Happy Christmas from Ireland!

Hello to all my readers and Happy Christmas to you!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve yesterday. We got up early and went for a wander around the city.  Ciaran had a few little items he wanted to buy. It was bitterly cold and one point there was a little flurry of snow. We went in to Massimo Dutti when it was snowing/raining and heard a little boy shout out "It's snowing.......this is the best Winter ever!" This made us smile at each other, it was very cute.

We got the Luas home and stopped off in Supervalu to buy rashers, sausages and black pudding for a "Full Irish" breakfast today. After dropping all our purchases off in the house we headed to what I think is the best restaurant in Ranelagh - Brioche.

We got a lovely friendly greeting - the manager welcomed us back! We knew we were seated at the counter near the kitchen because we had only made the booking the day before - I felt lucky to even get a reservation as the place is small and it was packed!!

Here are the pics of all our food (from a set Christmas Lunch).

Parsnip Veloute - they serve it by pouring it from a jug right in front of you at the table! 

Seared Foie Gras (Candied Nuts were served on the side due to my Walnut Allergy)

Venison! Delicious!

 Beef Fillet

 Poached Pear Dessert

Chocolate Ganache with orange sauce  (minus nuts)

All so good!

After lunch we met friends for a few drinks and then walked home and watched another Christmas Movie.  This one was "Christmas with the Kranks" with Jamie Lee Curtis.  Really enjoyable and certainly made it feel like Christmas Eve!

Once again, Happy Christmas Day to you - do enjoy your day!

It's Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve!  
All is calm here after a busy few days.
Here is a catch up blog of all that has gone on....

On Tuesday, I made food all day for a Cocktail Party that we held on that evening. I served the following:
- Swedish Meatballs (thanks for suggestion Pam)
- Cream Cheese covered in Sweet Chili Sauce with Melba Toast (this is a South African favourite which I know about from my aunt who returned from living in SA for over 30 years)
- Cherry Tomatoes stuffed with Pesto Cream Cheese
- Charcuterie of meats with cheese & quince
- Cocktail Sausages
- Houmous with Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Stacked smoked salmon & brown bread sandwiches
- Mince Pies and a selection of mini pastries

My twin sister called over to help me at 4pm after work - what a god send!! Thanks Amy!

The next day on Wednesday morning we called to our parents house to drop off our Christmas presents for family members. 

For lunch we tried a newly opened restaurant called "Angelina's". It's within an apartment block on Percy Place. We had an enjoyable meal. The food was fine for lunch but looked a little pricey for dinner.

After lunch we strolled home and decided to watch a Christmas Film.  We chose "Elf" which I have never seen from start to finish. I really enjoyed it! Christmassy and funny!

A friend of Ciaran's gifted us this jar of homemade liver pate that he had made.  OMG!  So delicious!  I love pate and you can't beat it when it is homemade.  Went beautifully on melba toast with a glass of wine.

Our plan for today, Christmas Eve, is to wander around Dublin City and then go for lunch in Brioche in Ranelagh. We then may meet friends for a drink and then home to relax and maybe watch another Christmas Film.

What about you?  What are you getting up to this Christmas Eve?!

Basket Brigade

For the past four Christmas's, Amy and I have been involved with "Basket Brigade". It's an event where a group of people come together a few days before Christmas, bringing food and money, and make up and deliver 150 hampers for families in need all over Dublin.

Our best friend Alice is also involved  along with Kasey who unfortunately had to miss this year due to another commitment.

Here are the three of us before we got started! 

The first job that gets done is that each box is covered in nice Christmas Wrapping paper to make it look festive. Then we get down to the business of filling the boxes.

This is the list of everything that goes in to each hamper along with additional miscellaneous items including such things as pasta, sauce, soups and baked beans, etc.

This is the first hamper we made. Each hamper gets a chicken and a ham which are put on the top so that the receiver can see them and can refrigerate them immediately.

Amy paired up with another friend of hers - here she is working away on a hamper. While Alice and I worked together as another hamper packing team.

After each box is filled it is wrapped in cellophane and tied up with a cheery ribbon. They look attractive and are surely appreciated by whoever receives them.

Here is a batch of hampers all lined up and ready to be delivered. What great work by everyone involved!

A big thanks to all the companies who help with this endeavor. It really is a worthy cause and hopefully it gives a little help to the families who receive the hampers this Christmas.

Starbucks Names!

I get a kick out of how my name gets written in Starbucks!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

It's definitely beginning to feel like Christmas.  On Thursday, I watched one of my favourite Christmas films "The Holiday".  It really made me feel a lot better after a bad day (don't ask!).  

Then on Friday I was finally able to get my Christmas tree up and decorated!

I'm very happy with it.....I don't think I could get a whole lot more on the tree.

And this year I had a new angel for the top.....a Holiday Barbie decked out in red - she goes perfectly with my mish mash of ornaments.

My twin sister sent me pictures of her tree and what a difference!

We both have Barbies at the top of the tree but that is where the similarity ends. My colours are generally red and green while Amy is all about white and silver. I like both trees!

Early start to see McGregor knock out Aldo

We got up at 5am this morning to see the main UFC event of McGregor v. Aldo.  I cooked sausages the night before so we had a tasty breakfast with tea and coffee.

Well would you believe it only took 13 seconds for McGregor to deliver a left punch that knocked out Aldo!! 

Fight over!

And so it was back to bed for us....happy that it was over and the Irish man was the world champion!

Revamped Dunnes Stores in the Swan Centre

The Dunnes Stores in the Swan Centre (along with many other shops) had gone through an amazing revamp.

We called in today to find that the Clothes Section is open and airy and has an up market feel to it.

The supermarket is even better!  It's hip, cool and very up to date.

The first new part we discovered is a bakery and cafe with a seating area. Ciaran recognized Cafe Sol as he goes here for coffee since he moved to his new office.

The Butcher had an overhaul and is fairly funky. It's got a traditional market feel to it.

When we happened upon Sheridan's Cheese we were in heaven! It's a concession like Cafe Sol, I presume. We were kindly treated to samples of a few different blues and some cheddar which we then purchased. Along with this we bought some quince and just before we left the stand we had a little sample of a Gruyere. So nice! 

The selection of cheese was excellent and the staff were so friendly. We will be back!

Dunnes has been improved dramatically - I felt like I was shopping in America!

The changes that have taken place in the Swan Centre have really turned it in to a good shopping destination - we both agreed that our shopping experience in the Swan Centre this morning was brilliant!

I had written about the Popcorn shop before (see here). It has now opened and is super looking. I tried a sample of Caramel & Oreo Popcorn and it was so good!!! I think the popcorn shop actually could do well here (as the centre does have a cinema) and hope the business succeeds!