Perfect Christmas Sugar Cookies

Is it even Christmas without cookie decorating?

I know it’s not really a thing in Ireland. The Irish I’ve spoken to about this largely believe an iced sugar cookie, or even gingerbread cookie, is a bit too sweet. I wholeheartedly disagree with this.

In Ireland, kids leave Santa mince pies as a snack. Mince pies! I wholeheartedly disagree with this.

The longer I reside in Ireland, naturally, the more Irish I become in my through process. I’ve noticed this. But there are some things I’ll never let happen; Christmas is a nostalgic time of year. When you think of your happiest times as a child, it’s generally Christmas most of us think of. I definitely do.

When I was little, my brothers and I always went to Christmas Eve church service with our parents. Then we would go to our neighbour’s for a visit, then when I got a bit older I would go to spend time with my aunt and her family before heading home to my bed.

In the morning, as a kid, we could go down to see what Santa brought us but we were never, under any circumstances, allowed to touch the wrapped presents under the tree until my parents and my grandma, who was confined to a wheelchair, would get up and join us.

I think my favourite Christmas was the one where I got my cat, Belle. My dad brought her over to me after we had opened all of our gifts. I couldn’t figure out why there was a basket for a pet under the tree and assumed it was for our dog. When my dad went out Christmas morning and came back with a kitten, I was over the moon with happiness.

“Santa got caught in a storm last night and had to leave her at the Scherzinger’s,” he said.

Belle would go on to live for a whopping 22 years, despite (or maybe in spite of) my mother not being a cat person. She was a great cat.

It’s been hard to adapt to Irish Christmas traditions because my happy Christmas memories are all Canadian. But since my daughters have gotten a bit older, it’s gotten easier to adapt to Irish Christmas. I am at peace with having to make both turkey and ham for Christmas dinner (though I refuse to make Irish trifle, with canned fruit cocktail, jello and store-bought sponge cake). We have started our own Christmas traditions with the kids and it gets more fun every year.

This year, as always, we will be making loads of gingerbread and sugar cookies. We’ll invite a bunch of kids over to the house and let them go crazy with the royal icing and sprinkles. Their parents will hate me, but it’s all in good fun.

Here’s my recipe for the perfect sugar cookie. A good sugar cookie, in my opinion, should have defined edges, taste better with age (I even like them straight from the fridge or freezer) and it absolutely MUST BE ICED. If the cookie is too sweet, you’re doing it right.

Christmas is all about being too sweet.

Enjoy!

Perfect Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter

A pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Whisk flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt.
• In a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg and mix to combine. Add the vanilla and mix again.
• Add the flour mixture in by the cup, slowly, until everything is combined. Dough will be crumbly at first and then comes together.
• Gather the dough by hand. Knead a few times to smooth out the dough.
• Shape into two discs and wrap in plastic. Chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180˚C and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness, then cut into shapes.
• Transfer to the baking sheets and bake for 7-10 minutes (you don’t want them to brown too much around the edges – you still want them to be fairly white in colour).
• Cool and decorate with royal icing, sprinkles or piped buttercream.

Comfrey Cottage Chervil & Chive Vichyssoise

I love Tipperary. Especially in the summer.

Despite the drought we’ve been experiencing these past weeks, things are still fairly green. Each day, the sky is an array of gorgeously arranged clouds. My kids run around the yard (well, two out of three of them run… the baby bum-shuffles), playing in their playhouse and making mud pies, Pat is busy fixing things around the farm and helping his dad milk the cows.

And me? I’m on “holiday” from The School of Food. Which actually means I’m run off my feet chasing after children, hosting playdates, writing articles (like this recent one for Irish Country Living on the Keenan Brothers, who grow heritage grain), selling cakes and sausage rolls at the Thurles Farmer’s Market and doing pop-up restaurant nights with Lucy at The Green Sheep.

So I’m still working, I guess. Just not teaching! I will be taking a proper holiday next week and the week after – we will be going “glamping” in County Clare with the kids. We are so excited; can’t wait to tell you all about it.

Lucy and I also recently signed up for Traveling Spoon. If you don’t know what that is, it’s  sort of like airbnb… but for food! Visitors can peruse the website depending on which country they’re visiting and choose from a selection of unique dining experiences. Some experiences are in people’s homes, while others – like ours – are in private dining establishments. When we get a reservation, Lucy and I close up the cafe and prepare the long, wooden communal dining tables for our guests.

We offer three types of experiences: a cooking lesson, dinner and local beer pairings, just dinner, or just dinner with beer pairings. We only take one group of visitors at a time, making it an intimate, unique travel experience.

The menu changes with whatever is in season and tasting good at the time, but last week, when we fed a group of Americans (visiting via Irish Fireside bespoke tours – a fantastic travel experience in itself!) the menu was this:

Comfrey Cottage Chervil & Chive Vichyssoise

Crawford’s Farm Pulled Chicken Empanada

John Lacey’s slow-roast Lamb Shoulder with Buttered Turnip, Crispy Kale and Gastrique

Ripe Cooleeney Cheese with Cherry Consomme, Walnuts and Lavash

Sweet Ricotta Dumplings with The Apple Farm Strawberries and Raw Lavender Cream

The menu featured all local (like within 50km of Thurles) ingredients and the group we had were all so wonderful and fun. They enjoyed their food (and beer pairings from White Gypsy Brewery) and even serenaded us in between courses.

