Glorious!

Sadly, Ireland DOES live up to its stereotype. It's almost always raining, but when it isn't the island is GLORIOUS!

Yesterday, it was on and off, but when I got home from work, it had stopped. Hubby and I headed down to the sea for a late evening walk.

Along the Pier 

Where's my pot of gold? 

When we got home, I had the urge to try out my sister's version of my mom's recipe for making a Vietnamese crab and tomato soup- commonly referred to as Bun Rieu. In general, I can't follow a recipe to save my life, because I'm one of those people that don't measure (even when the recipe says you MUST). So this recipe which is below was perfect for me. This is one of the first meals I've made that tasted like my mom's on the FIRST try. Sooo impressed with myself. 

Steaming Vietnamese Soup! 

Her recipe if you want to try it:

In a pot with water, bring the dried shrimp to a boil and let it cook for a bit. In the meantime, sautéed chopped onions and chopped tomato in a pot. When it cooks down, add about two to three cans of chicken broth. 

Once the dried shrimp is cooked, remove from the water and chop them into tiny pieces(dice them) . Heat a pan with oil and garlic, add the shrimp and a am or two of crab meat. Stir it around for a bit, add sugar, salt, pepper. Stir. Add an egg or two..stir. 

Take the water from the shrimp and add it to the tomato, broth, onion mixture. Then add te shrimp, crab, egg mixture to the tomato mixture. Season with nuoc mam! Voila! You are done...let it cook for a bit and then eat! 

If you want one with measurements, perhaps check this one out though I've personally never tried that recipe. 

Best News of the Day!

There's a Vietnamese restaurant in Dublin!!!! EKKS!!!!!! I'm so excited, I would like to leave work right now and head straight there.

It's called Pho Viet (good sign), but there's no website (an even better sign!) and finally, ALL the menu items are in Vietnamese (Hurray!). I did a quick search for news or images and found the below- a bit sketchy, not decorated... I have a feeling it's gonna be good.

Clearly, I will be visiting this weekend and will definitely report back. I hope I'm not disappointed!

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Les crevettes

The gals and I seriously spent the entire weekend eating. We went from restaurant to ice cream shop to pastry shop and back to the restaurant again. I, no doubt, gained 5 pounds and had to pull out the big girl swimsuit (I bought this in Italy where I also ate and ate and ate...seems to be a running theme!).

Since we were by the sea, there was fresh seafood aplenty and I stuffed myself with shrimp, scallops and mussels. My favorite dish below. I ordered shrimp about 3 out of 5 dinners regardless of the restaurant we were in. I just loved them so much.

The size of my hand. SO good! 

The gals and I treated ourselves on Saturday night to dinner at Le Pim'pi, the top rated restaurant in Biarritz on TripAdvisor, and it didn't disappoint. We went three courses and shared a bit of everything. I had this awesome duck stuffed pepper with mushroom sauce that was soo good. If the waitress had brought out a bath with the sauce, I would have jumped in. YUM!

The steak that was shared. YUM! 

Coffee and mini dessert! I don't even drink coffee, but wanted to try bites of all desserts so ordered this little gem. A mini rum cake, creme bruelee and chocolate mousse. So good! 

Other treats at the weekend. 

Breakfast Jambon - This was three portions. We're not pigs!

I became obsessed with Salted Caramel Ice Cream when I was studying last year in France. The girls had to tell me to shut up because I may or may not have freaked out every time I saw it on the menu. We ordered this to share and instead of ordering 4 spoons, we ordered 4 pigs. oops! 

Salted Caramel Ice Cream 

Pretty Macaroons 

My happy G&T 

Obsession Continued - Salted Caramel Lollipop!  

BBQ Recipes

Besides the traditional sausages, wings, pasta salad and mini burgers, I really wanted to test out some new recipes I found on Pinterest for my BBQ.

My absolute favorite- Salted Caramel Rice Krispy Treats.

They look like normal rice krispy treats, but they are amazingly better! The saltiness mixed with the sweet... yum yum yum! I took the recipe from here. Really easy and delicious. The only change I made was to sprinkle a bit more salt on the treats while they were setting.

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For an appetizer, I went with Mini Ham & Cheese Quinoa. I wanted something that was easily poppable and could be prepared beforehand. These were good but maybe more for breakfast? Also, I was trying to be healthy but I'm not 100% sure of the quinoa in this recipe. Regardless, there were none left at the end of the night. 

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Finally, the last new recipe I tried was Cinnamon Roll Pulls. Completely and utterly decadent. Butter and sugar and more sugar. I actually skipped the icing because there was plenty of sugar there. People were really impressed with this, and it was super easy to make. There are recipes online for savory versions of this bread as well. Potentially worth a try for my next dinner party! 

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Good Friday

Ireland is funny.

On Good Friday, all bars and alcohol stores are closed and people here FREAK OUT! Holy Thursday is one of the busiest nights out because after midnight, you won't be able to drink again until Friday at midnight. 24 Hours without booze, and the Irish can't handle it - talk about stereotypes :)

Alcohol stores are super busy on Holy Thursdays, and this one was no exception. People stocked up to make sure they didn't run out of drink. Not gonna lie, we did the same. Ready for our Good Friday BBQ!

