Five Homemade Irish Tea Treats

November 14, 2012

For today’s post, I turned to my friend Caítríona (just pronounced Katrina, for the Americans!), who writes the wonderful food blog Wholesome Ireland. Caítríona is always the woman with the answers when we ex-pats have a question about Ireland – she always knows why things are called by funny names! But she also has great tips for feeding a family on a budget in this tough economic climate. You can check out her Foodgawker gallery here as well!

Caítríona graciously agreed to share some of her favorite homemade treats to have with tea – some of them even use tea as an ingredient! Thanks, Caítríona!

Apple Tart: This is one of our favourite family treats, always served with a mug of tea!

Tea Raisin Scones: Very few ingredients make a light scone which is best eaten warm from the oven. Using the classic Irish buttermilk, they are simply the easiest way to cook up a treat for guests at short notice.  The fruit is also soaked in tea!

Blackberry & Lemon Cake: A new recipe but it’s also perfect with raspberries. I keep frozen soft fruits in the freezer the year around for this type of recipe.

Gur Cake: A traditional recipe from Dublin, eaten by “Gurriers” – an old Dublin term for messers – that’s made with stale cake!

Sugarfree Tea Cake: Made with semolina, it’s low GI, and the fruit is soaked in tea before baking.

Thanks, Caítríona!

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Sweet Irish Tea Treats

November 13, 2012

Last week, I did a very scientific poll on Twitter and Facebook to find out exactly which treats are the best and most typically paired with tea here in Ireland. The answers were split right down the middle between store-bought and homemade treats, so I thought I’d start with what you can pick up in the shop and bring you a second post with homemade treats from a very expert Irish baker. Best of both worlds, huh?

At my last job, there was an all-but-mandatory tea break at 10:30 every morning! Can you believe that? And these treats were always key players.

Jaffa Cakes – A biscuit layer, a layer of orange jelly, with the top dipped in dark chocolate. These are Michael’s favorite – apparently there’s a myth they’re good for energy during a workout. I’m not sure I quite believe that.

Bourbon Creams – Two chocolate biscuits sandwiched with chocolate cream. My personal favorite of this bunch.

Custard Creams – Two vanilla biscuits sandwiched with vanilla cream.

Rich Tea Biscuits – Just like an American animal cracker – light, crunchy and good for dunking.

Chocolate Fingers – Biscuit sticks covered in chocolate. My Irish girlfriends insist the best way to enjoy a chocolate finger is to nibble the ends off and then dunk it in the tea and use it as a straw.

Now, tell me. What’s your favorite tea treat? And more importantly, do you dunk? Or are you a dunking wimp like me?

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Celebrating Four Years in Dublin – with Tea!

November 12, 2012

Four years ago yesterday, I arrived in Dublin. It simultaneously feels like yesterday and a million years ago.

Even after four years here, in the last week, no fewer than five people have asked me if I like living here upon meeting me. That question usually comes directly after they’ve asked what brought me to Dublin. I always find myself breaking it down to one sentence: Well, my husband is Irish. That’s the simplest answer although it doesn’t feel like the whole truth. So when they ask me if I like living here, I feel the opportunity to redeem myself. I do love it here. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t be here. That’s more true, (if a bit sassy!) because it reflects that Dublin is equally my choice now.

It’s not an easy choice, and I’m not sure that with more time it will ever become easy. I still get homesick, sometimes more now than before, and I still wonder how I’ll feel about staying once we have kids. But it’s certainly my choice now. In the last year, the people in this country have been so kind, generous and helpful as I’ve written about and photographed their work. The people who read this blog and send me sweet emails about their time in Dublin warm my heart daily. For now, we’re still meant to be here.

Last year, I wrote about our third anniversary of living in Dublin, shared our house tour and a big lesson I learned, and talked about homesickness and why we’re still here. It’s been quite a journey!

All that to say this week we’re celebrating here on From China Village – with something a little different. We’re celebrating with a week dedicated to one of Ireland’s best bits – tea! I’m the first to admit that I’m not the biggest tea drinker. I would choose coffee nearly every time. But even I’ll admit there are moments, occasions and problems when only tea will do.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more about the ritual and what the rest of the week has in store for us. There are some fun posts planned including a give-away and a few freebies, so check back all week!

