simple wednesday

11Nov09

Just heard Marina and the Diamonds on Tony Fenton’s afternoon show on Today FM. Now I’m even more excited to be seeing her this evening in the Academy. Beats wandering around Mullingar trying on hats any day. I’m sure they’ll put her on-air version of my favourite ‘Obsessions’ online soon so I won’t post it again. Instead, it’s time to ‘Simplify’..

Filed under: concerts, music   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: academy, dublin, live, marina and the diamonds, music, obsessions, simplify, today fm, tony fenton

Recipe #18: Ciara’s Christmas Cake

10Nov09

I’m posting this without pictures as I’m in the midst of making the cake myself and have nothing to offer right now that is worth seeing. I did make this cake last year and it worked out perfectly, multiple times. I have been vain enough to name it after myself as I feel I’ve tweaked the recipe – originally Darina Allen’s – enough to make it my own. Before you start make sure you have a big bowl and a Christmas CD to set the mood. The icing comes closer to Christmas, this is only the cake part today. The only stipulation I have about the quality of the ingredients is that you try to  buy the best you can find when it comes to the dried fruit. Don’t go mad, but that little extra does make the difference!

- Recipe is for a 9″ round or 8″ square tin.

Ingredients, Stage 1:

• 110g glace cherries – I stick with red
• 55g chopped almonds
• 55g ground almonds
• 340g Sultanas
• 170g dried cranberries
• 170g currants
• 225g raisins
• 110g golden sultanas/chopped dried apricots (whichever you feel like, I have a fondness for golden sultanas but I’m trying out the apricots this year after hearing good things)
• grated zest of one lemon and one orange
• 110g mixed candied peel
• a good amount of Irish Whiskey: You want enough to soak the fruit but not enough for the fruit to be swimming. About a fifth of a bottle for the amount of fruit listed here. This is not a time to be coy with the whiskey, 200ml or so.

Stage 1 Method:

1. Wash and dry your cherries and cut into two or four
2. Mix the cherries, ground and chopped almonds, dried fruits, lemon and orange zests and mixed peel in a large bowl.
3. Add the whiskey and leave to macerate/soak for at least 24 hours. In the meantime gather your ingredients for Stage 2 and begin lining the tin.

Ingredients, Stage 2:

• 225g butter
• 225g pale soft brown sugar
• 6 eggs, medium size
• 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
• 285g plain flour
• 2 small/1 large cooking apple, grated

Stage 2 Method:

1. Line your cake tin with alternatate layers of brown and greaseproof paper, leaving the sides higher than the tin.
2. Preheat your oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3
3. Cream the butter until soft, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Whisk in your eggs slowly, beating well with each added egg so the mixture doesn’t curdle.
5. Separately, mix the spice with the flour and stir into the egg mixture gently.
6. Add the grated apple and fruit mix from stage 1 in now GENTLY as over-mixing will toughen the cake.
7. Place the mixture in the prepared tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.
8. Dip your hand in water and pat it over the surface of the cake.
9. Place the cake the preheated oven for one hour. After one hour reduce the heat to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2. Bake until cooked, this will take approximately three to three and a half hours (including the first hour!), a little shorter with a fan oven.
10. To test your cake is ready test it with a skewer, if it comes out clean the cake is ready.
11. When baked pour a little whiskey on top then wrap in greaseproof and brown paper (do not remove the original wrapping) and leave in a cool dark place until you’re ready to ice. Until such a time pour a little whiskey over the cake every few days to keep it moist the deliciously drunk.

Now sit, relax and enjoy the smell of baking christmas cake with a little ditty by Bing and Bowie..my favourite.

“Do you like Modern Music?”

“Oh I think it’s marvellous, some of it really fine”

Filed under: baking, christmas, music, recipes   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: bing crosby, christmas cake, darina allen, david bowie, dried fruit, little drummer boy, recipe, traditional christmas cake, whiskey

Collage magic

10Nov09

This is what happens with idle hands: they make collages on Picasa. This weekend I graduated from college along with a host of girls who wouldn’t shut up and Ms Rosemary Mac Cabe. To whit I made a collage of some of the more presentable photos from the day. I was talking previously about trying to work with my hair at present; these photos do not display my new found adventurism. At all. I don’t know what the hairdresser was thinking, though “It’s 8.30am and this girl is being VERY demanding” is probably close, but she gave me an “up do” (ugh) that withstood nothing – as we walked to the college for refreshments (my Dad: “in Galway they served wine) there were pins falling from my hair with every step – and a down do that made me look like a 50s housewife, not in a good Mad Men way.

My collage: unlike Rosemary I’m not offering those who birthed me anonymity.

I do hate cameras © Ciara Norton

Filed under: People, Photos, Places, dublin, family   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: ceremonies, collages, friends, gowns, graduation, picasa, pictures

Of course, of course.