First time trying Grapefruit vodka. Highly recommended!

Seems a bit scarilegious, no? This was part of my little BBQ spread. I'll follow up with another post on recipes that were used. 

Mini Burgers and Pasta salad. So very summery! 

Nom Nom Nom 

It was a lovely Good Friday with good food, good drinks and good friends! We drank until midnight and thought about going out but decided it was probably a good idea to stop :)

Mangez, Mangez

Ekks... I've been neglecting my poor blog. It's been nuts busy at work and when I get home I don't want to even look at a keyboard. Waa...

Following up from the last post, after the race, all I did was eat... lots and lots. I deserved it after running 13 miles, no?

Before the race, the gang and I went out to dinner to this lovely restaurant right by the Galleries de Layfette. I don't know what it was called but it was really nice. We got there around 7 but by the time we were done, there was a queue around the corner. I had never seen anything like it!

I loaded up on pasta (not very French) and baguettes (C'est bon!). I also tried French escargot for the first time. The sauce was aMAZ-ing- garlicky, buttery and full of green stuff (pesto, maybe?).

Delicious Escargot- Eaten the night before the race 

The Gang 

After the race, my running buddy and I went and had our own private little celebration. The rest of our group actually went to watch the Irish/French rugby match. I had no desire to sit in the cold after the run- instead I stuffed my face with Steak Frites and red wine. YUM!

We met up with the gang again at an Irish pub to try and find the Irish rugby players. I had a pre gin and tonic stretch.

After a fun night out, we met up at a little cafe by the Eiffel Tower for some crepes and croissants for breakfast. The place was cute but VASTLY overpriced - seven euro for orange juice! Still we got to see the cutest French scene below. We were creepily watching this couple for a good 20 minutes. The guy was trying to strike up a conversation with this pretty lady. It was really cute to watch, and then he moved over to her table and started chatting with her.

Tuesday night dinner party

It was my turn to host the gals for dinner last night. I haven't cooked for them since August. I'm a bad friend.

Recently, I've been pinning away all kinds of gorgeous (and easy!) recipes to try with the gals and last night I attempted three different new recipes, plus one of my mother's old favourites.

I took pictures but I'm a terrible photographer. My pictures make my food look not-so-edible (even though it was!). Below are the recipes I tried out on the gals.

Appetizer- Carmelised Apple & Onion Mini tarts
These were really easy to make and tasted DELICIOUS! Not only did people go for seconds, they went for thirds. YUM!

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Main meal - Com Tham Bi - Momma's recipe.
This is a traditional Vietnamese dish that features shredded pork over rice. I didn't have the pork chop on the side like the picture below. I seriously got repetitive stress issues in my wrist making this dish :)

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Dessert 1 - Chocolate and Peanut Butter Banana Bites 

I made these over the weekend just because I wanted to try out the recipe. It was good and since it had bananas, also healthy, right? :) 

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Dessert 2- Saltine Cracker Toffee

This is such an easy recipe to follow. I've made it on several occasions before and each time it's been received with welcome arms. I made so much and didn't want it around the house so sent them home with one of my friends for her roommates. Their reviews... "Divine", "Fantastic", "Best thing I've tasted in my life." No joke. They are that good. 

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Study abroad visitors

This weekend, Hubby and I hosted my best friend from high school's husband's sister (got that?) and her two friends. The gals are studying abroad in Italy and wanted to visit Dublin. (Plus they were really keen on staying in a house that spoke English- something we can provide!)

We took them for long walks along the Irish sea, had pints and went out on the town. We showed them some bars and then they showed us some bars...mainly where the Trinity Irish students hang out (they had friends studying abroad here).

Hubby and I felt like the old, creepy couple hanging out with college students (which we were!), but the music was good, and we had a great time!

After sleeping until noon the next morning (when hanging out with college students, do what they do, right?), we sent them off into town while we I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Not gonna lie, it turned our really well. The turkey was perfectly cooked, and the stuffing was AMAZING. I used this recipe but added apples.

Hubby and the ladies in front of Trinity 

My confused Thanksgiving table (with Christmas napkins)

American Friends! 

Weekend Recap

Not only did I help BF finalise his wedding outfit, I also found some time to booze it up with my lady friends for our linner get together. Linner is actually one of my favorite things in the whole world- boozy lunch that leads into a late night of drinking? Yes please!

We started at Chez Max, and I can't get over how adorable this place is. I always forget about it as an option for food, but every time I go, I swear I'm going to become a regular. It's a cute little French Bistro with a lovely back garden. We were relatively lucky at first with the sun warming our faces, but then there was a major downpour. No big deal for this little bistro as they have a roof to pull over their garden. Lovely!

We started off fancy with some Champagne.

Yum!  

And had some fresh baguettes with meats and cheeses

How cute are the French flags?!

After a large steak frites dinner, creme brulee and multiple bottles of wine, we got kicked out it was time to go to our next stop.

