The idea of the gastro pub always interested me and I really enjoy going to them. However gastro pubs in Ireland are a rare breed. Some are called gastro pubs but are essentially pubs serving reasonably edible food. The Exchequer on the other hand, is for me, a genuine gastro pub that serves delectable drinks and above all, knows its food. Continue Reading…
Don’t worry, I’m still cooking! However, I do make it out of the kitchen from time to time. Last Saturday I was lured away by a fabulous food and gardening festival called Bloom. The festival has been an annual event for the last 5 years, but this was the very first time I had ever been. Bloom happens in the beautiful Phoenix Park in Dublin and is basically a showcase of the best of Irish produce. It’s also about gardening and crafts, so plenty to keep me entertained. I felt very proud of our tiny little island as we walked around and I’m hopeful that this mini food revolution in Ireland continues. Continue Reading…
Last week I was given something very special. My grandmother gave me her first ever cookbook ‘Good Housekeeping’ which was given to her by her Mother. The book dates back to the nineteen fifties and the old yellowed pages are splattered and stained. The spine is coming apart from over-use and the pages are clinging on by just a few threads. The book is crammed with hand written recipes and notes neatly penned by my grandmother. It’s also cluttered with cut-outs from the paper with recipes that caught her eye. I feel like I am going back in time, as I read the old recipes and paper cuttings from a time gone by.
As kids we had a childminder called Mary and she was a great cook. Her bakewell tarts were the stuff of legend. I could never look, let alone eat, shop bought bakewell tarts because none of them would ever taste as amazing as Mary’s. There was something about Mary’s tarts! I loved the crispy lattice pastry she layered on top and the vibrant red jam oozing around the edges. I adored the almondy smell that permeated the whole house when she baked. I used to think that her bakewell looked like the kind of thing that the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland would eat. Continue Reading…
Today is National Fish and Chips Day. So in honour of this event, here’s a short post about fish and chips…Asian style! I learned two valuable lessons in the cooking of this dish. One- Panko breadcrumbs are the business and make any recipe utterly crispy and delicious. The second valuable lesson was that umeboshi plums really are an acquired taste and though I loved them, my other half is still gagging at the memory of them. I wanted to try something different and when I saw these weird Japanese plums on a TV food programme, I had to have them.
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My name is Vicky and I am a cheeseaholic. I think now is as good a time as ever to tell you. Cheese consumes my life and I consume vast amounts of cheese. And I am not talking delicate thin slivers of cheese; I prefer to eat cheese in big glorious hunks. I’m not one to shy away from cheese rinds or cheeses so stinky they make your eyes water. I relish all cheeses the stinkier the better. A trip to the cheese shop can take quite some time and many of our holidays have been dominated by mammoth cheese buying missions. On a recent trip to the French Alpes, I purchased a large amount of alpine cheese and my heart nearly stopped when customs halted me for a random inspection. Thankfully something else caught their attention, so my lovely cheeses and I returned safely home. I acknowledge I have a problem with this cheese addiction of mine; regardless, I strive to feed it on a daily basis.
You can find some of my favorite gluten-free recipes in my eBook available from Amazon.
I'm Vicky and Stasty is my simple and tasty food recipe blog. I love to cook and I love to talk about food, so this blog is really my ramblings and thoughts about cooking and eating. Some of the recipes are my own and some are ones that I found on the net or picked up from my favorite cookbooks. I cook everything in our little kitchen in beautiful Washington. I am aided and abetted by my I.T guru/tantrum-trouble-shooter/editor and chief-taster otherwise known as the OH or Nelius.