counting the days... #KAF11

The circling has been done, the tickets bought and I can't wait for the kick-off of this year's Kilkenny Arts Festival. The programme is a fantastic mix of "something for everyone"- Dance, Theatre, Music, Literature, Visual Arts, Craft and Street Performance, Kids workshops- 9 days Full of Culture with a capital C. Living right in the centre we get the best of  the atmosphere and buzz around the city during these 10 days of August. With all its pop-up galleries, exhibitions and street art performances Kilkenny turns into one big cultural sweet shop. I am so excited, I don't even think about the "more-than-our-flat-can-handle" number of friends we've invited to come to visit us during that time.

Next to the various gallery openings and visual arts treats available throughout the festival following are my personal MUST sees:

• The artist Angela O'Kelly will curate Modified Expression Exhibition at the NCG. And it's all about books, paper, written word! - check!
• Eric Sweeney& 3epkano -The Cabinet of Dr Caligari- a brand new live score to the silent cinema masterpiece- all in an amazing and a bit scary atmosphere
• Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - the name says it all, but have a look here also...

• TC Boyle - the sarcastic and vibrant author in talk about his latest book (*shall read before the talk...)

• Kaleidoscope- an informal concert of classical and contemporary music in the beautiful grounds of Kilkenny Design Centre 
• Body Duet - a thrilling way of ending my Arts festival. 

See you in Kilkenny!!!

lemon drizzzzzzzzle

Love, love love lemon drizzle cake! I made it few days ago and gave a slice of it to my friend. She liked it so much next morning she was at my door asking for MORE.. The yoghurt makes this cake extra moist and the syrup makes sure it's lemony and tangy. For all you lemon lovers, it's the "want it all" kind of cake...

Super Moist Lemon Drizzle Cake

Ingredients
Cake
4 ounces butter at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
zest of 3 lemons
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Greek style yoghurt  or creme fraiche

Lemon Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Lemon Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Method
Cake
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees (350 F) Grease an 8 inch tin (the bread loaf one..)

Using electric mixes cream the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, followed by the lemon zest.
Add yoghurt, vanilla extract and lemon juice.
In a separate bowl mix the flour and baking powder and slowly add to the batter, mix for another minute or so until ingredients combine fully. Pour the batter into the baking tin, smooth the top, and bake for approx 35 minutes,  until a toothpick comes out clean.
Take the cake out of the oven, let chill in the tin for 10 mins. - Make your lemon syrup
combine the sugar and lemon juice in a pan over low heat until sugar dissolves completely. Take your cake out of the tin, prick it with a toothpick and drizzle the lemon syrup over it. Let chill for another 15mins. To make the lemon glaze, mix lemon juice with  icing sugar and lemon zest, glaze the cake with it. Enjoy!!!

perfect addition to the picnic basket...

I love Fridays. Especially Cookalong Fridays! This time "party and picnic food" is the theme and my addition to the picnic basket are these delicious savoury cornmeal muffins. They are always a big hit at parties and gatherings, anything that doesn't require cutlery is the perfect picnic food. 

The recipe can be made vegan using soy milk and use of rice flour makes sure the muffins are gluten free. It takes no longer than 10 mins to prepare the batter. So simple and soooo tasty!

Savoury Cornmeal Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients
1 &1/2 cup cornmeal flour (use the finer variety..)
1/2 cup rice flour (or normal flour)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
good pinch of salt
1 cup milk or soy milk
your choice of spices/fillings (anything can do, some pesto, chopped herbs, a cup of sweetcorn, chopped chilli, greated cheese, seeds and nuts, etc...I have used chopped roasted peppers and sunflower seeds this time)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390F) and grease your or line your muffin tray. Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a spatula (no need to use mixers), if your batter is too dry, add more milk or water. Distribute your batter into the muffin forms and bake for 15-18 mins until golden brown. You might want to experiment with the proportions of ingredients and also amount of milk you're using, I sometimes use more rice flour than cornflour and twice the amount of milk and they turn out much smoother, perfect breakfast muffins..)

 Enjoy warm or cold, with a bit of Sour Cream or chilli  relish... or just as they are! mmmmm....ah, and let me know how you liked them!

the recipe marathon...

I'm working on a few exciting projects at the moment, one of them involves our local Farmers Market so watch this space. But I've also been busy cooking... (I mean I do cook almost every day... ) Most of the times I was lucky enough to get as far as photographing whatever I cooked, there just wasn't enough time to write down and post the recipes... and since I have never followed a recipe fully, it makes it even harder to remember what I put into the dishes... 

I did cook a yummy Thai-inspired noodle stir fry. With sweet potatoes, butternut squash, celery and courgette, yellow curry paste, coconut milk, lime juice and a dash of soy sauce. Here the result: It was very yummy and was cooked in no time.

I also got inspired by this recipe and made my own garlicky pull-apart pizza bread. However, I went for a slightly healthier option and only used 1/3 of the butter the recipe called for...

