Ham it up!

So I cooked a ham for the very first time!

It was so delicious - I used my meat thermometer so it was perfectly cooked along with a turkey and stuffing.  Just a perfect St Stephen's day dinner and then sandwiches made from leftovers the day after. 

So good!

It's been a quiet few days between Christmas and New Year. Yesterday we wandered in to town and browsed the sales, with Ciaran getting a jumper in Superdry. After town we set off towards Baggot Street intending to walk but then seeing a bus and making a run for it. The bus driver was the nicest man ever, stopping for us even though we were no where near the stop and giving us a friendly greeting as we go on the bus and a big goodbye as we got off. 

The bus literally gave us door to door service to the venue on Baggot Steet where a PIGSY art work is proudly hung in the window seat. 

I had a hot chocolate near to PIGSY's James Joyce - such fun!

Speaking of James Joyce I am currently reading "Running with Bulls" by Valerie Hemingway which has a mention of the famous Irish artist - referred to as "Jim" Joyce by Ernest Hemingway. The book is very interesting about life with Hemingway by his to be daughter in law Valerie - who surprizingly had a Cabra connection having boarded with the Dominician Nuns at the same school that I attended!

It's a biography worth reading.

And in good news, the HSE has just opened up availability for Covid 2nd booster vaccinations for 18-49yr olds so I can finally get boosted. I saw it on Twitter this morning and booked immediatly, getting an appointment for this Saturday. Great news as there seems to be a lot of Covid going around again....it will probably surge again after Christmas and New Year celebrations.....we will see.

Slow Cooker Christmas

 Do you have a Slow Cooker.......and is it barely used and buried in a kitchen press?

Well Christmas is the best time to use your slow cooker!

I have two slow cookers in two different sizes and they both came in to their own this holiday season. 

My large slow cooker was used to make batches of mulled wine for the open nights of "Art Deli" in Ranelagh Arts. 

And then my mini slow cooker was perfect for making hot chocolate. My tip for this is to make with oat milk (for extra richness) and dark chocolate - and add brandy for an extra kick and to make it more special for Christmas!

My small slow cooker is a 1.5 ltr so it is perfect for making hot chocolate for about 6 people.

We are now in the between Christmas and New Year period....which can be a little bit dull - so I reckon today might be a good day to whip up a batch of hot chocolate to enjoy while watching Christmas movie or reading a good book (blog to follow about what I am currently reading).

What do you use your slow cooker for at Christmas - let me know in the comments below.

Small pleasures in Winter

Being a warm weather person, I can find the Winter tough to bear. However, I've learnt how I can deal with it best and that is by firstly dressing for the weather.  This one I am still not quite there with, as Irish people we generally don't dress for the weather, barely using umbrellas and certainly not having full water proof gear that perhaps a German or Scandinavian might have - a massive generalisation I know, but I put it down to the fact that Irish weather can be very mild really and who actually needs an umbrella for a "few drops of rain" or a good warm winter coat for a couple of days of really cold weather.

Anyway this week has been particularly cold with an arctic mass bringing temperatures of below minus to Ireland (quite rare here) and icey streets and even a dusting of snow last week which never really defrosted.  This cold weather however for me was actually easier to deal with then a semi mild temp drop. I actually did dig out my padded winter coat and wore it over another jacket (which if temps were mild I may have only wore the jacket and would have been shivering and feeling pretty miserable while out and about) along with a scarf, hat, big warm gloves and also a thinsulate layer which all made me feel very comfortable. So in essence preparation is the key for comfort in Winter......who would have thunk it!

Anyway I digress because the main reason I wanted to write this blog was to explain the other way I get through the Winter season and that is by enjoyng the "small pleasures" that the season brings or that is going on in my day to day life.

These small pleasures include things like really enjoying the lights that people have put up for Christmas in their homes. The other day it was too icey to cycle to the train station so I took the bus to work because the bus stop is only a short walk from my house and even though it was slippy on the paths it was a safer option than on the bike. The bus drops me close to work in Dun Laoghaire but it was an excrutiatingly long journey because the traffic was bad. So on the way home there was a train leaving 10 mins before the bus so I decided to get the train which then leaves me with about a 15 min walk at the other end to get to my house. Well, let me tell you, it was a lovely walk! 