I thought I would share the recipe for our first course because it’s so low-maintenance to make – it actually intensifies in flavour as it sits in the fridge. A classic French Vichyssoise is a chilled, creamy, mild leek and potato soup. It’s lovely.

At this time of year, in Tipperary, my friend Sarah at Comfrey Cottage has an abundance of bright, flavoursome chervil. I love its mellow, refreshing flavour – with a squeeze of lemon and a handful of chives, it literally transforms a classic into something entirely new and exciting.

This will keep in the fridge for up to four days. Do not add the fresh chervil until the soup has chilled – otherwise the lovely green colour will turn grey and the flavour will be less vibrant.

*If you can’t get fresh chervil, you can substitute with: 1 bunch flatleaf parsley, 1 bunch fresh dill, 1 bunch fresh chives, 1/4 bunch fresh mint

Comfrey Cottage Chervil & Chive Vichyssoise

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp rapeseed (or olive) oil

1 Tbsp butter

3 leeks, pale green and white bits only, finely sliced

1 large onion, finely diced

3 stalks celery, finely diced

4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (keep submerged in cold water until ready to cook)

4-6 cups/1L hot chicken or vegetable stock (depending on how thick you like your soup)

1 cup/250ml heavy cream

salt and pepper, to taste

Juice of one lemon

1 large bunch fresh chervil (around 200g)

1/2 bunch fresh chives

Directions:

• In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat 1 Tbsp rapeseed oil and 1 Tbsp butter over medium-high.
• Gently cook the leek, celery and onion together until pale and translucent – you don’t want them to brown, just soften and cook through.
• Add the potatoes and gently cook, stirring regularly, for another 3-5 minutes.
• Add 4 cups of hot stock (reserve the extra for after, in case you want to thin out the soup) and bring to a gentle simmer.
• Simmer the soup for 20-30 minutes, until the potato is completely cooked through.
• Add the cream, stir, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 to 1.5 hours.
• Once the soup has cooled, transfer for the fridge and chill completely for 1-2 hours.
• Add the chervil and chives – allow to steep into the soup overnight or for at least 3 hours. Continue to chill in the fridge.
• In small batched, blend the cold soup completely in a vitamix or good quality blender. A hand blender would probably work, but I haven’t tried.
• Once completely blended, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
• Continue to chill until ready to serve, Garnish with chive flowers, nasturtium, a drizzle or oil and microgreens.
• Serves 8-10 people (starter size, approx. 200ml per person).

Being a Busy Bee

Oh, I am so busy.

Today, Ireland is in the midst of a snowstorm – a storm that may last well into the weekend. Not a normal occurrence. I only just started teaching the new 11 Week Commis Chef training course at the School of Food in Thomastown, Kilkenny and we’ve already had to cancel classes due to the extreme weather and messy roads.

In preparation of the course, Dermot and I visited the local Camphill community in Jerpoint – just outside of Thomastown. What a beautiful place. What a wonderful community. Some of the gardeners at Camphill Jerpoint will be helping to maintain our gardens at the school and we are thrilled to be working with them.

We are also getting regular orders of their seasonal vegetables for our students to work with – and hopefully some shorthorn beef when the time comes. They are such beautiful, gentle animals – I’m all for supporting ethically-raised beef but I know it would be hard for me to do these handsome fellows in! Just another reason I love the Camphill community for providing us with good, homegrown food.

My recipe for Irish Bennies was recently published by the Food Bloggers of Canada – do check it out if you’re interested in an Irish brunch for Paddy’s Day.

Speaking of Paddy’s Day (and the Food Bloggers of Canada), I will be sharing the recipe for these Irish Coffee Donuts (with spiced whiskey crème pâtissière and a deep espresso glaze) this March, so keep an eye out for that!

This coming weekend I am so excited to be attending the Parabere Forum in Malmö, Sweden. This is technically a work trip, since I’ll be writing articles about the forum for several publications, but I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of inspirational voices in food and food security. I know my horizons will be broadened. I’m going to learn a lot. And I’m going to be able to spend some time in one of National Geographic’s “Places You Need to Visit in 2018” with my husband and baby. So. Pumped.

And as I’ll be in Malmö for the weekend we will naturally also spend some time in Copenhagen. T’would be rude not to.

To close, here’s a picture of Ciara and her favourite friend.

Happy March, everyone!

 

Vegan Creamy Tomato Soup with Foccacia

I’ve learned so much over the past few months.

I’ve learned that it’s possible to function on one hour of sleep. I’ve learned that you can learn to function on one hour of sleep and absolutely no coffee because coffee affects your baby’s reflux. I’ve learned that you become a really awful person when you only had one hour of sleep and no coffee, and your other children tend to bear the brunt of that (sorry Maeve and Ciara; I’m going to make it up to you!).

I’ve learned that, whenever possible, you shouldn’t have a baby around silage/calving time. I’ve learned to let some things go – ok, a lot of things – ok, ALL OF THE THINGS.

I’ve learned to give my husband some extra credit, because he works really, really hard and is a good human being.

Most importantly, I think, I’ve learned to go easy on myself. Because this parenting thing is hard. Because I, like so many other women out there, am my own biggest critic. And I don’t blog enough/exercise enough/play with my kids enough/read enough/socialize enough. And I drink too much wine/avoid annoying tasks/spend too much money/am too selfish. Enough, already.

