Coffee at Nicks - a Ranelagh institution

 Do you know about Nick's in Ranelagh?

It's a coffee shop that used to be in a little kiosk on the main street. In actual fact it featured in one of my blogs back in 2013.

But now it is moved to a new premises (the old Ranelagh Arts Centre) next to Supervalu.

Here's a few pics from the other day when we went to Nick's with Bones for a cup of coffee (short americano, 3/4 full, black).

They offer free dog biscuits to Bones but the boldie makes a show of us by sniffing it and then turning his nose up at the treat!!!

Lining up for coffee - definitely worth the wait.....and always great to support local independent shops

They still give free coffee to over 65 year olds!

No one tends to go inside with most people ordering at the hatch outside - old habits die hard!

Bike friendly and dog friendly, what's not to love about this place!

Love this place and I hope we have it forever in Ranelagh. It's got two benches outside the shop near the kerb and it's always fun to sit and people watch. Or it's only a short walk away to the park so sometimes we head there with our coffees. 

It's a great spot and I recommend a visit of you are ever in Ranelagh Village.

American Football comes to Dublin!

 Aer Lingus College Football Classic 2022

Who doesn't love stadium hot dogs and the spectacle of American Football?! Me! That's for sure.....

So when I saw that Northwestern and Nebraska would be coming to Dublin for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic I knew that a great day was ahead of us and we should definitely go to the game to see a great game of American Football being played on Irish soil.

There were plenty of tickets available and we bought ours the evening before on Tickemaster.  We were unsure which side we were going to end up on when we selected our tickets but got lucky and landed on the home team side of Northwestern (Go Cats!) so were in a really great postion for the half time college bands and the National Anthems at the beginning.  The band and music was really great and we had fun trying to pay attention to the actual players with all of the other distractions like the cheer leaders and dancers. As I mentioned at the beginning of the blog I love the whole spectacle of American Football which to me seems more that just the football but is about everything from the college band and cheer leaders to the fans.

Let me know what you think, do you love the rituals of American Football?!

Aviva Stadium

The football game was on in Aviva Stadium which is about a 10 minute walk from our house.  So for the 5.30pm kick off, we set off about 4.30pm.  The game ended after 9pm and so we rang Rasoi and made an order for Indian takeaway food to pick up when we got to Ranelagh.  As we passed our house, we dropped in and got our bikes for the 2 minute cycle to Rasoi in Ranelagh and then quickly cycled home and were eating dinner by 10pm!!

I should also mention the weather which unusually for Ireland, it behaved itself. It was sunny in the afternoon in the low twenties and then it progressed in to a mild evening, with some football fans bravely wearing shorts and t-shirts. I had layers with me but did start out just wearing a Margaritaville t-shirt (recent purchase on my June trip to Key West!) and then put a jacket on as it got cooler.

Northwestern Wildcats win out in a close finish to Nebraska Huskers

All in all a great evening.....enjoy the pics from the game (in no particular order) and congrats to Northwestern on an exciting win over Nebraska.

Lots going on - here's a wrap up

After a slow start to last Sunday, we headed in to Dublin City on our bikes. After locking them up near Starbucks on College Green, we took a stroll around the area.  I had a plan!

I wanted to see the newly renovated Central Bank Plaza, take a wander around Temple Bar and.......eat a Krispy Kreme donut!

Wow, seriously delicious.  I had only a traditional glazed Krispy Kreme on a visit to the States so when I went to select my donut I chose some kind of chocolatey one with chocolate frosting and some kind of fudgey tasting filling. So good......we were very abstemious though and shared one donut rather than getting one each.

It was nice to have a chilled out Sunday as we have been incredibly busy for the last while with PIGSY art with lots of art openings and events. You can read all about them over on PIGSY's art blog.

Yesterday evening we went to a fun event after I finished work. It was the Critical Mass / I Bike Dublin cycle around Dublin city. You can see a video of the event here - great sounds and fun being cheered along by lots of people all over the streets of Dublin.

And then today we have a biggie! College Football is coming to Dublin and we will go see Nebraska vs. Northwestern in Aviva Stadium. I'm seriously excited about this one and know it will be a great day out. Kick off is 5.30pm and the Aviva is close enough to us to walk or cycle.

Oh here's something else - check out the cutest little Coach Coin Purse that I received as a wedding anniversary gift. Thanks Mom!

New to me - Cheese O's

Cheese O's - in Supervalu

So I'm back on keto for awhile now and am always looking out for new tasty snacks. 

Today in Supervalu while getting some strawberries and cream, I spotted these "Cheese Os"

I snapped up a packet and tasted them at home. 

My verdict is that they are pretty good. Extremely cheesey and very moreish. They taste like Cheese Whisps which I had on a recent trip to the States to visit my sister.

All in all a tasty snack and that's low carb and could make a keto snack depending on your metrics. Interestingly they are Irish made and I am noticing more Irish low carb products coming to market (Hello, Scratch my pork) which is great to see.

Hope you enjoy them too!

Ingredients: Cheddar Cheese

Nice and fatty with low carb

Available in lots of different flavours - see the Cheese O Website