bigfoodiemama

My Lenten avoidance of Liquor has been going very well but twice now I have had an acute desire for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The interesting thing is that these two incidents ,occurred exactly one week apart...to the hour ! According to the deep longing in me, I have a craving for wine at 6.00 every Sunday evening ! I expected the urge to be there when I was out with the girls the other night or on St. Patricks Day, or even around 8.00 on a Friday but no, my hour of temptation is at tea time on the day of rest. Why ? Is it to numb the impending Monday feeling ? Is it due to some built in hormonal clock ? No, I have realised it can be put down to sport....yes Sport ! On Sundays, quite regularly, GASP goes to a place I call GASPland. In this land he is single, childless and about 26 years old. In this land, when we visit his Mum after mass, he sits at the end of her table and reads the Pat Spillane column in the trashy newspaper, she gets, so that he does not need to. He lifts his hea...

International Women's day today coincides with Pancake Tuesday.Coincidence.....I DON'T THINK SO ! Some git thought it would be a great joke to celebrate us,while reminding us of our place in society ! I vowed yesterday that I was going to buy pancakes, hot off the griddle in the local Supervalu, much to GASP's horror. I was further hindered in my plan when my eldest son advised me that his teacher was bringing in pancakes. OK,so now I am competing with my mother in law and a gorgeous young Junior Infant teacher.....what did I do......put four ounces of flour in a bowl and battered it ! As with every pancake Tuesday I make half the amount of batter I actually need, as GASP's personal choice for think American type pancakes uses alot of batter, leaving none for BMM's ultra thin crepe preference. Uncle next door had two sent over in tinfoil,hot off the pan and eldest son practised flipping his on a plate until he consumed it with a few bits of dirt off the floor, cover...

Right, here we go again ! Sunday, I had decided was going to be a family day out, to the Food and Wine Christmas Show. I was keen to go for a few reasons, 1. Food, 2. Wine, 3. Santa and 4. the chance to see my cousin the Pastry Chef of The Cake Stand ( not necessarily in that order).I donned the new underwear (again) under some warm clothing...just in case ! My plans were nearly thwarted by 2 inches of snow and the AA advising people not to travel unless absolutely necessary. I had a job convincing GASP of the "absolutely necessary" part of a Food and Wine Show, so I used language he would understand and said " this is my Leinster Final".....job done !Off we set with enough stuff in the car should we have to sleep in it overnight, but the M1 was clear keeping a smug smile on my face....until we hit Dublin ! The city was immersed in 3 inches of snow and the roads were a disaster but since we'd got that far , we ploughed ( literally) on to the RDS. Items 3. and 4....

So there we were, myself, the FA and the blonde, celebrating the blonde's birthday with a Food and Wine Readers evening in One Pico. The Tattinger Brut Reserve reception was at 6.45 ( do bear in mind we had polished off a bottle of Bollinger in our hotel room beforehand !)We were "on form" and really looking forward to our 7 course meal in the Dublin Restaurant of the Year. We were seated next to the couple who have attended the most F+W evenings and things started off well with an Amuse Bouche of Saute Langoustine, sorrel risotto, summer truffle and peas.....tiny but divine ! The blonde agreed but we both agreed that a big bowl of it would have been great. By this stage the foodie beside the FA was advertising her two single sons and we were offering her the FA on a plate. The blonde was listening to the first of many stories from her husband whose nationality I will not divulge (but he had thrown a towel over his seat earlier in the day !)The starter of Fois Gras parfai...