At last, restaurants are reporting an increased appetite for eating out; perhaps those green shoots really are sprouting. I’ve had several requests from readers for an update on the London food scene. Lots of good things are happening over there – despite the cautious atmosphere, many young people are ‘chomping at the bit’ to open [...]

In New York, I lost track of the number of people who told me that the most exciting and diverse food scene was out in Brooklyn, so needless to say I sped over the bridge in search of the super cool foodie set. Brooklyn is all about graffiti, galvanise, peeling paint, iron grills and salvaged [...]

For years now we’ve been getting conflicting messages about what’s good for us nutritionally and three quarters of it I disagree with totally. For a start I avoid all low fat or ‘lite’ products. For me low fat or ‘lite’ means less flavour, less nutrients, less real value, every bite of food we eat should [...]

I’m not quite sure what’s going on but it’s becoming more difficult to find really good cinnamon—frequently what is sold as cinnamon is its coarser cousin cassia. Most of the real cinnamon comes not from India but from Sri Lanka. The latter is the biggest exporter of cinnamon in the world by far. Cinnamon trees [...]

A few days in New York leaves you wondering what recession? No point in chipping up to one of the hot restaurants without a reservation. Many don’t take bookings anyway so you just resign yourself to queuing – could be half an hour or longer but you might as well chill out and accept the [...]

On Easter Sunday our clever hens lay beautiful coloured eggs with the children and grandchildren’s names on them. In late morning we have an Easter egg hunt in the Palais des Poulets. When the children have found their very own eggs and deposited them carefully in the basket, there’s a stampede to the garden where [...]

This week its back into the kitchen to cook up some Easter treats. First I’ll make a Simnel Cake with a fat juicy layer of almond paste in the centre and another layer on top – I’ll decorate the top with balls of almond paste to represent eleven of the 12 apostles. Judas doesn’t make [...]

Will this chilly weather ever end? Anyhow let’s cheer ourselves up with a big pot of bubbling stew. These recipes certainly won’t break the bank and will provide a wonderful meal for family and friends. The trick is to seek out your local family butcher and start to ask questions. Get to know the joints [...]

During these recessionary times we’re racking our brains to come up with thrifty ways of having fun and improving our quality of life without breaking the bank. Every year when we plan our course schedule for Ballymaloe Cookery School we come up with some new ideas. One of my favourites this year is ‘Grow your [...]

Close to a hundred people crammed into our local village hall recently for the inaugural meeting of GIY (Grow it Yourself) Shanagarry, East Cork.
The organisers had hoped for 25 - maybe 30 people but by 8 o’clock the original meeting room was bulging at the seams so we had to decamp down the stairs to [...]