Life is short. You’ve heard it before. But in the past few weeks there has been a lot of death – deaths in Canada, deaths here in Ireland, horrible atrocities committed around the world in the name of religion/ideology. And I’m here, safe and healthy with a safe and healthy family. In any case, life is far too short to spend it irrationally angry and blaming myself for not being perfect.

My posts have become a lot more introspective lately. I really think writing helps work out the kinks in my brain (and there are many). I also think the early days of motherhood can make you lose sight of yourself and your abilities. This can be kind of devastating in a first-world-problem kind of way, when you’ve spent your life having a really firm, if fluid/constantly changing, view of who you are. When I write down phrases like “first world problem” I tend to cop on a bit.

The way you treat your body helps work out brain kinks, too. Now, I’m in no way vegan. I’m not really interested in giving up cheese. Or my thrice daily latte (doesn’t bother the baby anymore!). But I have drastically changed my diet, and it’s not only helped me lose that last bit of baby weight – combined with a good daily dose of vitamin supplements, it’s helped my mental health a great deal.

I love this soup because it has all of the comfort and warmth of a full-fat cream of tomato soup with none of the dairy. The coconut milk is just sweet enough to balance the acidity of the tinned tomatoes and the whole thing comes together in just a few minutes.

The foccacia is made with my mom’s famous pizza dough recipe. I make the recipe and allow the dough to rise for around 1.5 hours. When it’s doubled in size, I punch it down, divide it in half and press each half of the dough into two rectangular cookie sheets. You can roll it out on a floured surface to fit the pan or just press it into an oiled cookie sheet with your hands.

Once it’s spread out, I gently dent the dough all over with my fingertips, brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with an array of toppings. The toppings can literally be anything (olives, roasted peppers, rosemary, garlic) but if I’m rushing I just give the top a good sprinkle of flaky sea salt and dried mixed herbs. Bake it in a really hot oven (up to 500°F/250°C) for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and crisp. Use another sweeter in the dough if you’re vegan and don’t like honey. This is the perfect dipping bread for a creamy soup. Like this one!

Vegan Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 carrot, diced

1 Tbsp coconut oil

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can full-fat coconut milk

2 cups/500ml hot vegetable stock

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh basil, for garnish

Directions:

• In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrot and sauté for 10 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
• Add the tomatoes and hot vegetable stock; bring to a boil.
• Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 20-30 minutes, adding more stock (or water) if necessary.
• Blitz the mixture using a hand blender and return to the heat. Add the coconut milk and bring back to a simmer. Cook for another 10 minutes, then season liberally with salt and pepper.
• Serve hot, garnish with basil and serve with warm foccacia.

Coconut Chickpeas with Spinach

The past four months have been both one of the hardest times of my life and, mercifully, one of the fastest. Here we are, after a summer full of Canadian visitors and weekend trips, back to just the five of us in our little, ramshackle farmhouse. And I’m happy.

I did not spend the past four months feeling happy. Sleep deprived, unnerved and slightly depressed were my main emotions, with brief respites of happiness. But now I’m feeling happy again.

Postpartum Depression is a real thing, and something that shouldn’t be as stigmatized as it is. That said, I don’t think I had it – a form of it, perhaps, caused by a very irritable newborn and no sleep – but it was close enough to the real thing to make me understand how mothers suffering from extreme PPD must feel. It’s certainly not something I want to go through again.

Photo by my brother Rory. Thanks bro!

My baby girl is happy now, too, though, which is the reason I’m happy. The hours-long screaming sessions are a thing of the past, she is feeding regularly, finally seems to actually *enjoy* eating and loves being out and about. She’s even handling short car rides with very little crying. We took her for her first “swim” at a local community pool today and she happily floated around in my arms while Maeve splashed, jumped and played (Ciara stayed in her Dad’s arms the entire time – she is not a fan of the pool).

Sure, she still doesn’t sleep through the night. Maybe she never will. But she is happy and content, which makes my life a lot less stressful and worrisome. I can handle the sleep deprivation for a while longer.

So, with a happier baby, my days spent caring for three-under-four have been less daunting. Some days are bad, but for the most part we’re having fun, the house hasn’t been condemned and I haven’t torn out my hair. My mom, after spending two months here, went back to Canada last week, though, so I definitely find myself running low on energy by the end of the day.

I’d love to know what other moms out there do to make their day-to-day more organized and efficient, to the extent that they’re able to sit down and eat something other than toast scraps and cold tea.

