Wild Garlic

Today Bill found some wild garlic. (I won't say where!) He sauteed the bulbs, leaves and flowers, and served it on bread with our gazpacho for dinner, along with some olives, manchego and salchichon from Spain. The wild garlic definitely smells garlicky. The taste is fairly mild. The greens would have tasted stronger a month ago, but the flavor moves into the flowers as the plants grow. Wild boar and bears are fans.

Bill's in the kitchen at the moment making wild garlic and almond pesto.

Weekend Update: Sunny Skies

The weekend of April 18 & 19 brought lots of sun to Dublin. The bright days beckoned us to leave the apartment. Saturday we headed into City Centre to S. Great Georges Street. Georges Street is home to many popular restaurants--Havana, Cafe Bar Deli, Brasserie 66, Odessa. We lunched at a pleasant Japanese place called Yamamori. After a sushi fix, we strolled through the shopping arcade and visited an instrument shop to buy a music stand and guitar stand for Bill. [Note: was recently chastised (friendlily, mostly) for saying store instead of shop.] We wound up in the green and lay upon the grass. We then visited the Asian market to stock up on dumplings, and a surprising and happy find--Paprika Pringles (our favorite)!










On Sunday afternoon we took a picnic to our neighborhood park, St. Anne's. The sun was warm, but the breeze was cool, so we had keep rotating to stay comfortable.











The next Saturday, April 25, started out rainy, but turned nice by late afternoon. We visited the park again for a some duck watching, and also saw a heron.










We so enjoy having St. Anne's right next door.








On Sunday we attended church at the central location on Gardiner Street. The North and Central congregations met in the main auditorium. It's not quite finished, but it was exciting to get a glimpse of what is to come when all three congregations combine for the monthly celebration Sundays. Afterwords we brunched at The Mermaid Cafe on Dame Street. I had Eggs Norwegian--Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham. Bill also had poached eggs with fish, smoked haddock. For dessert we had pecan pie, which was unlike the pecan pie we know, but instead a lovely pecan tart served with maple ice cream.

Easter Tulips

The tulips in St. Stephen's Green were perfect for Easter this year.


















The pints were also quite nice.

To Donegal

We were thrilled to have visitors over the Easter weekend. Rebecca and Scot arrived on Thurs, April 9. We had dinner Thursday night at The Winding Stair, and Friday we set out for a quick trip to Donegal, the Northernmost county in Ireland. Even farther North than Northern Ireland. We heard varying accounts of how long it would take to get there, but found consensus that it's a long drive for a one night's stay. But, we are Americans and are not afraid of a little road trip.

We enjoyed our stay in the lovely Frewin house in Ramelton. We had arranged to have dinner there, and that turned out to be a great idea as many restaurants are closed on Good Friday, one of two days in the year that alcohol cannot be sold. On Saturday we set out for some scenery, and County Donegal delivered generously. We drove around the Fanad Peninsula to the Fanad Head Lighthouse and back through Doon. We stopped for lunch at a pub in Kerrykeel. And we saw a lot of lambs.
























































In case you were wondering. It took 5 hours to get there with a stop for lunch and a bit of traffic, and only 3 to return.

What We've Been Eating

The other day one of Bill's coworkers asked him if he avoids dinner when he's had a large lunch. Good Sir, Bill replied, placing his right hand on his chest (as I imagine it), I never avoid dinner. The Irish are really good about having only one large meal a day, frequently having "tea" in the evening, which I think is a sandwich or something else light. That's a pretty good approach, but we were amused at the notion of avoiding a meal. Run away!

So, here are a few examples of our non-avoidance:

If your husband ever emails you at work to say, I'm going to make the maple glazed pork loin from Cooks Illustrated, you should say, Alrighty! I believe I declared this pork with sauteed snow peas to be the best meal I had ever eaten.

My recommendation for any expat with a desire for Mexican food is to bring your own chef! Bill made these tasty sopes, which are basically thick corn tortillas pinched into small boats, and filled them with black beans, apetina (cows milk farmer's cheese), red onion and greek yogurt. Served with a few sausages and avocado.

Restaurants can also provide delicious meals, and Bill doesn't have to slave in the kitchen. We hadn't been out to dinner in City Centre for a while, so a few weeks ago, Bill came into town and met me for dinner at La Mère Zou on a Monday night (March 30). Our meal was lovely. I had a spring pork terrine for starter; Bill had roasted quail on truffled white beans. My seabream with white asparagus, girolles & jerusalem artichoke fricassee was very nice, but Bill's lamb tasting (pictured) was the star of the meal--roasted loin, herb crusted fillet, braised spiced shoulder and glazed sweetbread. The braised shoulder was terrific. I finished up with a smooth and light almond panacotta, and Bill had pain perdu, which is indeed French Toast!

