Witness to History

January 23, 2011

Happy Monday, friends!

Here's a little glimpse of my Saturday for you:





{Mini photo shoot in Temple Bar. Ha! You'll see why in a few days - all will be revealed!}

But now, watch out, I'm talking politics today.

It was a surreal weekend in the news here. Lots going on in our neck of the woods. On Saturday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced he'd step down as the head of his party, Fianna Fail, while remaining the leader of parliament until the March elections. He said he believed he was needed to steward the nation through the next few months. Debatable.

Then Sunday, the Green Party announced they were pulling out of the coalition with Cowen's party, meaning there will need to be an election sooner than it was scheduled for March 11th. I haven't figured out when the election will happen, but my guess is a few weeks? Eek, that's soon.

At the moment, it seems there's really no one leading the country. I'd probably argue that no one has been running the country since Mr. Cowen was elected, but at this very minute, I think we're up the creek without any hope of a paddle.

On Saturday morning, I heard a re-play of a radio interview with the Taoiseach from earlier in the week. I thought he was going to strangle the interviewer, he was so angry. There was no calm, cool, collected; he didn't inspire confidence. Instead, he sounded snarky and spiteful. He even defended his decision not to hire a public relations staffer because, he said, he was "in the business of substance," not personality politics.



{Image from here. I had to stop myself from putting together a photo montage of Mr. Cowen. Not very nice to kick a guy when he's down.}

He also defended the interviewer's allegation that Fianna Fail is in bed with the developers, because high profile developers were invited to the Galway Races Fianna Fail tent, by telling the interviewers how many other race tents his developer friends were in. If I were any one of his staffers, let alone a PR staffer, I would have been standing outside the studio, banging my head against the wall.

If only Mr. Cowen could have learned to communicate his (alleged) work on the substance in a way the people of Ireland could have understood, appreciated or been inspired by. He might have had a fighting chance. Instead, he's been a joke for quite some time.

Only a few months ago, he could have used a minder or two - it might have kept him from staying out at the pub for too many drinks, leading a sing-along and then calling in to an early morning radio interview sounding like he hadn't been to bed the night before.

I hesitate to make judgments about Mr. Cowen's work on the substance, but I do take issue with his assertion that communication doesn't matter.

If I ever had a passion in my political career (it was short-lived, 3 years and too cut throat for this lady!), it was helping candidates express their stances and stories in such a way that voters could feel them. And I'd argue there's nothing more important. In my book, a politician has got to be able to express to constituents empathy, impetus or passion in a way that moves people. If you can't do that convincingly, when things get rough, you'll go down with the ship.

Even though Mr. Cowen isn't directly elected by the people, the people still need and crave leadership and direction, especially in this tough economic climate.

And there's certainly no way they're going to get it from the figurehead president or the figurehead Dublin mayor or the guy who knows he has a communication problem but refuses to get a little help in that department.

This weekend, I have been trying to get all this straight. It's very complicated. Once there's a new leader of Fianna Fail (I think I'm rooting for former minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin. He never seems angry or spiteful; he's always calm and seems to have the gravitas a leader should have.)

But then, I'm pretty certain after a new leader of Fianna Fail is elected, they've got to sort out what parties are aligning with each other, and then they'll elect another Taioseach?

In the meantime, with everyone running around, re-aligning, trying to get themselves into the leadership positions, who is actually running the show?

***

What do you think? Correct me if I've got it wrong! I'd love to hear your opinions!

Enormity and Stromboli

January 21, 2011

A few people commented this week something to the effect of, "How do you bake all that stuff you put on your blog and you're not enormous?"

I have three tricks, two kind of sneaky, third not so sneaky:

1. A 6'4 basketball playing husband with a pretty good sweet tooth and generally great appetite
2. An extra freezer in our back garden shed
3. About 3 pairs of running shoes a year, a good, chatty walking partner (thanks, Mama Lo!), and Miss BodyRock herself.

I can't say there aren't times when I eat every last morsel of what I bake, but my favorite part of baking is sharing it with friends, family, neighbors, unsuspecting strangers. After a reasonable amount of something yummy, I pop it into the freezer and break it out whenever a need arises!

And when I do happen to eat the whole batch myself (those darn flapjacks got me this week), I pop this lady on the ipod and head out for some fresh air.