I have a small system in place that is mostly working. Mostly. If we’ve had a bad night, the day is going to be terrible – there’s no way around that. But if I was able to get a bit of sleep, my weekdays usually look like this:

1. 7am – Maeve comes into my room to let me know she and Ciara are awake (as if I couldn’t already hear them shrieking in their bedroom).
2. 7:30am – both kids have eaten breakfast, baby has nursed and is *hopefully* playing in her playpen (sometimes she’s crying).
3. 8am – Maeve’s lunch is packed and she is dressed for school.
4. 8:30am – Ciara and Aine are dressed and I have somehow managed to make donut dough.
5. 9am – I have some kind of outfit on and have plastered my face with BB cream and mascara (though no amount of BB cream will erase the last five years, I fear).
6. 9:15am – Kids are in the car (no small feat) and Maeve is dropped at school.
7. 9:35am – The other two kids are dropped to my friend for two hours.
8. 10am – I make donuts at The Green Sheep (though currently this is only three days per week).
9. 11:30am – Collect the two small kids and drive to Maeve’s school.
10. 12pm – Collect Maeve from school and drive home.
11. 1pm – Ciara goes down for a nap, I try to eat something, Maeve watches TV or goes outside to play.
12. 2pm – Hopefully Aine is napping, Ciara is still napping and I am getting housework done. Also starting dinner now.
13. 3pm – All kids are awake. We go outside, or to the shop, or if it’s raining and dreary we watch TV, do puzzles and colour.
14. 5pm – I call Pat to make sure he’s leaving work (work is a 1.5 hour drive away!). I try to handle a cranky baby, cranky toddler and demanding four year old while keeping my cool and finishing dinner. Sometimes I shout. Ok, I usually shout. Any cleaning I’ve accomplished during naptime has been ruined. The entire house is a mess.
15. 6:30pm – Pat arrives. I immediately throw the baby at him (not literally; I’m not that bad… yet). We tackle bedtime together – bathing, a bottle of milk for Ciara, stories, pj’s, songs, teeth-brushing and cuddles.
16. 7pm – The bigger girls are in bed. Pat eats his dinner and sometimes I try to tidy again, but not always, then I try to have a shower, but not always and a few nights a week I run, work out or meditate (but not always). I always end up on the couch with a sleeping Aine sprawled over me.
17. 10pm: I try to put Aine down in her bassinet, which is sometimes but not usually successful. Sometimes she’ll sleep til 2:30am and sometimes she’ll wake up immediately. She always ends up in bed with me and will wake 2-3 times before we all wake up and start again.

Leftovers have been my saving grace for a healthy mid-day meal, so I try to make larger amounts of our dinner and eat the remainder for lunch. This Coconut Chickpeas with Spinach is one of my favourite meals. It’s tasty, comes together in less than an hour, and is nice with brown rice but stodgy enough to eat on it’s own, like a stew.

If you don’t like chickpeas you can substitute them with: firm white fish (like cod), chicken, paneer (or, if you don’t have paneer, use halloumi – it’s just as good!) or sweet potato. If you don’t like coconut milk, like my husband, you might still like this, like my husband.

It’s a beautiful dish and I’m no nutritionist (I make donuts for a living) but I think it’s also really healthful and makes me feel good. And, bonus for us crazy-busy moms, it’s even better the next day (and the day after that!).

*Most importantly, if you think you or someone you love is suffering from postpartum depression, click on this link for some much-deserved support (and, by the way, you’re doing a great job).

Coconut Chickpeas with Spinach

Ingredients:

2 cans drained chickpeas, rinsed in cold water

1 large head/bag of spinach, washed

1 large onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 hot chili (I use bird’s eye chilies here but any will do), finely chopped

coriander stalks, finely chopped (a handful)

1 Tbsp coconut oil

750ml/3 cups hot vegetable or chicken stock

2 tsp curry powder

1 can full-fat coconut milk

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tsp salt

Fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Directions:

• Heat a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven on a medium high hob.
• Add the coconut oil, sliced onion, minced garlic, chili and coriander stalks. Cook until soft and fragrant, about 8 minutes.
• Add the curry powder. Cook for one minute.
• Add the chicken or vegetable stock; bring to a boil. Then add the rinsed chickpeas.
• Simmer on medium for about 30 minutes, until the stock has reduced by half and the chickpeas are tender. Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer once more.
• Continue to cook the chickpeas until they are tender and have taken on the flavour of the broth (you will have to taste to know for sure; canned chickpeas can taste artificial if they haven’t been cooked for long enough).
• Add the spinach to wilt. Season with salt and lemon juice.
• The dish is complete when the coconut milk has thickened into a light, gravy-like sauce and the chickpeas are fully cooked and tender.
• You can eat this like a stew on it’s own, or with hot brown rice. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
• It will keep in the fridge for up to four days. Served with rice or flatbread, this will feed four hungry adults. It’s nice paired with beer – a wheat beer or pale ale goes really well.

Maple Walnut Scones

People often ask me if I miss living in Canada. I’ve been living in Ireland now for almost five years. I have three great kids, a house we’re fixing up, a big garden (and more gardens planned), a small business and lots of friends and family milling around.

So yeah, it’s safe to say I’m usually too busy to be feeling homesick for Canada. That said, I recently got my kids their Canadian citizenship and, this year being Canada’s 150th birthday (if you’re First Nations, though, I should add that Canada is thousands of years older), I started feeling a bit nostalgic with all the celebrations and activities posted all over my social media streams.

Canada Day is July 1st, so it’s already happened. I didn’t do anything on the day to celebrate. Sometimes I host barbecues, bake a cake and have my friends over for Canada Day, but this year – having just had a baby – I wasn’t really feeling it. Too much, too soon.