Now I can't remember the name of this cute little pub, but it was just around the corner from Chez Max's. It's a pub with a snug! I had never heard of this before, but apparently, it's a little private section in the bar that was once used for secret rendez-vous or for ladies to have drinks in when they weren't allowed to be seen in a pub. This pub was full of little "sections" and the one we got was ADORABLE.

Locked in for privacy

In the snug 

Happy Guinness 

Taste of Dublin

Over the weekend, my foodie gal pals and I decided to check out the Taste of Dublin which is a food festival that allows you to try little meals from different restaurants around Dublin. I LOVE trying new foods and sampling different bites for my meals so this was right up my alley. We got super lucky because the weather was gorgeous (for Ireland). The only con about the Taste of Dublin was that they charged an entrance fee of 28 euros (ouch) and that doesn't include the food tastings which were about 5-8 Euros. Luckily the prosecco was inexpensive!

We started off classy with some sausage and prosecco.

Here are the ladies in the sun with picture evidence that it actually stopped raining in Ireland this summer!

My amazing pasta bowl that was actually really good value for money. 

 Thai dancers in front of the food stall for Baan Thai (one of the best Thai restaurants in Dublin in my opinion)

Oysters. Yum! This was my first time trying them. I love seafood of all kinds so not sure why I never had them before. I'm now obsessed. 

My friend the unicorn... not sure what it was doing there! 

A Gordon Ramsey treat- Raspberry and chocolate mousse 

Doing a 90's line dance to Smash Hits, a 90's cover band 

The gorgeous Ivegh Gardens. I love this little house! 

Sunny Dinner party

It was my turn to host our group dinner party this week, and I was TOTALLY uninspired. I love looking at food blogs and have a back log of recipes to try out, but my energy was sapped with the entertaining of the future in-laws.

Lucky for me, the work on the garden paid off because the gals barely noticed the food since we were able to sit out in the sun on the deck -sipping lovely glasses of wine (and mint water - with fresh mint from the garden!)

How bright and sunny? Lucky for us, the deck is a sun trap as it was quite chilly in Dublin yesterday. 

The menu for my dinner party included steamed shrimp dumplings (delicious and easy since I bought them pre-made from the Asian supermarket) and beef lettuce wraps -also really easy to make and so healthy. To make up for the lack of carbs and sugar, dessert was a make-your-own banana split extravaganza. This was my best genius moment! I was so lazy, I tricked them into making their own desserts :) 

In the kitchen...

I just had some with milk. a-MAZ-ing. I think they are generally hard to come by in Ireland although I can't be sure cause BF doesn't like the snack aisles when we go grocery shopping so I have to sneak my junk food in at work. :)


BTW... I just discovered Picnik for enhancing pictures so you may see some funky ones in the upcoming weeks though I'll probably get lazy and resort to un-enhanced pictures shortly.

Nap Room- please!

In a continued nod to the holidays, G served Christmas dinner at lunch today! We had turkey and ham, stuffing, brussel sprouts, potatoes, the works...nom nom nom... There was even Christmas pudding and Mince pies. If you don't know what this is, it's like fruit cake- an Irish Christmas tradition. However, in the same vain as fruit cake, it's always at dinners but no one eats it, and it's not yummy.

There's a sleepy air in the office right now as everyone digests the turkey!

Come Dine with Me - Continued

My little gal group has successfully continued the tradition of our Come Dine with me series (each lady cooks approximately once a week for the others), and it seriously is the thing I look forward to the most each week.

Last night, we were over at Kate's house and she totally dazzled us with Lamb Kebabs (I don't usually heart lamb, but I LOVED it last night) and HOMEMADE meringues, cream AND toffee sauce. How does she find time to hand-make toffee sauce? All the laughing last night definitely made up for skipping the gym!

Pleasant Surprises

I was having a crappy morning (missed buses, crazy clients, no gym, etc) and needed a break so I went for a walk to the post office to pick up a package that has been there for a week.

And it was full of loveliness!!!! My good friend Liz sent over an AMAZING care package full of items that I miss over here including -

- A1 Steak Sauce (Love it, miss it)
- Old Bay (Amazing for any seafood)
- Tazo Chai Tea (Perfect for the autumn weather that is already here)
- Ghost Peeps
- Archer Farms (Target Brand) Lemon Straws
- Kraft Mac N' Cheese (Tons and Tons of boxes, both the EZ mac AND the normal box)
- Slim Jims (It seems that I'm healthy with all the running, but I LOVE all kinds of strange, bad for you meat products)

Marks and Sparks Deal

Marks and Spencer (yes, of Bridget Jones fame) have been doing a recession buster deal for AGES. I have been meaning to check it out but get entirely too lazy to go in and deal with the crowds. This weekend though while out shopping with my pal Rachael, she forced me to go into the market. Since I was already there, I thought I would give it a try.

Basically the deal is a main dish, a side dish, dessert and a bottle of wine for €12.50. Cheap! There was a very large selection of each item.

I got a whole chicken, side of "Ultimate" mashed potatoes, Creme Brulee (Yum!) and a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio.



I still can't believe the deal! It was pretty delish and super easy to make!