09Nov09

God only knows what I’ve been listening to on Spotify of late (I thought it was all Roy Orbison, Springsteen and Laura Marling..) but when I tuned in this morning they were recommending I listen to Britney Spears Piano Tribute Vol. 2.

What? It seems there’s a whole world of piano tribute albums out there just waiting to be found and loved. I am, for one, sceptical.

You can see why:

I have no words.

Filed under: music, new music   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: album, britney spears, piano tributes, spotify, toxic, volume 2, youtube

French Love

09Nov09

My exceedingly stylish friend Emily sent me the link for A.P.C. a few days ago. Seeing as I was too busy eating scallops and macaroons and worrying about how well blue tights that claimed to be navy would go with my navy shoes that claimed to be blue I didn’t get a chance to look until today.

I WANT EVERYTHING. NOW. PLEASE. THANK YOU.

The whole site is Flash so I can’t steal pictures and post them here but if you go to the Automne/Hiver ‘09 collection for women the look with the “Manteau Sherlock” is my favourite. I want a Sherlock Holmes-inspired coat NOW.

That is all.

Filed under: Fashion   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: a.p.c, coats, Fashion, french, sherlock holmes

Always on my mind..

09Nov09

Food, that is. This weekend I did some serious eatin’ and drinkin’ and am now revelling in a foodie hangover of sorts.

I’ll begin at the end which was last night’s comfort food in front of the X Factor. WHAT was Simon thinking, the crazy svengali idiot? I won’t enter into a discussion on the rights and wrongs of his decision as I realise that the contestants involved are all children in a sense and, especially when it comes to those twins, are ill prepared for what the nasty public will throw their way. With the X Factor I decided it was time to break out the Perugina Panettone I bought yesterday in The Best of Italy in Ranelagh. It feels a little early as I generally wait until December to begin my diet of Panettone and coffee but comfort was called for. Earlier in the day my Dad handed my poor sick self the Observer Food Monthly: Festive Special so we served our panettone alá Stuart Gillies who advises:

At home we slice the panettone thickly, dust it with icing sugar then chargrill the slices in a very hot grill or griddle pan to carmelise the sugar. Serve it immediately with a big scoop of good-quality vanilla ice cream and fresh whole clementines in a bowl.

I left out the clementines and instead of vanilla ice-cream used the Carte D’or Caramel Cinnamon Waffle flavour we had in the freezer. It was DELICIOUS and is the only way I will be eating my panettone this winter. Aside from when I’m bothered to make Francesco Mazzei’s Panettone Ripieno,which is panettone filled with zabaglione and mascarpone cream:  perhaps not an everyday breakfast dish. Last year I made Panettone bread and butter pudding, you can find the recipe here. (Incidentally Lidl have their Pandoro on sale already if you’re not a fan of the fruit element of Panettone but enjoy the sweet bread)

The reason I was delicate yesterday was the culmination of Saturday spent wining and dining. On Saturday night we went to Il Segreto on Merrion Row in Dublin. (They have a great site, with up to date menus) I’m not going to list what everyone had as I can’t remember but we did begin with some great cocktails; I had a Champagne Bellini which was delicious and tasted like more. There were real peaches involved somewhere along the line, not just the overly sweet juice you sometimes get when you order one of Hemingway’s favourites. For my starter I ordered a Ceviche of atlantic scallops with margarita sorbet and kiwi dressing. Being honest this was my first experience with scallops and I’m not sure how I feel about them. They’re one of those dishes I avoid like a child who believes they hate broccoli but have never tried it. Plus, I’m a poor fish eater (despite living in an island nation yada yada yada) so I generally go for meat and vegetable dishes.

The ceviche was good, really fresh and refreshing all at the same time. The sorbet was delicious and like the bellini, tasted like more. I don’t know how quickly I’ll be returing to scallops but I am keen to try them cooked, beginning raw may not have been the cleverest in a new food friendship. Other starters on the table was Ravioli Di Magro which was a mouth watering dish of filled ravioli with a lemon butter sauce, a bowl of Celeriac and something soup and a starter portion of Penne Arrabbiata.

My main was the veal cutlet (on the bone) with sage, parma ham, fontina & lemon thyme jus. It was so good, the veal was strongly flavoured with the sage but it all worked well together despite my reservations about fontina, a cheese I usually dislike. Other mains on the table were seabass, a risotto milanese with ossobuco ragout and crispy pressed pork belly with pan roasted atlantic scallops, celeriac puree and coral & dill sauce. Everyone except he who ordered the risotto was happy. Personally I thought the risotto was exceptional and the ossobuco was excellent with the creamy saffron risotto. But you can’t please everyone. Service was good, composed almost entirely of male Italians and very attentive. The only gripe I have with the whole experience was the incredibly low lighting at our table, one tealight does not provide enough light for four people to eat by.