But I can’t say Canada hasn’t been on my mind lately. So while I don’t miss living in Canada, there are a few things about Canada (or just Cape Breton, really) I miss in general:

1. Lobster season: May to July in Cape Breton. Lobsters everywhere you look. Lobster boil dinners at every small community hall. Lobsters being sold right from the boat. I love lobster, and I really miss eating it when it’s at its best. That also goes for mussels, scallops, haddock, salmon, chowder… and the list goes on. I know Ireland is surrounded by ocean, but there isn’t great seafood in landlocked Tipperary!
2. The beach: Cape Breton has so many gorgeous beaches. By July the water is warm enough to swim, the sand is golden and fine-textured and the beaches are relatively isolated. I love Irish beaches, but find the water is usually a bit too cold and most beaches a bit too crowded.
   

   

   
3. The restaurants: I love lobster and seafood. I love the places that prepare these foods as well. The Rusty Anchor in Pleasant Bay (where I once had some decadent lobster poutine with a cold beer; one of my most favourite meals), The Dancing Goat in Margaree, The Herring Choker in Nyanza, Charlene’s Bayside in Whycocomagh, The Bite House in Big Baddeck – all of these places make amazing Cape Breton food and deserve all of the accolades. I miss these places.
4. My friends and family: Obvs. I love and miss my *very large* extended family. Aunties, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephew, brothers – I miss them all.
5. The weather: in summer, it’s warm enough to swim in the river and in the ocean almost every day. On the East Coast, though, it’s not as hot as it would be elsewhere in Canada. We have the ocean to keep the temperature moderate (like, 35°C and under). A great deal warmer and sunnier than an Irish summer, but still comfortable (I don’t miss black flies and mosquitos, though).
6. Wild Blueberries and good Maple Syrup: I miss these things very much. The fruit in Ireland is lovely, but the blueberries here don’t compare to the blueberries in Cape Breton.
7. Canadian beer and wine: in Nova Scotia there is a wine appellation called Tidal Bay. It’s located close to where I went to university. The wine is gorgeous. Once, a sparkling wine called (Benjamin Bridge) Nova 7 beat out actual, expensive champagne at a tasting I attented in Toronto. It’s that good. The beer in Ireland is great, so I don’t miss Canadian beer that much; just certain kinds.
8. Homestyle baking: I know I do a lot of Cape Breton-style baking here in Ireland, but I miss other people’s baking. Namely from the cafes I mentioned previously, my aunties and older people from around my community.

Speaking of homestyle baking, I especially love East Coast scones. Large, triangular, sweet with a crunchy sugar or glazed topping, scones in Cape Breton are indulgent – often made for sharing – and perfect with a cup of strong tea.

I whipped up these maple walnut scones with another nostalgic food in mind – ice cream! I love the ice cream at home. It’s not soft serve like a 99 here in Ireland, it’s hard and comes in a million and a half flavours; one of my favourites being maple walnut.

No need for butter and jam on these scones. The glaze is thick enough to ensure the right amount of sweetness in each bite, and the walnuts are toasted in the oven and then soaked in maple syrup. Perhaps most importantly, the flavour is nostalgic enough to get me through to my next visit home.

Maple Walnut Scones

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups/375g Plain Flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup/60g light brown sugar

1/2 cup/125g cold butter, cubed

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup/250ml cold buttermilk

For the glaze:

2 cups/500g Icing Sugar

1 tsp vanilla or maple extract

3 Tbsp good quality maple syrup

Splash of heavy cream

Toasted walnuts, soaked in maple syrup

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F). Line one or two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar and cold, cubed butter.
• Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut/rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the centre of the butter/dry ingredient mixture.
• In a large measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk, then add the egg and vanilla. Mix to combine.
• Add the wet ingredients to the well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or just using your hands (your best pastry tool!) mix the wet into the dry until just combined (mixture should be on the wet side – if it’s dry and crumbly add more buttermilk!).
• On a lightly floured surface, turn the dough out and knead lightly for one minute. Form into a ball and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
• Using more flour for dusting and a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a thick rectangle (you want to get 8-10 scones out of this dough at most). At least 1.5 inches thick.
• Cut the rectangle into 8-10 smaller rectangles or triangles. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops with milk and sprinkle a bit of sugar over each scone.
• Bake the scones for 20-ish minutes. Let cool slightly on a rack.
• Make the glaze: in a mixing bowl, combine the icing sugar, maple syrup, maple extract (or vanilla) and about a tablespoon of heavy cream. You want the glaze to be thick, but still be able to drizzle it over the scones. If the glaze is too thick for your liking, loosen it up with a bit more cream.
• Dunk the tops of each scone in the glaze, or spoon the glaze over each scone allowing the excess to drip down the sides. Top with toasted maple walnuts. Allow glaze to set slightly before eating (if you can wait that long).
• The scones will keep no longer than two days, so make sure you eat them right away!

 

Visiting Templemore: White Gypsy Brewery

*A while back, I wrote my first post in a series about my favourite restaurants, cafés, food producers and places to visit in Tipperary. I featured The Green Sheep café in Thurles, which is where I also happen to sell my donuts and cakes.

I don’t have any disclaimer to add to this post. Except, maybe, that my love of beer surpasses most things in life (*Disclaimer: I really, really enjoy a cold pint of quality beer). Now that I’ve (hopefully gracefully) made it into my 30’s, I like to think the days of drinking mediocre liquor and beer to get drunk and party with my friends are well behind me.

I can probably count on one hand the amount of evenings Pat and I went out for drinks in the past two years, but that’s life with small kids. I don’t miss the mediocre beer and I really, really don’t miss the hangovers.

