Cottage Pie and waffle

The cottage pie last night certainly looked good but it was a bit too tomatoey for my liking. I added tin of chopped tomatoes and some paste at Ronan's suggestion ( he insisted there should be tomatoes in a cottage pie ) but it tasted more like a bolognese than what I would regard as a cottage pie.  However, it looked great and was totally edible so a success I guess.

Lots of tummy pains today but Im not letting it rain on my parade. Looking forward to the cinema later. Ronan started his new job in the restaurant downstairs today so I wonder how he's getting on. Roll on 5pm so we can catch up in the car on the way to town for the premier of Morning Glory that I won tickets to.  Will let you know what I rate it tomorrow, if anyone is even out there lol .

Oh I joined the Irish Countrywoman Association even though Im not techincally a countrywoman (yet!) First guild meeting is in early February and I'm really looking forward to it  ,even if I'm the youngest lady in it.

I bought some new red shoes today to go with the red handbag I got for Christmas. The shoes were on sale for €12 so I had to have them for work and they will last me year round I'm sure. They look a bit like this  

Well thats all for today I think. Before I go just  want to say the flood victims in Australia are in my thoughts as are the families of  Michaela Harte who was killed in Mauritius this week. Sad times . 


Stay safe all.

Slan go foill,

Leanne

Weekend Recipes- The results

Well the weekend was a culinary expedition and I was Ernest Shackleton !

For breakfast on Saturday  I made Cinnamon French Toast with maple syrup which was delightful and I thoroughly recommend it !

For dinner I made Steak and Guinness pie as I previously posted and it too was perfect ( photo to follow ) .  I must say though you could do with a third hand to put the pastry lid on top and luckily Ronan was near the kitchen so I enlisted his services.  Go team!

Dessert was chocolate fondants which looked fab ( again pics to follow) but unfortunately I left them in about 8-10 mins and they werent as gooey in the centre as they should have been so I 'd say 3-4 mins next time.

Sunday then , well after a verrryy late night in town on Saturday we were lazy on Sunday morning so I got up at 12pm , went next door to the shop and bought croissants to accompany coffee . I then took the lamb shanks out of the freezer to defrost and went back to bed for a few hours. I got up later and put the lamb in for 90mins and did champ and carrotts with it. It was delicious. Recipe was from Nevin Maguire's cookbook with some slight alterations ( thanks again Fidelma) .  For dessert I did a lemon meringue ice cream which basically consists of broken meringue nests mixed into some softened vanilla ice cream and lemon curd. You mix them all together and spoon the mixture into a loaf tin lined with cling wrap and put the tin into the freezer until set. Easy peasy.

All in all a good weekend of wholesome cooking and not an "e" number or MSG  in sight :D

Last night I happened to watch a baking show and saw an easy recipe for French pattiserie style millefuilles so I made an impromptu  Peach and Lemon Cream millefuille ( pics to follow) which went down a treat with Ronan on his return from work.

You can use this and put almost any filling in and for tea parties they look fab! Check it out here http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/blueberry_and_lemon_03932

Well tonight , Ronan is off work and it's going to be a team effort to make a traditional Cottage Pie. Cooking together is always fun . Will post back tomorrow.

Before I go, I thought I would share some old pics I came across of my old cheerleading team at their first competition in the UK . We were the first Irish cheerleading team to compete in competition abroad and won 2 trophies. Miss those little sweethearts!

Slan for now .

Leanne

Recipe for Steak and Guinness Pie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i67S0le0f6Y


Found this video useful thought of course I use good old Irish Guinness . Making this tomorrow and dessert tomorrow will be creme brulee ( my first attempt at one ) .

 Sunday's dinner will be Lamp Shank with Champ and a choc pudding with lemon meringue ice cream again new recipes.

I will report back with my findings on Monday.

Toodles xx

Last Night's Dinner

Well the Dublin Coddle was a great success! It turned out just as my mum made it when I was a kid and I enjoyed it with some lovely crusty French bread -deeeelisssh. 

           Dublin Coddle

I started reading my new book last night,   " A Century of Dance" which follows the growth of various dance styles from the 1900's right up to hip hop in the Noughties. Its good reading for any dancer .

I also spent the rest of the night taking down our Christmas Tree ( sniffle sniffle ) and  ironing piles of clothes, mostly Ronan's shirts. As a result, I was so completely shattered that I didnt even hear Ronan coming in from work in the early hours.  I usually wake when he comes in when I hear the door opening and say hi to him, ask him how his shift was etc. but last night there was just no waking me. I slept great but I'm still tired so I'm very thankful it's Friday so I can stay in bed late tomorrow .

Also plan on going to feed the seals down at the harbour tomorrow, weather permitting of course. Hopefully I can take some nice photos and will post back on Monday.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend and no doubt I will be back on Monday with more random ranting .

Slan go foil,

Leanne

New Start

Hi all,

Well I thought I would share some of my many thoughts and an insight into my life and experiences as 2011 unfolds.

I haven't made any resolutions. Im happy and if that happiness persists well and good and if it doesn't I'll do something about it when that time comes.

 A huge source of happiness is my wonderful boyfriend Ronan and although we have only been together since March 2010 , I know he is the man for me. 

Well , one thing I have decided to do is to get back into Ballroom Dancing. I competed at beginner level a few years ago but my partner moved back to South Africa so I stopped . I am starting back at lessons next week and once I am good enough there will be competitions almost once a month which I am very excited about.  Must dig out my ballroom shoes !

I am also trying at least one new dish and dessert a week and tonight's dish is a Dublin Coddle . Will update you tomorrow on how it turns out.



Bye for now.

Leanne