Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Friday, February 26, 2010

Nominated in the Irish Blog Awards 2010 - My Fifteen Minutes of Fame?

I've just seen that I've been nominated in two categories in the Irish Blog Awards 2010 - a nice surprise indeed. One in each category for Best Personal Blog and Best Food/Drink Blog - and in the midst of very illustrious company indeed as I recognise some of the bloggers I follow and am happy that I nominated some of you (you'll know who you are!).

There is such an eclectic bunch of titles and categories it would take forever to go through them all, but I include a list below in both categories and if you click on the link to the full list above you can check any or all of them.

At any rate it is fun to be included and I wish everyone well. I haven't a notion of winning anything at all but I expect that it is the well-known public blogs that will hit the headlines, and fair play to them - they are practically professional full-timers.

Hobbyist bloggers like me will never be up there with them or have the time to compete - and blogging for me is fun and relaxing and not something I view as competitive. But I do confess to a sneaking delight when I see a lot of hits and new followers so my ego is just as susceptible to a massaging as the next person.

So good luck to all the nominees and have fun with following the stages - a longlist from all the nominees and then a shortlist, from which will emerge the winners. (Just like the Booker prize - but best not to get too carried away!)

Best Food/Drink Blog

– Sponsored by Bord Bia


Best Personal Blog

– Sponsored by Microsoft Ireland’s Developer and Platform Group

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Posted by Catherine at 2/26/2010 11:30:00 PM 8 comments
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Saturday, January 3, 2009

New Year Reflections

One of the nice things about a new year is the new beginning that it inspires - all kinds of good intentions that generally don't amount to a hill of beans by the end of January, but give a sense of purpose to this dreary time of year - at least in this part of the world.
This year in particular is faced with some trepidation by everyone I know, what with all the economic doom and gloom. Global conflicts are in mounting turmoil, with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the recently stepped-up and relentless onslaught on Gaza - we can only hope that the imminent Obama presidency will restore some peace, balance and reason to the international stage.
Here in Lismore we welcomed in 2009 with a recession party at home with our family and friends, and even in these lean times we had some bubbly to toast the new year. We heard the church bells ringing at St. Carthage's Cathedral at midnight, and someone said there was an extra second added on to allow for the varying length of the year - not that I noticed! The party went on well into the New Year and it was very enjoyable.

We had a fine feast of easy-to-prepare-in-advance food reflecting our past lives in tropical climes - curries (beef, chicken and vegetable, to cater for all tastes), with rice and dal and chappatis, the most versatile street food of all for dipping and wrapping, and appropriately frugal and guilt free! Jany, Shayne's girlfriend, made delicious Dutch tomato soup with meatballs, which was a meal in itself and not at all reminiscent of a soup kitchen! Desserts are my forté and we had a good selection - apple tart, lemon meringue pie, banoffee pie and fresh fruit salad with whipped cream on the side for everything!
(You can see some of the end results on the photo, behind Jan and me.)
Everything went down a treat, and we had the leftover food on New Year's day, which was spent tidying up the post-party debris, and relaxing in between dishwasher loads.
Inkeeping with the spirit of change, we moved some furniture around today, for a new look to our living spaces, and might make more minor upheavals tomorrow - where will it all end?
May you all have an optimistically Happy New Year and a recession-proof 2009!
(There's a link below to a Facebook group I made, Cakes, Bakes and Tasty Treats - self-explanatory, it does exactly what it says on the tin! Have a look and enjoy the recipes - all tried and tested by willing guinea pigs!)
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Posted by Catherine at 1/03/2009 03:12:00 AM 0 comments
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