In fact, now that I have kids, my taste in beer has gotten even better. I don’t go out every weekend (or any weekend!), which means I don’t mind spending a bit more per bottle to enjoy on the couch after the kids go to bed.

I also have to give credit to Cuilán and Sally Loughnane in Templemore for making it so very easy to spend a bit more on quality beer. This is because their beer, White Gypsy, brewed just down the road from me in Templemore, is amazing.

The first time I tried White Gypsy beer was at Ballymaloe Litfest in 2014. I was finally *not pregnant* and while I couldn’t let loose and party with everyone else, I was determined to enjoy a cold pint on the lawn while little 8-month-old Maeve wriggled around in the grass.

I like wheat beers, and saw an interesting one on tap – White Gypsy Weissbier. I had no idea at the time (Pat and I were still in Waterford and had not yet moved to the farm) that this beer was being brewed in my soon-to-be neighbourhood. I took my pint to a grassy spot and literally savoured every last drop. I absolutely loved it. Mostly because there was something distinctly Canadian about the flavour that made me nostalgic (we have great beer in Canada; don’t let Molson Canadian fool you!).

When I moved to Tipperary and realized my new favourite beer was being brewed right down the road, I was so happy. I visited and introduced myself to Cuilán and Sally. I was writing a column for The Tipperary Star and wanted to feature them. They were so kind and interesting, full of great stories and obviously passionate about the beer making process; I couldn’t help but become a bit more passionate about it myself.

I found out that Cuilán got into beer making while he was living and working in Vancouver. The Canadian connection was explained!

I love supporting local food producers, but it’s sometimes hard to find products that beat out the tried, tested and true brands. White Gypsy beers are not only better – they’re beers that larger brewers should aspire to. They’re unique; incorporating old technique and plenty of artisanal flare.

Last evening, I strapped on my baby and ventured out to the brewery for their open day, celebrating Indie Beer Week. There was all kinds of delicious food, including stout brownies, stout sausages (made specially by the one and only Una O’Dwyer), local cheeses and condiments. There was also, obviously, a lot of beer on tap and in bottles. There was a great crowd and everyone was really enjoying themselves. The sun was shining and there was a warm breeze – the perfect evening for a community BBQ.

Cuilán showed his visitors around the brewery and shared the White Gypsy story, proving to everyone that he truly is a mad scientist. He is constantly testing out new processes, flavours, vessels, methods. Whenever I visit the brewery he has something new and interesting on the go. He and Sally have big plans for the future and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for their awesome little brewery.

If you’re visiting Tipperary this summer, Cuilán and Sally are always happy to meet new people and show them around the brewery. Contact them through their website or Facebook page. You can also see a full list of their beers on Untappd.

You can buy White Gypsy beer bottled in certain stockists, or on tap throughout the country (I most recently saw them on tap while brunching at Dela restaurant in Galway). My favourites are their Weissbier (found on tap), Dark Lady (bottled), Emerald Pale Ale (made with 100% Irish ingredients including home-grown hops; limited, seasonal supply; bottled) and the Sour Stout (pretty sure I enjoyed this stout from a bottle).

Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls

I had a whole post written yesterday about life with our new, sweet baby girl.

I gave birth just over three weeks ago, and now it feels like Áine is truly part of the family – I actually already forget what life was like when it was just the four of us (this is mostly due to sleep deprivation).

I had a whole post written about how sweet she is, how happy we are and how we’re in love with our new little person.

And that’s all true – don’t get me wrong. But it’s just a small part of the story.

Truthfully? I didn’t realize it would be this hard. Three kids under four.

I can’t sleep. Áine is either colicky, extra-sensitive or has reflux. Or something. But she doesn’t sleep at night unless she’s in my arms. Eventually, every morning at around 5:30, she drifts off and I can finally put her down for two or three hours. This is fine when my husband is home and let’s me sleep in, but otherwise? The other two kids have been taking full advantage of the longer summer days and have been waking at around 6am (or earlier, in Ciara’s case!).

During the day she spends most of the time in my wrap sling, which is fine, but I feel bad for my other two kids – the new baby is taking up so, so much of my time.

Yes, we are unbelievably happy, and having done this twice before I know how quickly this first year goes by. I am trying to cherish the never-ending snuggles, hours-long feeds and cute little snuffly newborn noises. It’s hard but we are happy and I know we’re also so very lucky to have three healthy, wonderful girls.

So what do you do when you’re an exhausted mama of three and you can’t get a moment for yourself (to sleep, or shower, or do the things you enjoy)? You take it easy on yourself. You lower your expectations. You let your house get disgusting. You let the weeds grow in your garden (and come to terms with the fact that, no – those leeks are not going to get planted this year). You put off going for gentle runs or joining that yoga class and instead sit on the couch with a cup of tea, your baby and a good, comfortable nursing pillow.

You let your other two wreck the house with the three year old’s “science experiments” (my carpet is ruined with homemade slime and play dough) and the 17 month old’s penchant for destroying everything in her path.

You let your three year old watch weird toy shows on Youtube and your 17 month old watch Peppa Pig on Netflix. For an hour. Maybe two. Just so you can nurse and snuggle in peace with the babs.

You let the new baby cry more than you ever let your other two cry. Because sometimes the other two need nappy changes, naps and can’t stay in their pj’s all day (I am actually writing this post in my pj’s… it’s 2pm…).

