a few pieces for my own collection.

This week will be very busy, and I am sure fly by. Mum and dad will be at the school tomorrow for lunch and the demo, and then we will have dinner tomorrow night. They head off to London on Tuesday morning, and I will meet them there Friday evening (can’t wait!). Wednesday is lecture day as usual, wine, vegetarian cooking, and of course the biscuit and cheeses of the week. Thursday we have a field trip, we don’t have any details about where we are heading, but I am sure it will be a local farmer’s market, a smoke house, a cheese maker and a restaurant. It will be a fun day, and we will see a little bit more of the country side. Which means, only three days in the kitchen this week, better make those days count, by starting off with a good night’s sleep tonight. Cannot believe tomorrow is the beginning of Week Eight.

I sadly have very few photos from the weekend, but  have added what I do have.

Here is a link to me making my milk and butter bread earlier this week, I will be very sad to leave Kitchen 2, and the teachers in there, the last three weeks have been so fun.

https://vine.co/v/Ox5jp1zFWMr

“People don’t ask for a blue steak merely on a whim, they want it mooing.” – Rory on cooking steaks – guess what we are having for lunch tomorrow?