Last but not least would be the Chicken with Dijon Cream Sauce:

I know, picutre isnt' great (It was a quick snap just before I devoured the portion) So it might not look like million dollars but it tasted great! The recipe can be found here. I used Tarragon instead of Rosemary for this one... Highly recommend this one too. Go try it. And let me know how you liked it!

alive and kicking...

It's been a while... I know. It's been ages. But now I'm back from my little holiday, I 've missed the Catlaughs, the Happy Valley Festival, the Sheep Shearing and whatever else has been going on around Kilkenny...But I got a sun-tan! I'm full of vitamin D and mid-year resolutions, plans and projects ahead. This week is all about catching up, with friends here in Kilkenny, friends abroad (proud 3 letters and little parcels plus 4 rather substantial emails-that's probably all they'll hear from me for another 6 months...) and catching up with google reader, blogs, and recipe posts...

A week full of delights too, like the opening of "21st Century Icons" exhibition @ the NCG. I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the pieces selected for this show and cant wait to see them curated at the  Gallery. The 21st Century Icons open on 10th June from 5pm, do call in for a bit of culture (and free vino) if you're around! 

  

For a little bit of entertainment, Set Theatre with this gig will be my place of choice this weekend: 

 

Last but not least I'm looking forward to the 20 Mile Cookalong where Irish Food Bloggers will face the challenge of creating a meal using ingredients found within 20 miles. What to cook? What to cook? Was thinking about Goresbridge Trout, luckily they're just within our 20 miles limit! Can't wait!

Right, back to my catching-up then...

quick, before it's over! Irish Craft Portfolio @ NCG

Last Friday I revisited the National Craft Gallery for another little stroll around this year's Irish Craft Portfolio exhibition. This is the fifth edition of the programme showcasing the best in Irish craftsmanship putting Ireland yet again on the map for International Contemporary Craft.

This year, as ever, the quality of the work and skill involved is truly captivating, the connection to nature and landscape ever so visible. Various media from wood and porcelain through glass, black diamonds and precious metals to discarded plastic bags reflect great consideration for the material and appreciation of the making process. The pieces live each their own life and tell their own story, and at the same time converse with each other in a quiet language of passion, skill and patience. Every time I visit the NCG I find myself enchanted by the beauty of their timeless form, it makes me want to touch them and feel their warmth. I can smell the sea, feel the breeze on my face, run my fingers through the grass and hug the trees. The mood created by these objects and their energy are for me the ultimate proof that the border between arts and crafts has long disappeared. Craft can be equally challenging and exhilarating. 

It would be impossible to chose my personal favourite, but I am very inspired by Jack Doherty's soda fired porcelain pieces. Using his One clay, one colouring, one firing process, Jack chooses  to present the material which we associate with lightness and delicacy in such strong, robust form whilst still managing to capture its simplicity and elegance. The contrast within his own work is wonderful, and his work gains another dimension once put into perspective with other pieces, like f.e. Frances Lambe's Sea-Life forms or Nuala O'Donovans work.

My personal favourite of the Portfolio 2011 Jack Doherty

The participants of the Irish Craft Portfolio are selected annually by an international jury of gallerists, curators and experts and their work is promoted nationally and internationally through exhibitions and publications. The exhibition is accompanied by the elegant issue of Irish Crafts Portfolio Catalogue.

Complex porcelain piece by Nuala O'Donovan

You can visit this exhibition at the NCG until 11th May and I cannot recommend highly enoug htheir monthly Late Date (an informal tour of the exhibitions-every last Friday of the month). On Friday 29th April @ 6pm you will have the pleasure of a tour with Rhythm and Roots Festival Director John Cleere with musical assistance from Hans Chew. Do check it out!

Chocolate Overdose Cake for my Irish Foodies Cookalong

If you have recently decided to live healthy and avoid chocolate, sweets and work on your cholesterol level you should probably stop reading now....

This month's  Irish Foodies Cookalong theme was "chocolate", there could not be a better theme for my very first cookalong. I decided to go the traditional route and to make a Chocolate Cake. A decadent (1lb of chocolate...), moist, melt-in-your-mouth-succulent cake, which wont take hours of slaving in the kitchen... I think this 3 ingredients (no flour :)) Chocolate Overdose Cake will please even the biggest Chocaholic, and it's so simple to make.

 Ingredients

• 450g Chocolate (broken into pieces - I used half dark/half milk- It's down to your own preference
• 225g Butter (cut into pieces)
• 8 large eggs (cold)

Method
Grease an 8inch round cake tin and preheat your oven to 160degrees.

Whisk the eggs until they're very, very fluffy, about 5mins. Melt the butter and chocolate together .

Slowly fold in the melted butter-chocolate mix into the whisked eggs, trying to keep as much air in as possible

(If you feel that your batter is too runny at this stage you can add a bit of cocoa or flour, but I didn't need to).

Scrape the mixture into the  prepared form, fill a roasting tin with water and place your cake tin in the water bad. Bake for approx 25-27mins, the cake should have a crust like a brownie, but still look quite wobbly in the middle. Leave it in the tin to cool, once cool cover it and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Take the cake out of the fridge 30mins before serving. Sprinkle with icing sugar. 

This cake is so decadent, I dare you to ask for another piece... Enjoy!