Cooking at Howth Castle May 30

Wednesday, May 30

Jane surprised me with a hands on cookery class in a castle on Wednesday night. We collected Allison, her sister-in-law and met two of her friends at the castle. There were about 20 people (only one of them was a man, but he seemed to have a good time).

The menu:

• Marinated Beetroot with Grilled Goat Cheese
• Baked Sea Bass with a Cannellini mash and Basil Sauce
• Green Beans with roasted red peppers and pine nuts
• Lemon Roasted Potatoes
• Yogurt, Orange and Cardamom Panacotta with Poached Nectarines.

We all worked together to prep the ingredients and then we sat in the Butler's pantry and ate the meal. Everything was delicious! There wasn't anything I didn't like. LOVED the Lemon roasted potatoes! They gave us printed recipes for everything so I can cook any of it again when I get home. I definitely will do that!

Playing With My Food

I was making roasted vegetables in the crock pot the other night for a potluck. As I was cutting up the the most beautiful, red perfect bell pepper I have seen in a long time I had to stop my knife and take photos of it. I spent about 20 minutes arranging veggies and taking photos. It's funny how the different areas of my life will overlap sometimes.

I like to cook. I'm a pretty good cook, having learned from my mom and her mother. I also have a passion for photography which, interestingly enough, fits in almost anywhere. I try to keep my camera with me all the time in case I am inspired by something I see. I haven't been posting on my blog for a while as I have been taking a ceramics class and that was filling a creative spot in my life. Now it's summertime and I'm in between classes, hopefully I'll be picking up my camera more often.

 And the crock pot roasted veggies were yummy!

Fond Memories

I ask you, is there anything better in the world than licking the beaters after you've just finished mixing up your favorite batch of (insert favorite baked goods here)? I remember my grandma making cakes, brownies, cookies and we always got to lick the beaters. That was the best ever (even better than eating the finished product)! If you grew up in a house where no one baked, you have my sympathy - you missed out on a wonderful memory.

If you have kids and you don't bake - learn how! Even if it's just mixing up the box mixes from the store (slice and bake cookies won't work - no beaters to lick). Baking from scratch, though, that's magic. And it's not as hard to do as you might think. More fun than watching TV or playing video games. You will create some wonderful memories if you let them help you cook - whatever you're making.

Some of my happiest memories are of helping my mom and her mother cook our meals and our treats. I learned to be a fairly good cook from both of them. Thanks mom! Thanks grandma!