Bitterly cold (I was dressed for that!) but I got to walk past the most beautiful houses in the Dublin 4 area with gorgeous lights and trees - particularly on Waterloo Road. I took photos but the lights came out all blurry so I then just decided to enjoy the atmosphere in the moment and just lap the gorgeous Christmas lights up as I walked home on my own.

Enjoying the trees and lights is something Ciaran and I also do on our walks to Ranelagh or in to the city. Ciaran does it to humour me, I think,  but it does give me great pleasure when he excitedly points out a tree that he particularly likes - we have decided that the best one is on the corner of Winton and Appian Way which has a big bay windown on the 2nd floor that has the most massive gorgeous tree. I love houses with both trees and some additional lights on their railings or stair rails up to the front door but Ciaran seems to prefer just trees. Both of us do love a good Christmas wreath on front doors though and there are lots of them on the classic doors around here in Dublin 6!

And so at this time there have been other small pleasures that I have been enjoying, these include an invite to a neighbour's house for the most delicious hot chocolate spiked with hard liquor - so good! I have also been enjoying warmed mulled wine in "Art Deli" in Ranelagh Arts where PIGSY/Ciaran has work for sale in this Christmas Pop Up. 

And then another "small pleasure" I've been enjoying is eating off the Christmas crockery! I know it's such a small thing but I really do love it all and it gives me such joy.  Check out my crazy Christmas table cloth too.  I like to think it is vintage (its well travelled anyway) having bought it in Cudeca second hand shop in Malaga, Spain and brought it back to Ireland when we returned from our year there.

And then one of the final small pleasures that I am enjoying is my sister Amy's "Christmas Portraits" instagram.  For the past few years friends have been submitting pics to her of themselves and their tree.

Check out "Christmas Portraits" instagram here (what fun!) and you can even submit a picture if you want to be included!

Let me know in the comments below what you are currently enjoying this time of year,,,,,,

Blogging break

I didn't deliberately take a break from blogging but November was a month that came in fast and it went by in a blink of an eye. Here's a bit of a catch up blog and hopefully I won't be as remiss for December and will actually write a blog or two.

I got up to a lot of different things including lots of birthday celebratons (mine included!) with a fun 30th birthday party for twins where I tasted my first "Whiskey Sour" which was so good, then a 90th birthday lunch and then my own birthday where we went out for chinese food to a new(ish) spciality duck restaurant in Ranelagh. It's CN Duck and it's BYOB. It's a casual place that is ull of atmosphere with tasty food, you can check out the website here. 

Other than that there has been a lot going on with PIGSY with him moving in to the new studio and getting set up. Then there have been art sales and deliveries along with prep for four (yes 4!) Christmas events - Art Deli in Ranelagh, Art for Christmas in Ranelagh and Pinazo in both Malaga and Seville in Spain. The Spanish events needed a little more organisation as they started earlier and the artworks needed to get to Spain earlier.  Art Deli opens this week in Ranelagh and you can read about it on the PIGSY blog.

There was another Critical Mass cycle at the end of November which for the first time I joined from the start of the cycle on Parnell Square and took in the route which went down the pedestrianised Capel Street. It was a lot of fun and I made an extra effort to be "lit up" with a set of Christmas lights flashing around my neck. The next critical mass cycle is on 16th of December and for this one, I plan to wrap my bike in flashing Christmas lights! 

I got my Christmas tree up after planning to put it up on the evening of The Late Late Toy Show but then not being organised to do it. So I put it up yesterday.

However.......I made the decision to only put about half of my decorations up as to be honest there are just so many. I was happy with how it looked but then Ciaran remarked that it looked bare (it doesn't!) but I am second guessing myself so will top up the tree with the rest of the decorations (photo to follow in a later blog). 

I wore my new Christmas jumper to put up the tree and check out these cute little santa earrings that I got in Home Deals in Ranelagh. Just adorable!

