Search Results: 'Gareth Clancy'

Some notes on Ireland

As some of you know, my family are fortunate enough to own a farmhouse in Cork, Ireland, and lucky enough to be able to use it as a holiday home since we all live in England now.  This weekend, James and I took Clancy and Gareth over for a long weekend of drinks, walks and more drinks; with a spot of sightseeing thrown in for good measure too.  Some brief notes on the weekend:

  • No matter how many times we say it, whenever the four of us get together we will always get carried away on the first night and spend the next three days wishing we had more sense than drinking ourselves stupid right away;
  • It doesn’t matter how many times I go there, I love the Mizen Head.  It’s also quite lovely to do the same things over and over again with different people: there’s always something new to do;
  • You learn some interesting facts sitting in an Irish pub garden at 10pm.  Irish pensioners get three free viagra a month;
  • Doomsday is entertaining, but ultimately, gory rubbish.  It’s like eight different films thrown together, and the main character from each one meets a gory, bloodthirsty end;
  • There is nothing that will make you shit your pants quite like stroking a donkey at 1am on your walk home in the dark, then hearing it braying in alarm 5 minutes after you walked away from it;
  • I don’t want to go back to work.  I’m far too chilled out to go back into the week from hell.  Turns out you can live without mobile phones and internet after all;
  • And finally, I’m going to miss my friends terribly when we move down under.  I thought I would be stoic about it but this weekend has made me see that even if I hold it together through the leaving party, I’m going to be a dreadful mess on the flight out.  Dreadful.

Enjoy the photos - it really is the most beautiful place - forget your day for a moment, and enjoy some vicarious chill-out time.

 A printable copy of the recipe for you, just in case. This recipe brought you courtesy of Mary Berry's Country Cooking (As Seen on ITV) circa 1985 Set aside for three months, turning once daily. This batch will be ready for Christmas. (The green Stamfords bottle is mine for next year when I go back the UK.) Add the gin until the bottle is full. Put the caster sugar in the bottle on top of the sloes. Weigh out 10oz caster sugar for each bottle you are making. (Note: caster and castor sugar are the same thing.) Ensure you have enough gin to make as much liqueur as you want. Also, a freshly baked blueberry tart goes down a treat. Put them in a clean, empty bottle till it is about 2/3 full. At home, slit the sloes open part way - don't cut them in half.