Easy to please

I'm so easy to please. Dogs and late-bloomimg flowers delighted me today. 

Say nothing

Sometimes it's best when I say nothing at all.
Ibland är det bäst att bara tiga och låta bilderna tala.

Haven't you bought your crimbo spoons yet?

Samara has antlers and claws - amazing!

Sunshine people of the course - we all love you!

Crimbo jumpers galore

Millionaire's shortbread or Florrie's Chocolate and Toffee Squares 

Mincemeat Crumble Tart 

Chocolate Christmas Tree

Chocolate Yule Log

Plum pudding ice cream

Darina reading the bill of fare

Happy helpers

Nobody knows who this is

A deep-fried potato

Everyone loves a deep-fried potato. Whenever there's deep-fried spuds on the menu everyone is circling around plates and serving dishes containing this subsoil delicacy.

Today as I stood by the deep-fryer tending to my wiggly spheres of Pommes Dauphine (mash mixed with choux pastry) I was approached by a steady stream of students - and teachers - asking for a taste.

And later in the afternoon - as the food cooked during demo was served - the same thing occurred; the heaped plate of deep-fried straw potatoes was picked clean.

We simply can't help ourselves.
Ingen kan motstå franskisar.

Who knew?

I never knew I was one of the girls!
Jag visste inte att jag var en av tjejerna!
Photo: Stephanie Harris

The arduous study of wine

I finally found a sunny and warm spot for revising my wine notes (exam on Wednesday) when the sun disapperad. Spot still showered in daylight but the warmth was gone.

Too early for a roaring fire still.

Jag lyckades hitta en solig och varm plats för att repetera inför vinexamen på onsdag och så gick solen i moln. Platsen badade fortfarande i dagsljus med värmen försvann. Och nu är det lite väl tidigt än för en braskande brasa.

Snapshots from the garden

I've taken to walking the gardens during lunch. The crisp sunny days are here and I can't get enough.

Soliga dagar med hög och kylig luft går jag en sväng i parken. Underbart efter så många fuktmulna dagar.

The school building - Skolbyggnaden

Herb garden - Örtträdgården

Every park worth its salt has a temple thingy
En riktig park behöver ett litet tempel

This little garden shed is one of the things I'd like to bring home with me
Det här trädgårdsuthuset vill jag ta med mig hem

Autumnal Sunday

There's nothing lika a craft fair to raise your spirits on a cloudy November day.
Ingenting muntrar upp en höstmulen novemberdag som en hantverksmarknad.

Seconds, please

Of all the wonderful foodie entrepreneurs I've heard of or encountered over the past few months the guy who keeps a herd of buffalo in West Cork to make Irish mozzarella cheese is perhaps one of the more inspirational. Apart from the woman who taught herself to make chocolate from scratch and now is the only person in Ireland who manufactures it from bean to bar. Or the guy who sells pizzas baked in his mobile wood-fired  oven.

A road trip on Saturday brought me into close proximity with the buffalos and the craft fair on Sunday put Shana Wilkie from Wilkie's chocolate in my path again. So, now I only need to get myself to Midleton Farmers' Market next Saturday for another of Simon's wood-fired pizzas.

Cathy, Caitlin and Rebecca

Memento Mori