We recently dined with friends at The Winding Stair, a restaurant that has been on our list for a while. The buzz in the dining room was great, with large windows overlooking the Liffey. We were impressed that the menu contains many Irish ingredients without falling back into stodginess, or forward into inaccessible nouveau. I had a seafood meal, scallops (pictured) followed by mussels and chips. The perfect chips were served with a wicked aioli that was widely appreciated by the table. Bill's starter proved our theory that black pudding works much better as an ingredient rather than a patty on a fry up. Served with chorizo and potato aside dressed greens and chewy brown bread, this dish was a knock out. Bill's main of pork, kale and blue cheese was also delish. Dishes our friends enjoyed included a lovely butternut tart and some pearl barley risotto, which was admittedly not super attractive, but tasty. We just had coffee and tea to end the meal, as our portions had been generous.

Southern Fried Tour continues--Part 2

We met my parents and brother in Little Rock to drop off our rental and have a tasty dinner at a fun fish restaurant in the River Market, The Flying Fish. I had an oyster po'boy. Bill had the shrimp version along with some gumbo.


Bill had requested certain breakfast items for our trip. In Huntsville we had sausage biscuits. The featured item in El Dorado was breakfast casseroles. Thursday's offering was a breakfast burrito casserole with scrambled eggs wrapped in tortillas covered in a sour cream green chili sauce and cheese. Yeah. A great way to start the day. Once mom accidentally made it with jalapenos--it was sublime.

To stay on our healthful path, we headed to Sista Sista Sista's for lunch. We were the last folks in before they closed for lunch at 2:00. Sistas serves up soul food--fried chicken, smothered pork chops, turnip greens, mac n cheese, and hot water cornbread. I picked mashed potatoes and cabbage--two very Irish sides. I have to say the cabbage was better than any I've had at a carvery. Sadly it is frequently cooked to death and bland. The Sistas use hot pepper flakes! Bill reveled in his southern roots with black eyed peas and turnip greens. Happily Thursdays are Senior discount day. A good lunch all around. Thursday night Dad cooked some excellent steaks.

Friday's breakfast included two casseroles: the classic sausage, egg, bread and cheese, and a hash brown casserole. Two of my absolute favorites. And I recall a bit of fruit.


One purpose of our visit was to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday, so on Friday afternoon family and friends gathered together. Unfortunately Mom had to plan her own party, but of course she planned a great spread. Aunt Gay and Zac came in on Thursday night, so Mom had a few helpers.

Our week started out rainy, but we enjoyed some glorious spring days during our trip. Of course, El Dorado is covered with a dusting of pine pollen, like powdered sugar on a beignet. But more allergen, less confection.

Saturday (March 21) Mom and Dad drove us back to Little Rock for our flight to Dublin. This time we had a suitcase full of Robin's eggs, Reese's eggs, refried black beans, Better than Boullion, and peanut butter. And black out curtains to fight Ireland's 4:30 AM sunrises.

Southern Fried Tour continues

People have accused me (encouraged?) of a food bias. So, let's get straight to the point. We have two Must Eats whenever we visit Bill's mom in Huntsville, AL:

• Gibson's Pork BBQ--the sauce and slaw are vinegary, North Carolina Style, and the pulled pork is smoky and tender.
• Greenbriar's Catfish--the hush puppies are the real draw, but the catfish ain't bad (i.e., really good).

Peggy had Gibson's waiting for us when we arrived, and also whipped up a bowl of Cherry Fluff. I LOVE that stuff. As far as I know, Cool Whip does not exist in Ireland, so this pink flavor-cloud studded with cherries and pineapple tasted truly exotic. We did a bit of shopping in Huntsville, including a stop at the always wondrous Target. I bought some extremely cute felt Easter baskets which have quite impressed my friends here. They cost a dollar! So great.

We visited the fancy Bridge Street shopping center Monday night, and had dinner at Red Robin (which always makes us think of Jered--our friend, not the Subway guy).

In St. Patrick's Day I awoke to realize I had brought nary a green item to wear. Weird since my wardrobe is 50% green. Our Paddy's observances were low key. The day was lovely in Dublin I hear. Last year we were a bit chilly at the parade. One of my friends said March 17 brings childhood memories of being cold and wet. My informal survey revealed that many Irish families celebrate St. P's with a family meal akin to a Sunday dinner, and some kids would get a new outfit. Lots of folks attended the parade when they were kids, but almost no Dubs I know attend now.

Tuesday was a glorious Alabama Spring Day. Bill and I had lunch with his friend Merri-Beth, and we shopped a bit more in the afternoon. We met Bill's brother Danny and family for dinner at Greenbriar's Tuesday night. True to form, I took pictures of the hush puppies but not of any relations. I've tried to explain hush puppies to people here, but they don't understand. How could they possibly understand?

Peggy sent us away with a bowl of fluff. She offered us the leftover BBQ, but we had something else in mind.