{The original version is better but it wouldn't let me embed, grrr.}

Right, so, back to business. Some savory baking for your Friday. Last week I made stromboli. And I even managed photos (that's two in a row this week, but who's counting!).

Stromboli

Feeds 4-6 people

Dough

5-6 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp yeast
2 cups warm water (but not hot)
2 tbsp sugar or honey
1 tsp salt

In a large bowl, soften together the water, yeast and sugar. Let it sit for a few minutes so the yeast starts to do its thing. Add in 5 cups of flour and mix until it starts to form a ball and get sticky. Turn it out onto a flour covered surface and knead it, adding the last cup of flour as necessary, for a few minutes. When it comes together into a ball, put it in a greased bowl in a warm spot for about an hour.



While the dough is rising, put together the filling ingredients. Think of it like a pizza - whatever works on a pizza will work in the stromboli. For mine, I usually do two different kinds, vegetables and pepperoni, and one with spinach and butternut squash. Sounds weird, I know, but it really works!

Filling:

2 large onions, chopped
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed
1/2 butternut squash, roasted and diced
3-4 tbsp cream cheese or goat's cheese

1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tsp oregano
pepperoni, sliced

salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten

Chop the onions and divide them into two pans. Cook them until they start to get translucent. Add the peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and oregano to one pan. Let them cook until they start to get soft and then take them off the heat. With the other pan of onions, just toss them into a bowl with the roasted butternut squash and thawed spinach.



Now, divide the dough into two chunks and roll one of them out into a rectangle. Spread one of the fillings down the middle of the dough and top with cheese.





Fold the bottom side up over the filling, tuck the ends in, and fold the top side to close it. Use a little water to seal the edges together. Flip the stromboli onto a lined baking sheet so the seam side is down. Brush the top with some of the beaten egg - this isn't essential to the taste, but it makes it golden instead of floury. Really up to you.

Pop the strombolis (what is the plural there?) into the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or until they're golden brown. Give them a minute to cool, then slice them and serve them! I like to cut them on the diagonal so they look a little fancy.





There you go! Full on stromboli tutorial (with photos!) for your Friday. Have a lovely weekend!

A Starting Point

January 19, 2011

Sometimes I forget when I'm sharing recipes that not everyone bakes, and that maybe some of you get a little intimidated by lots of steps or processes.

So here's a recipe that's easy whether you're starting out or have been baking for ages. The measurements are in grams, so work away, Irish bakers!



Flapjacks (like homemade granola bars, Irish style)
{via Sarah!}

250 grams porridge oats (oatmeal)
1 can condensed milk (use the light version if you can find it)
and your choice of the following, adding up to 250 grams total:

pumpkin seeds
dried cranberries
raisins
almonds
hazelnuts
pecans
coconut

{I used roughly 3 cups of oats, then made up about 2 more cups of seeds, nuts and berries. I'm not sure if it added up exactly but it worked!}

Pour the condensed milk into a saucepan and heat it up, take it off before it boils. The idea is just to loosen it up so it coats the oat mixture more easily.

Stir the oats, nuts and seeds in a large bowl. I used hazelnuts, almonds, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds and coconut. Pour the condensed milk over the oat mixture so it coats evenly. Spread the mixture into a greased baking sheet. Bake it at 150 C for about 25 minutes. Once it cools, turn it out of the baking sheet and chop it up with a sharp knife. Enjoy!

These might be the first Irish recipe I've made and they're just delicious. I've been avoiding Irish recipes because I really didn't want to buy a weighing scale and nearly every Irish recipe is in grams. But converting grams to cups or ounces all the time isn't very exact. I haven't been avoiding buying a scale because they're too expensive, really it's just because I'm not totally on board with the system. But that's not very grown up now, is it?

As one friend recently put it, "So you're letting a €10 piece of kitchen equipment keep you from an entire country of recipes?"

Well, when you put it that way...

Peachy Pink

Today was gloriously sunny in Dublin for the second day in a row, so I went for a walk to soak it all up. Guess what I saw?



These lovely peachy pink flowers - in January! I don't think spring has really sprung in Dublin yet, but hopefully the rest of the flowers and trees will get on board sooner than later.

In the meantime, here are a few peachy pinks (from a site that can actually ship to Ireland!) for your Wednesday. (To be worn separately, of course.)

Enjoy!