You live on toast, cookies, coffee and water because it’s all you have time to eat. You make some kind of dinner every night because your family needs to eat, too. But the baby likes to nurse at dinnertime and breastfeeding hormones give you zero appetite, anyway.

Most importantly, you come to terms with the fact that you can’t make the donuts, bread, cakes and cookies you’re used to making. You realize that this newborn phase will be over soon. You give yourself over to the fact that you just won’t be leaving the house for the next eight-ish weeks.

Lastly, you make these cinnamon buns during nap time because they’re quick and delicious. Crumbly and sweet, with the perfect filling:dough ratio. The cinnamon and brown sugar caramelize in the oven to perfection, seeping slightly into the dough. So much deliciousness with so little effort.

And your zombie-like, unshowered, postpartum self thanks you.

I’ll post again soon when I’m in a better mood (ie: after I finish the batch).

Quick & Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 cup/250g light brown sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

3 Tbsp soft butter for mixing

3 Tbsp soft butter for spreading on dough

Dough:

2 1/2 cups/320g plain flour

3 Tbsp white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cup/300ml buttermilk

2 Tbsp melted butter

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C, no fan). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside (if you want pull-apart cinnamon buns like in the photos, line a small casserole dish with parchment and set aside).
• Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. In a measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk and then mix in the melted butter.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once and mix until everything comes together (but don’t overmix – you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour).
• Roll the dough into a rectangular shape on a well-floured surface. Spread the 3 Tbsp of reserved, softened butter all over the surface, then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture over top, leaving some space around the edges.
• Carefully roll the dough into a long line and divide into 8 (really large) pieces or 12 (smaller).
• Place the cinnamon buns on the baking sheet or casserole dish and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 350°F (or 180°C) and bake for another ten minutes.
• Serve warm with orange flavoured chantilly cream (or nothing at all!). These will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days and can be frozen indefinitely (meaning I’ve never kept them in the freezer longer than two weeks, but I bet they can be kept frozen for much longer).

Enjoy!

 

 

Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

Things are slowing down around here, and just in time, too.

• The calves are pretty much all born. The eldest are already weaned!
• The cows are out in the field, loving life (if you’re a cow and you have a choice between luscious, green grass or silage, you choose the grass every time).
• The weather is brighter. It was chilly this past week, but for the most part Ireland has thawed out from the bitter winter. My garden is growing, we just got our house power-washed (a preemptive move as the house is getting a lovely new coat of paint very soon) and landscaping plans are in motion. We’re hoping for a warm summer with lots of BBQ’s!
• I’m slowing things down with my small business, The Siúcra Shack. Spending more time with my kids, getting the house cleaned and organized and baking for fun. Just for now!

This is all because I am totally ready to pop. 38 weeks of pregnancy have flown by, and while I’m thankful for a complication-free pregnancy (and hoping for a complication-free delivery), I am so very ready to not be pregnant anymore.

I’m not being insensitive. I love my babies. I know we’re #soblessed. But three babies in less than four years is a lot for anyone to handle (except for all those women with more kids than me, or moms of multiples, or moms of multiples with other small kids – I’m in awe of those ladies). So, while we are very, very happy, I am also looking forward to a cold beer, getting my body back (in some form), and never being pregnant ever again once we welcome #3 in a few short weeks.

Did someone say biscuits?

So no cold beer for me just yet, but I have been milking these last weeks of pregnancy for all they’re worth. Entire tubs of ice cream? Yes. Massive bowls of creamy pasta? Absolutely.

An entire pan of these flaky, fluffy buttermilk biscuits?

Um… well… Patrick, Ciara and my father-in-law helped devour these, but I’m pretty sure I ate most of them.

They were just so good, you see. Especially with a generous schmear of Tipperary butter and a large dollop of strawberry jam. While still warm.

Actually, I made another pan this morning. I forced myself to give half away, but if Patrick is late coming back from work I can’t promise the remaining biscuits will still be here for his tea.

Since I’ve revisited the way I actually make biscuits, I thought I would share this recipe today. I’ve been making biscuits for a long time. I mean… I have no idea what age I was when I made my first pan of biscuits. I’m from Cape Breton. We literally eat these every day. I never thought I could improve on the recipe I already had in my head, but this “stand mixer/fold” method is getting a lot of online traction so I thought I’d give it a try.

Fold that dough in half!

I can tell you, I won’t be going back to rubbing in the butter with my fingers and rolling out once with a rolling pin. You get better flakes, height, texture and an overall fluffier biscuit with this method!

*For the Irish reading (and anyone else who wouldn’t consider this a biscuit), this is more of a scone for you, I know. BUT it’s not as sweet. You can eat these biscuits with savoury or sweet accompaniments. I like biscuits with fish chowder, casseroles. made into breakfast sandwiches and with baked beans as well as with the traditional jam/butter combo!

Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

4 cups/500g (weight) plain flour

2 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup/60g sugar

1/2 cup/110g cold, cubed butter

1 1/2 cups/400ml cold buttermilk

Directions: 

• Preheat your oven to 200∘C (400∘F) and line a large baking pan with parchment. Set aside.
• In your stand mixer, add all dry ingredients and, using the paddle attachment, mix to incorporate.
• Add the cold, cubed butter to the dry ingredients and, continuing to use the paddle attachment, mix on med-low for 5-8 minutes, until the butter is mostly incorporated into the dry mixture (some chunks of butter are ok, but most of it should be mixed into the flour).
• Add the buttermilk and mix just until everything comes together.
• On a lightly floured surface, dump the dough out of the mixing bowl. Using your hands and a pastry cutter, start to shape the dough. Fold it in half, flatten out, then fold again and flatten out.
• Cut out the biscuits and place them on the baking sheet. You can shape/fold the remaining dough and do a second cut, but I would discard the leftover dough after the second cut.
• Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the tops and bottoms are browned and the bicsuits have risen.
• Eat the same day, if possible. Even better, eat them hot out of the oven. With tea. And butter and jam.
• Makes about 14 medium sized biscuits.

Galway City & Dog’s Bay

This past weekend Patrick and I were treated to a child-free weekend away in County Galway. I say we were “treated” not because this trip was planned or paid for by anyone else, but because my amazing sister-in-law offered to take on our kids for the weekend. With baby #3 mere weeks away, how could we refuse?

We booked into the Westwood Hotel, which isn’t very central but the rooms are comfortable, clean and affordable and the hotel is conveniently located off Galway’s main ring road. I love Galway, but I admit – I don’t like driving in Galway.

The downtown is a tangle of pedestrian-only quays and alleyways. Many of the roads you can drive on are so small and congested I get panic attacks just thinking about them. It’s nice to drive to the hotel, park the car and just take a taxi into the downtown (no designated driver needed, either – not that I’m indulging these days).

We arrived on Friday evening. We needed a babysitter for the kids, of course, but we also needed someone to milk the cows for the weekend (farmers don’t really get days off!) so we were lucky to have people to cover both areas. Patrick helped with the evening milking before we set off – not a big deal, since Galway is just a little over two hour’s drive from the farm.

Homemade Miso!

When we arrived, we checked into the hotel and then took a taxi downtown. We had one thing on our minds: sushi. There are a few options for Japanese food in Galway, but I had been following Wa Café on Instagram for some time and wanted to give their fare a try. They recently made the Irish Times’ 100 Best Places to Eat so we knew we were in for something good.

We ordered nearly the whole menu (I’ve said before; we’re Japanese-food deprived here in Tipperary!), consuming several types of maki roll, a big bowl of Toyota-style ramen and a bento box featuring the most addictive, flavourful Karaage chicken and crisp vegetable tempura.

The next day we were up early, so we did some shopping downtown before brunch at Dela. This cozy restaurant was buzzing with activity. I hate queues, but our meal was so worth the 20-minute wait. I ordered bacon + crab potato cake with poached eggs, hollandaise, toasted brown bread and salad. It hit every mark for me – flavourful, properly seasoned, well-priced and the portion size was perfect.

After brunch we took a drive out to Connemara. Honestly, the day was so beautiful – sunny and warm – it would have been a crime to not find a beach. I had read about Dog’s Bay in the Irish Independent as it topped Ireland’s 30 Best Beaches, so we thought we’d check it out – even though it’s a full hour and a half from Galway city.

After driving through gorgeous, boggy, barren, mountainous, sheepey Connemara, we turned off the road about 20 km from Clifden. A winding road took us past Ballynahinch Castle and the cutesy village of Roundstone before we reached Dog’s Bay.

To say this beach is beautiful is an understatement. The coral sand is pure white. The water is so turquoise it looks about 20 degrees warmer than it actually is. This beach could be in the Bahamas or Maldives – you would not expect to see it in the middle of County Galway’s rocky landscape. We’ll be returning here again and again – next time with the kids.

That evening, we indulged in a seven-course tasting menu at Loam. True to it’s moniker, Michelin-starred Loam specializes in the tastes and terroir of the Wild Atlantic Way. They use produce and meat from local farmers, make their own charcuterie and surprise/delight diners like me with interesting and beautifully balanced plates of food.

We loved the “pasta” made from very-delicately-sliced squid, served with a soft egg yolk and a deep roasted onion broth. The local sirloin was served tartare-style, but it wasn’t like any other tartare I’ve had. The earthy beef was paired with anchovy, crispy onion and fresh ramson & sorrel – it was actually refreshing. For one of our two dessert plates, we loved the Chanterelle mushroom ice cream with parsley sponge and chocolate-hazelnut crumb.

Parting gift: a copy of the evening’s menu (comes in handy when you’re trying to remember each course!)

Those were our stand-outs from that night’s menu, but honestly – I loved the whole experience. We very rarely opt for tasting menus in restaurants because, more often than not, you leave feeling bloated and over-full. If you opt for wine pairings, you often end up with four unfinished glasses of wine you have to chug before dessert. Also? Sometimes. It. Just. Takes. Too. Long. I don’t want to be waiting 30 minutes between courses. We’re parents of young children and we WILL fall asleep at the table.

Loam has its guest experience down to a science. We were finished in roughly two hours, enjoyed the engaging, smart (but understated) service, LOVED the food and didn’t feel overstuffed (but also didn’t need to indulge in any late-night snacks). The one star from Michelin seems a bit stingy, actually.

We went straight to bed after dinner and left early the next morning. I actually missed my kids; can you believe it? It was another beautiful day at the farm and I couldn’t wait to spend it with them.

Have you been to Galway recently? What were some of your favourite spots?