Lunch on Saturday was a quick bite in Davy Byrnes, off Grafton Street. It’s one of my favourite Dublin pubs mainly because I like the idea of drinking in a place that is mentioned in Ulysses, and who doesn’t?! I was the only one who ordered something that wasn’t a sandwich: a goats cheese tartlet with side salad. It was a quiche and I hate quiche. A quiche is not a tarlet, people of the catering world.

Oh! I almost forgot. We had a brief wander around Brown Thomas on Saturday and aside from the AMAZING eyeliner (YSL Easyliner in black) I came away with I also bought 12 Laudurée macaroons. 12 cost €18 which is an eye-watering amount to pay for anything so small but I am a sucker for a novelty and cute packaging and couldn’t resist. I loved them, particularly the salted caramel, pistachio and raspberry flavours but others were not so enamoured. I think they found the price, rather than the product, hard to stomach.

Laudurée Macaroons

In addition to the eating I also recieved a new cookery book as a gift this weekend: Neven Maguire’s Home Chef. It’s a really lovely book, with clear concise instructions, levels of difficulty and what look like very tasty dishes. I will be posting something from it this week. This week begins the Christmas Cakes and puddings, the cake recipe I will be posting if you think you want to make your own. It’s very satisfying, especially when you add Christmas music and hot chocolate to the equation. I also spent this morning drooling, once again, over Nigella’s Christmas and I vowed to make the Girdlebuster Pie before the year is out. Stay tuned, just seeing the pictures will make your teeth fizz.

Filed under: baking, books, dublin, family, food, recipes   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: bread and butter pudding, brown thomas, carte dor ice cream, christmas cake, davy byrnes, dublin, festive special, food, il segreto, lauduree macaroons, lidl, neven maguire, nigella lawson, observer food monthly, pandoro, panettone, perugina, ranelagh, reviews, risotto, scallops, simon cowell, the best of italy, the x factor, weekends, ysl eyeliner

oh, snap

06Nov09

Ernest, telling it like it is.

via Ffffound!

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: earnest hemingway, ffffound, happiness, quotes

never has the first line of a song been more apt

06Nov09

except the train is at 2:51pm and I’ll be returning soon and, eh, there’s no city boy so perhaps not so apt at all but I was singing this to myself as I cycled in my small town today whizzing (ha!) past ladies of a certain age talking about so-and-so who married so-and-so whose brother is a doctor but did they not know that so-and-so died last week and isn’t is terrible and shocking and OH MY GOD I HAVE CABIN FEVER.

I want his top thing, but not the crazy tight jeans.

Filed under: People, Places, cycling   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: cabin fever, ciara norton, crazy, cycling, don't stop believing, gossip, journey, mullingar, People, small town girl

Hand me down traditions

04Nov09

My Grandmother loves food. She likes nothing more than cooking, being cooked for and eating. No matter how unwell she has been or how tired she is she rarely leaves a morsel on a plate in a restaurant and her eyes light up at the mention of any form of dessert.

In her kitchen a drawer is stuffed with recipes torn from newspapers and magazines over the years. Like me I think she had intentions to organise this drawer into folders  but has always failed to turn the intentions into actuality. Most of the recipes are old and used; they are dishes that were the epitome of class and nouveau cuisine over 20 years ago but are now consigned to the “what were they thinking” pile of gastronomic delights. I seem to have inherited this cut them out and make them some day school of cooking as I found myself emptying a handbag full of crumpled newspaper recipes just yesterday.

Today my aunt dropped down my Gran’s failsafe Christmas Pudding recipe. It has fallen to me to be the maker of Christmas Cake and Pudding this year as my Gran now lacks the strenght to go about making the many cakes and my mother lacks the desire. The well-worn booklet the pudding recipe is in contains some marvellous recipes of old. Nigella’s Christmas has nothing on the leftover creation that is Turkey in Martini and Pepper sauce or the obiquous Chocolate Rum Log. The pages are thin and faded, this recipe has been in use long before I arrived on this earth. I will be making copies and keeping the original safe, this is a part of Christmas and family tradition I never want to see thrown away.

 

Delicious AND classy, right? © Ciara Norton

Christmas Pudding recipe © Ciara Norton

Indeed. © Ciara Norton

apologies for photo quality, I’m fighting with my camera.

 

Filed under: baking, family, food   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: baking traditions, christmas cake, christmas pudding recipes, family, leftovers, martini and turkey, nigella lawson, old recipes

I shall wear this with lashings of fake tan

04Nov09

 

When's New Moon out?

 

 

Filed under: Film   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: new moon, pale skin, t shirt, twilight