Oasis Sheer Sleeve Blouse



Nixon The Time Teller Watch



Carvela Bow Front Court Shoe



Blush Cropped Trousers

Nooks and Crannies

January 18, 2011

Hello everyone!

I'm trying out a new recipe today - English muffins. Turns out you can't get them in Ireland. So strange since we're so much closer to England. I came across some similar muffins this weekend at Mark's and Spencer's, but they were called All Butter Muffins. They weren't terribly unhealthy, but they didn't have the nice nooks and crannies that an English muffin should have.

So, here we go!



I'm going to use this recipe, because it's the only one I could find in my bookmarks that didn't use a started, and I draw the line at complications like starters.

English Muffins

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp shortening or butter (at room temperature)
3/4 – 1 cup milk (at room temperature)
cornmeal for sprinkling

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Mix in the butter and 3/4 cup of the milk. Add the remaining milk if the dough is too dry.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes (Emily note: There's no way I'm kneading for 10 minutes. We'll give 3 minutes a try and see how we do!). Place in a lightly oiled bowl and roll to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour.

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape into balls. Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and spray or lightly coat with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Move the dough balls to the baking sheet evenly spaced apart (giving them room to rise more). Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise for another hour.

Heat the oven to 350 F and heat up a skillet on medium heat on the stovetop. Brush the skillet with oil and gently transfer the dough balls to the skillet a few at a time. Allow them to cook on the skillet for 5-8 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned. Carefully flip and cook the other side for about 5-8 minutes more. They should flatten as they cook.

When the muffins look as if they are about to burn, remove them from the skillet with a spatula and transfer quickly to a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes. Do not wait until all of the muffins have been cooked on the skillet before moving them to the oven – as the first batch is baking, move the second batch of muffins to the skillet.

Transfer the baked muffins to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving.

If the first batch turns out like it should, I'm going to make a few extra batches to put in the freezer. I may even try adding a little whole wheat to a batch or two. Yum!

{Original recipe from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Image and recipe from here}

Monday Visits: Cork City

January 17, 2011

This weekend we went to Cork. Not so foreign, but it was a lovely day and a half. In fact, it was so lovely that I managed to take all of zero photos. Given, the first day it was misting and blowing wild wind, so I wasn't too eager to get the camera out. Day two was just flaky on my part. I swear, I'm going to get better! But let's see what we can work up.

We stayed in the Ambassador Hotel, which I think used to be an old hospital. We've stayed there before - and if you can get a room with one of the balconies overlooking the city, I highly recommend it. We didn't snag a balcony room this time around, but I can't complain - it was one night sleeping in a bed that isn't 6 inches too short for Michael's legs. A+ for that!



On Saturday night, we ate at the Strasbourg Goose, a quaint little cafe (and one of the only restaurants in Cork with a table for 6 with no reservations!) with a great prixe fixe menu. They had duck on the specials menu. Michael was a happy camper.

Sometimes it's a little hard to find great food for good value in Ireland, but the Strasbourg Goose was a great find. It was warm and cosy, with a fire blazing and the staff was so friendly and attentive.

On Sunday for lunch, the widowed wives and girlfriends of some of Michael's teammates went out for lunch at Amicus. Yummy food, great chats. Only wish I'd taken a photo.

We watched this guy (in the orange)



and this guy (bro-in-law, again in the orange)



kick some butt and take some names (67-56). Bring on the Cup final in two weeks!

And I even had some time to get some new makeup at Debenham's at the Benefit counter. A lovely girl named Leona (who had the most beautiful, milky skin) spruced me up and sent me on my way with some of this:



It's lip and cheek tint in a fresh, rosy color and way easy to use. It comes just like nail polish with a little brush. You just brush it on and then smudge it in. So easy and makes you look rosy and cheerful all day long!

I also picked up this eye makeup:



It's essentially all you need for pretty eyes for people who have no idea what they're doing. It comes with an instruction booklet that shows you exactly how to use the palette. So helpful.

So, that's your Monday Visit in a nutshell! Look, I managed a few photos for you after all! Next week I promise we'll take a whack at leaving the country. Well, we won't really, but we'll pretend to!

Dublin's First EatMagazine

January 13, 2011

Just saw a neat free online magazine with great review of Dublin restaurants (thanks, Sarah, for posting this to your facebook!) .

Check it out by clicking on the (giant) button below!

Now, those of you who aren't from Dublin, check it out, then store it away in your bookmarks so when you do come to visit you've got a great, accessible guide ready to go!

