Lacy Pancakes

I love pancakes so much. I get very excited every year on Pancake Tuesday and say to myself ‘I should make pancakes more often’ and then of course I forget and another year passes and I haven’t made any pancakes. I love the art of pancake making though, swishing the batter into the hot pan, moving your arms about to coat every last bit of  the pan. Not to mention the amazing smell of pancakes cooking. I adore the way they turn a beautiful mottled golden brown. And of course the best bit, the art of flipping the pancake. Not that it always turns out right, sometimes I have use my hands to fix it up. I’m lucky to be blessed with asbestos hands and no amount of heat seems to affect my fingers. My Mum was a master at pancake making and I loved watching her make delicious thin and crispy pancakes, the thinner the better. Continue reading »

A Hearty Brunch

I don’t know about you, but I kind of think girls get a lot of spoiling on Valentines Day and the men are sometimes a bit left out. So ladies, this is one for the men. This is the perfect brunch to spoil the man in your life and earn you lots of brownie points. The creamy hollandaise, buttery spinach and delicious smoked salmon is sure to get his heart racing. It is a bit decadent and takes a bit of time to make, but Valentines is only once a year. Continue reading »

Loveheart Biscuits

Love Heart sweets were one of my favourite treats as a child. We used to swap them in the playground and used to feel very adult and grown-up, exchanging our secret messages. Some of the messages on the sweets, like ‘Gee Whizz’ and ‘Cutie Pie’ weren’t exactly part of our young Irish lexicon, so they felt all the more exotic to us. They also tasted yummy and fizzy and gave us that sugar high that we craved as kids. I ate a Love Heart sweet recently and couldn’t get over how sweet it was. I guess I’ve grown up, and my tastes have changed. Messages have changed too on the newer Love Heart sweets and you are more likely to see Text me and Email me instead of Gee Whizz. It’s funny to see how these old fashioned sweets are keeping up with the times. Continue reading »

Happy Birthday S’tasty

Today marks my 75th post on the blog and also S’tasty’s very 1st Birthday. It’s hard to believe that a whole year of writing, cooking and creating has passed by so quickly. Through writing the blog, I’ve met a whole host of new people and have discovered some other amazing food blogs at home and beyond. The Irish Food Bloggers Association have arranged lots of great events and linked together a whole community of enthusiastic food bloggers from all over the country. When I first started my blog….my traffic consisted of me and the OH. Then it increased to three (me, the OH and my Dad). Next a few other family members started checking in and one day I had a whole 20 visitors! Then with the help of Erno Rubik, Rusty Blazenhoff @Laughing Squid and Vidya Rao @Today.com my audience began to suddenly increase. For the amateur food blogger – it doesn’t pay, so it really helps when your efforts are at least seen and appreciated. Continue reading »

A Trio of Scallops

This dish looks a picture, but it’s actually an easy meal to make. Scallops are so delicious and take absolute minimum effort to prepare and cook. When I cook scallops, I like to pair them with simple flavours to accentuate them rather than drown them out. A quick flash on the pan is enough to release their delicious sweet juicy flavour. They are a little more expensive than most fish, but they’re worth it for their exquisite taste and texture. Minted pea puree and scallops are a tried and tested flavour combination, but still my favourite out of all. The creamy mashed potatoes make a meal out of this sumptuous starter. I love to use the scallop shells as little serving dishes for these sweet and creamy morsels. This dish is really easy to make but feels like restaurant food. No crazy cheffy techniques or trickery necessary, just simple and tasty food….wait a minute isn’t that my tagline! Continue reading »

Prohibition Tea

It’s that time of the year again folks, Prohibition Day! On the 16th of January 1920, Prohibition officially began in the United States. Today, I am marking that anniversary with my own version of Prohibition Tea made with Tennessee Whiskey. With the rise of Gin Tea, I thought Whiskey deserved a similar treatment. There’s something kind of nice about cocktails served in fancy tea cups.

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Mary Berry’s Tarte Au Citron

There’s something about Mary Berry. She’s the kind of cook that stands the test of time and produces recipes that can always be relied on. My mother’s favourite cookbook at home was the old Hamlyn cookbook and Mary Berry was one of the books contributing authors. Mary’s recipes were the ones we always used, her tarts, cakes and pies were always the crispest, the lightest and the tastiest. On the inside cover of the old Hamlyn cookbook there is a black and white photo of Mary as a young cook, she was quite a stunner in her day and still looks great. Mary’s career continues to thrive and her talent and charisma have wowed a whole new generation of bakers on the Great British Bake off. Mary Berry is somewhat of a baking icon and the kind of person you’d love to share a cup of tea and a slice of cake with.   Continue reading »

Pecan, Apple and Whiskey Tartlets

Pecan pie is one of my all time favourite desserts. We sampled a lot of delicious pecan pies when we were in America recently, it’s the kind of dessert I can never get enough of. I wanted to make my own pecan pie this week to use up my delicious stash of special pecans that I brought home from “We’re Nuts” near Vienna, Georgia. In America they say Pee-CON, in Ireland we say PEE-can, I say vee-EHN-uh, they say vy-ENN-uh. I love all the different words and pronunciations for food they have. Whoever knew a turnip is called a rutabaga! Continue reading »

Happy Christmas from Stasty and Holly

Holly waiting for Santa Claus to arrive……..

 Thanks to everyone for visiting my site this year and a special thanks to the ever patient OH

Christmas Gifts for Foodies

If you are anything like me you will have left all your Christmas shopping to the very last minute. Then I usually dash around in a mad scramble trying to get the perfect gift in hot sweaty shops crowded with other insane people like me. Some year I will learn, some year I will start my shopping in November, buy everything online, and only buy thoughtful and considerate gifts…some year! Continue reading »