So that's it for the month of November - there was lots of other things going on but for now I'll leave it at that and as I said I will try and be better at blogging this month!

Happy December everyone and enjoy the lead up to the holidays!

Nutritional yeast - tasty and beneficial

 Nutritional Yeast

A little while ago I wrote about adding collagen to my diet. After doing this for awhile I can say that I think one of the benefits of the collagen is for hair growth and I am glad to say that I am seeing thicker hair growing at my hairline.

Another thing that I add to my diet is Nutritional Yeast. It's packed full of B12 and along with this it is very taste and adds an umami taste to food.

I tend to add it to my home made bone broth to make it extra tasty.  I literally sprinkle a little over a cup of heated Bone Broth.

The nutritional yeast looks just like fish food! It's got a flakey appearance.....

Have you ever tasted Nutritional Yeast? It's popular with vegans who tend to think that it has a cheese flavour which I kind of get too.

For me, I'll continue to add it to my food, whatever about the health benefits, I like the taste and I think it adds extra depth to soups and sauces.

Let me know if you have eaten it and what you think it tastes of - leave a comment below.

Flying visit to Malaga

Malaga!

In order to get two PIGSY paintings to Spain, we decided to fly to Malaga and hand deliver them rather than sending them in the mail. It was going to be my first time back in the city after spending a year there during lockdown so I was unsure how I was going to feel about it.

So last Sunday we went on an Aer Lingus flight to Malaga arriving in the late afternoon. We immediatly headed to our favourites Casa Lola for a few tapas and then on to La Classica for some Gambas and White Fish.

We packed lots in and met up with different groups of friends. Some of the restaurants we ate in included Ocho (lunch and dinner) and a little wine bar on Paseo de Redding that I can't think what it was called. 

One of the things I definitely wanted to do was eat a portion of Berenjenas which I had been dreaming of - these fried aubergines were definitely as I remembered them!

Other than that we swam (pool and sea) and even managed to have ice creams in Casa Mira for old times sake along with all of this we got a bit of art in with a trip to the CAC (along with a drop in to La Casa Amarilla to delivery the PIGSY paintings)......I also might have had a few glasses of cava and vino tinto.

In no particular order, here's a photo dump from the short trip of just Sunday to Wednesday. A flying visit for sure - but so good to be back!! 

At the rooftop bar in AC Malaga - a Marriott hotel

Just off Constitution Plaza

In La Classica near Uncibay Plaza (for the best white fish)

Pastries and cava for breakfast on a friend's rooftop terrace

Gambas

With a friend that I met for coffee - selfie time afterwards

Looking out on to Constitution Plaza

La Casa Amarilla Crew

In Ocho for lunch with friends from Ireland

Foie Gras in Ocho

Pate in Ocho

I tasted a fresh fig for the first time!

Rooftop pool in AC Malaga

Cathedral view

Sitting at the counter in Casa Lola's

Ice cream at Casa Mira

Visiting CAC

A plate of Berenjenas in a square just off Calle Larios

Critical Mass Dublin - Halloween Cycle

Halloween edition of Critical Mass in Dublin

On the last Friday of the month, cyclists come together in cities all over the world to take part in Critical Mass where they cycle in a group for safety and to raise awareness of cyclists.

For the Halloween edition of Dublin Critical Mass, many participants dressed up in costume or lit up their bikes.

I wore an illuminous skull mask along with my helmet.

The picture above shows me waiting to join the cyclists at Stephens Green.  The event starts at Parnell Square on the Northside and continues over to the South Side and then swings in to the city centre.  From Parnell Square it goes down the newly traffic free Capel Street.  But for me, it is most convenient to join at Stephens Green after getting the train to Pearce Street after work,

You can check out a video on twitter here that shows all the great costumes - love the Tennenbaum family!!

Let me know if you are interested in joining the next cycle in November or even the one in December which will probably be Christmas themed.........I need to start planning a costume for that one very soon - or at the very least get some lights to string around my bike!

You can get full information about Critical Mass Dublin here on I Bike Dublin