And for the record, they are spot on with their review of the Exchecquer. I could just about live on their chocolate platter. Won't even share. Just saying.

Open publication - Free publishing - More restaurant

And one more thing...how on earth does that image get to be giant and I can't figure out for the life of me how to make my photos any bigger than tiny?! Grrrr....

Vegan Cake Review: Wacky!

January 12, 2011

I got an email from my mom the yesterday saying she was going to wait to hear from me the verdict on the Vegan Orange Sticky Cake before giving it a try.

Um, oops! I forgot to let you know how it turned out!



Well, it's deadly. How's that for a review?

Really, though, there's no need to be scared of the vegan factor with the cake. It turns out it's just a Wacky Cake. Wacky cakes were a kind of cake common in the Depression Era because they didn't use eggs and butter, which were prohibitively expensive. Instead, they used cheap old baking soda and vinegar to give the cake lift. Pretty tricky!

My mother in law is nearly famous (at least among my husband's friends) for her chocolate wacky cake. I had no idea until I was researching for this post that it wasn't just her wacky name for the cake, that it's an actual category of cake. See? It has its own category. Not so scary.

The only suggestion I would make if you try the Vegan Orange Sticky Cake is to make sure you grease the sides of the cake pan before you bake it. I even did the whole thing with the parchment paper on the bottom but forgot the sides and one of the cakes did not look so hot.

The cake bakes quite quickly, so keep an eye on it. Might not want to go help your brother-in-law master the SAT for an hour and nearly forget about it.

And want to know one last secret? I un-Vegan'd it in the end. I didn't have marmalade for the glaze, so I made a regular vanilla frosting (with butter! gasp!) and topped it with some pretty confetti sprinkles. Totally yum. Okay, now go on. Make it. Quit being a wimp!

Here's my recipe for regular Vanilla Frosting:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
4-5 cups powdered (confectioner's or icing) sugar

With a mixer, whip up the softened butter (I usually put it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to soften it up) so it's not lumpy. Then add about a cup of powdered sugar and beat that together. Add the milk a couple tablespoons of the milk and another cup of sugar and beat together. Then add the vanilla extract and beat that in. Now you just want to add enough sugar so that you either have enough icing or you have the consistency you want. Just don't go adding too much liquid at once - a little goes a long way.

Sometimes I make this icing cream cheese icing by adding cream cheese and subtracting some of the butter - great for carrot cake!

***

Photo Note: Wouldn't it be great if I had a cute little photo of the Vegan Orange Sticky Cake I made to prove I actually made it? I totally agree. I know it would be way more fun and satisfying for everyone if I would post more photos of what I actually do bake, but I'm a bit worried that the photos won't do the food justice and then you'll never make the recipes I suggest!

My excuse mostly boils down to needing to upgrade my camera to something that can deal with the *extremely* low light in our house (heck, in Ireland in general!). Fingers crossed that upgrade will happen in the next few weeks and you'll see a lot more of my own photos on this blog.

Aversion to Prints

I'm off to start my new little job this morning, so here's a little quickie for ya!

Looking over my grown-up wardrobe over the last couple weeks I realized I have hardly any clothing with prints. I think I'm a giant wimp.

So here are a couple prints that don't make me run the other direction.



{Sparkle print blouse}



{Flower print blouse from Vero Moda}



{Sweet birds from Asos}



{Check print top from Vero Moda}

There, not so bad, huh?

And I just realized I totally forgot about yesterday's Monday Visit, so expect that later today! Better late than never!

New Routines

I have a little bit of news. I got a new job, and I start Monday. Eek!

I'll be working part time, for this organization.

I think it's going to be great, although I've no real idea what I'll be doing yet!

And don't worry, I should still be right here every day on my blog! It even means you'll probably see more stories I collect on my commute to and from the poshest post code in Dublin - just a bit different from my last position in the hood!

And in honor of having to begin dressing like a grown-up again, here are a few grown up clothes I'm contemplating investing in over the next few weeks.



{Suiting from Banana Republic - not too stuffy, huh?}



{Lovely Mac from JCrew - I think great for the rainy commute}



{Booties from Banana Republic - not sure if suede's a great idea, but might not be able to help myself!}



{Dress from Gap - would be very versatile}



{Cardi from Banana Republic - what a cheery color!}