How did it get to be 4am?
Missed last night’s blog post, but in actual fact (as Tim would say), the blog would have been dated January 25th because we were up until 4am. Nicole kept asking how it got to be 4, and she woke up asking me the same question this morning. I have no idea how it...
End of Week Three
The end of week three… Wow! Had a good morning in the kitchen cooking up Ballycotton Shrimp with homemade mayonnaise, and a plum tart. I also made brown yeast bread, flapjacks and ricotta. Lunch was delicious, lots of shrimp and prawns with mayo, and a very...
Seaside Foraging
Just in from a Slow Food talk by a lady called Dorothy Cashman, who is doing her PhD in culinary manuscripts. Very interesting, but a lot of Irish history that means nothing to me (sadly!), she is working to preserve and understand more of what happened in some of the...
Opportunity
What a long day it’s been, but again, a day filled with so much information. We started the morning off with the biscuit of the week, my favourite were the pecan squares, so tasty. We were introduced to a few new Irish farmhouse cheeses, and then it was onto the beef...
Frothy Milk
This will be a short post, it’s nearly midnight and I am ready for a snooze! Went into the kitchens early this morning to make yoghurt with Denise… What do you do when there is no milk? Head down to the dairy, ask Haulie (who, had just started to milk the girls as we...
A Day in The Dairy
I started my day in the dairy this morning with Eileen milking the cows, which was very interesting. It’s a small dairy, and they are only milking four cows at the moment, they stop milking before a cow has a calf to give their body a rest, so that is the reason one...
A Pub Quiz, Bingo & Orienteering
Three things I've never done before... It’s been such a great weekend! Quite a few of the students went to The Blackbird last night for Rock and Roll Bingo – which was the cheesiest thing, reminded me of meat raffles in Australia. The owner of the bar would put in a...
Brown Thomas
What a gorgeous day it has been today, even if it did start with a cold bath! Mary was heading into Cork this morning and generously offered to drive Nicole, Hannah, Ayane and myself in. We had a wander around The English Market, and explored a bit more of the city....
Lamb, Hogget, Mutton
Week two is over, I’m looking forward to the weekend, but also excited to get into the kitchen again on Monday morning. My morning started off with ripping off a pollock’s head, and then fileting the fish for my fish pie. I was able to make white soda bread again,...
Forgotten Skills
I woke up this morning, put my chef’s whites on, and all I could smell was hot oil – kitchen smells! Thankfully tomorrow is washing day! Had another good day in the kitchen, and managed to make a few extra things. White soda bread, crème caramel with caramel sauce,...
Milk is Magic
A long day today, but a day filled with so much information. I headed into the school for 7:45 we went out to the compost piles with Tim, where he showed us what he does with each pile, and a few different stages of the compost. The amount of compost that they have...
We’ll be Grand
This will be a short blog post, it’s 10 to 12, just back from The Blackbird where we celebrated Kelly’s birthday – she’s from Vancouver! It’s a calm night here, the sky is incredibly clear, and it’s about -1, brrrrr! Today there was sun, rain, hail, snow, wind, and...
Letting the Fairies Out
My goal is to be in bed before 11 tonight, I have quickly gotten into a routine here of staying up until well after midnight. The wind howled and howled last night, everyone slowly came into the kitchens this morning saying the same thing, “that wind last night….” and...
7km to Cloyne
Last weekend we were all just arriving at this time, it is crazy to think how quickly the group of us has already become a little family, in each of the cottages, as well as an entire group. Yesterday was a good day, went into Midelton to see the farmers market there...
Thanks a million….
Week one is done! Although it feels like it's been ages since I arrived (in the best way possible), it's only been a week... And what a week it's been, I am quite sad that only eleven weeks remain. I am the first one up this morning, making myself bacon and boiled...
Cleo the Calf
We had our first lecture day today, which was a bit dull later in the afternoon, but, they will only get better from here. The morning started with Darina making Ballymaloe Cheese Biscuits, Red Current Jelly, and teaching us (for about the third time!) how to make a...
One Pint of Jersey Cream
Well, my first real day in the kitchen is complete, and it was a success, which feels quite good. Everyone around the school seems to be less anxious now that all of the unknown bits are out of the way. My shortcut pastry turned out well, but as Rory said today in...
Pheaseant plucking anyone?
" I am not the pheasant plucker. I am the pheasant plucker's mate. I am only plucking pheasant plucker's late..." Ended the day yesterday with watching Darina pluck a pheasant, and ended my evening tonight by plucking pheasant with Ros on the “championship” table...
“Basic ingredients are terribly important.”
Day one at the cookery school is complete, and wow, what a day it was! I'm exhausted but in the best way possible. Thinking back to breakfast this morning seems like a life time ago, could be to do with the fact that I woke up at 4:30, (damn jet lag!). But, really, I...
Ballymaloe
At last I am actually here at the cookery school! After a good sleep in at the hotel in Cork this morning, I had breakfast, closed up the dreaded suitcase and got in a cab to head for Ballymaloe. Arrived here just before noon, checked in, and was shown to my home for...