After seeing the Serious Keto video below I decided to give it a go.
Well my wings were definitely tasty (I smothered them in buttered Frank's Hot Sauce) but I can't say that I will brine again in the future. It just seemed like a lot of palaver. And honestly my wings generally taste good without going through the hassle of brining.
Do you brine?! Let me know whether you do or whether you plan to in the future!
As I mentioned in my previous blog I am doing a big clear out of my attic here in Dublin. A lot of the stuff in the attic has been packed away for years and will probably never be used again (Ciaran's Spartans Baseball uniform, for example) so we are making decisions on dropping a lot of things off to the local charity shop.
After clearing out part of the attic and dropping off 5 bags yesterday, I discovered my ukulele buried at the back of the attic. Given that I barely played it since I got it back in 2014 the ukulele will be included in the cull and will be donated to charity tomorrow. I will donate the bag and tuner also so hopefully it will be found and bought by someone who will enjoy it for years to come.......and most importantly who will play it!!
It was cool and got up to about 12 degrees Celsius so I wore layers for what I got up to today. And what did I do?! Well I cycled in the Dublin parade!
The parade is back for the first time since 2019 after it was cancelled in 2020 - as we were just starting lockdown this time two years ago. Along with the parade being back, the Dublin Cycling Campaign are also back with a themed cycle which was the closing float (is a group of 100 cyclists, in costume, a float?) of the parade.
You can look back on past blogs here to see what I wore at previous parades.
The theme for our cycle float wass "Joyce Cycle" to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of James Joyce's Ulysses and we all wore Bloomsday / Joycean outfits.
Ably led by Dublin City Councillor Donna Cooney, who coordinated the cyclists participations in the parade, we cycled, cheered and waved and had a lot of fun.
The stand out moment for me was when we passed the Grand Stand with all of the dignitaries, our President Michael D. Higgins stood and clapped for us as we passed. What an honour!
Here's a few pics of my costume and some of the parade.
And now that the parade is over, I will unpick the ribbons off my hat and will donate it to a charity shop along with doing a big clear out of my attic tomorrow (I have lots of things up there that I haven't used since my return from Spain, so they probably can be donated).
My dress was a casualty of the cycle having got caught in my chain a few times. It's now got a hole in it. It's a dress that I wore to a black tie wedding over 15 years ago, but all I've been using it for is for dressing up in costume for the last few years, so it is no loss (also having looked at the tear, I think I can probably stitch it up and repair it so it is fine for wearing again as a costume). I had worn it in previous parades (see when I dressed up as a suffragette) but the bike that I was cycling on that day had a chain guard which my Brompton doesn't. Seems like a chain guard is probably an essential piece of kit on your bike if you are going to be cycling in long skirts!
As you can see we wore blue bands on our hats along with a yellow sunflower in support of Ukraine. This is something that I was very happy to do. As you can see I haven't written a blog in a few weeks and quite honestly it was because I couldn't bring myself to. I wanted to write about the atrocities that are being done on Ukraine but I am finding it hard to verbalise how devastated I feel for the Ukrainian people. I am so incredibly sad for them.
As their country was attacked, Ireland immediately began to welcome in refugees and it has been inspiring to see Irish people open up their homes to those in need. There is a huge fundraising effort and as usual us Irish dig deep and donate as much as we can.
As a country that gets celebrated the world over on our special day it is tough to see Ukraine being foremost in the world's mind - but not for something positive but instead the world is looking on in horror.
At this point in time I do not hold out much hope for Ukraine, but one thing I do have hope for, and that is, the strength in humankind. The Ukraine people will survive with the help of the world. We are one big globalised community and we must look out for each other.
Good will prevail over evil.
And on that sombre note I end by wishing you a Happy St Patrick's Day where ever you are in the world.
Lots of green clothes available in Dunne Stores, just in time for St Patricks Day.
I landed on this recipe for Keto Peanut Butter Cups when I was browsing Youtube. They seemed easy to make so I did a batch this afternoon, using a mix of Green & Black 70% and Lindt 90% chocolate.
I'm not sure if I got the ratio of chocolate to peanut butter centre right but here's what they look like
Fun time with coffee, pastries and chats.
Here's pics of what I served which included, Devilled Eggs, Smoked Salmon on Brown Bread, Pain au Chocolates and Croissants. Along with brioche filled with chicken mayo, bacon and melted cheese. All just delish and just lovely to have people in our house like before the pandemic!
All washed down with tea, coffee and Orange Juice.
What a really nice morning and a relaxing mini-brunch to do of a Sunday.
Did you make a new year's resolution to visit the library more? Hopefully you have stuck to your resolution and have visited the library a few times over the month.
If you haven't visited the library in a while (or ever!) have a look at just some of the things that many libraries offer.
The first video is about Acorn Tablets which are are available for loan from Dun Laoghaire Libraries.
And then this video which shows what is in a Codema Home Energy Savings Kit which are available from most libraries throughout Dublin and beyond in other counties in Ireland.
Did you know about these type of things being offered by most libraries?!
Let me know in the comments any of the unique services or resources that are offered by your local library service..... and also do tell me what country your library is in!
Here's another video which explains further about the Home Energy Savings Kit