{vintage teacups on Etsy here}

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Our Wedding on Brooklyn Bride

November 8, 2012

My friend Brittany writes a lovely feature on Brooklyn Bride called What It Means, where she features bloggers talking about the most meaningful parts of their weddings. She let me babble on about our wedding to her yesterday. It’s so fun to re-live it! Check it out here!

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DIY: Jam Jar Votive

November 8, 2012

Hello, friends! Happy Thursday from sunny (for the moment) Dublin!

Today I’m sharing a sweet DIY using jam jars over on One Fab Day – and there’s a little free printable tag you can use as well!

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Pumpkin Muffins

November 7, 2012

It’s pumpkin season. Any and all things baked should have a good dose of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. That’s my feeling about November. Chocolate can come back after Thanksgiving, but until then, pumpkin.

That said, I bake nearly every pumpkin recipe with butternut squash, so maybe I should be giving butternut squash proper credit, but it just doesn’t evoke the same cosiness.

You can get canned pumpkin over here a little more regularly now, but it’s expensive! Butternut squash is cheap and much easier to find in my corner of the world. I usually whack the butternut squash in half, roast it in the oven until you can easily poke a fork into it, then scoop it out and mash it up.

These muffins aren’t too sweet and puff up perfectly with a really smooth texture. I used this recipe but omitted the cinnamon-sugar coating and switched the pumpkin for butternut squash. They are fast to whip up in just a single bowl and bake in about 20 minutes. The perfect quick pumpkin (or butternut squash) treat!

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Pinning for Dinner

November 6, 2012

Now that I have control over my schedule again, I’m excited to use the few hours I won’t spend commuting every day to make some delicious dinners. Cooking anything new definitely went out the window in the last few months, I could barely get my old stand-bys on the table a few times a week. So I’m taking a page out of my sister-in-law’s book and planning at least a few new recipes to make each week. Well, I’m actually literally taking a few pages out of her books – I borrowed a few of her cookbooks this week! I can’t wait to get out of the cooking rut!

I’ve also been digging through my Savoury and Scrumptious board on Pinterest. I’m not sure these are the most healthy recipes, but they certainly look delicious!

Where do you look when you’re trying to get out of a cooking rut? Pinterest? Cook books? The grocery store? Any fun recipes to share?

1 Zucchini patties in pitas / 2 Baked orzo with eggplant and tomato / 3 Sweet potato gnocchi / 4 Roasted red pepper and goat cheese alfredo

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Ten Minutes in Dublin

November 5, 2012

On Saturday, Michael and I ran into town – I needed to do a quick interview for a story I’m working on and Michael needed a haircut. I happened to have my camera with me, so as I walked from the north side to the River Liffey where Michael was picking me up, I snapped a few photos.

This market street off Talbot Street is practically as old as time. It’s not your typical farmer’s market – a little more gritty! But it has so much character, perfect for taking a few photos.

Lamp posts in Dublin are always my favorite architectural detail in the city. Silver with these pretty insignias.

The Hapenny Bridge is always mobbed by tourists. But it is quite pretty!

Such a beautiful autumn day in Dublin!

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News!

November 3, 2012

I have some news! For a long time, I’ve been waiting to share this news with all of you. I was surprised how much I’ve wanted to share this on FCV for many months and keeping you all out of the loop felt a little dishonest. It always drives me nuts when bloggers announce they’re working on something amazing but they can’t share it with readers just yet. Infuriating! So I didn’t want to give any hints until I knew exactly when I could share the whole story.

Yesterday I finished up at my day job and took the big leap into freelancing, writing, blogging and creating full time. My goal for this year was to be in a position to do this by the end of 2012, so it’s very exciting that it’s happening two months early! It’s also a little terrifying, and Michael and I have had a lot of heart to hearts about the new plan, but it’s  really happening. I’m relieved and excited!

My day job, where I’ve been working since January, wasn’t a good fit for me. I had a feeling in my gut from the beginning that it wasn’t the place for me, but I felt I had to give it a shot. Well, sometimes the lesson is to listen to your gut. My poor family and close friends had to listen to me hem and haw over whether to leave for months. Thank goodness that phase is finally over and I can talk about other things again!

You’ve already seen a few of the projects I’ll be working on in the future, writing about marriage for Snippet & Ink and wedding DIYs for One Fab Day. I’ll be continuing to collaborate on a book with my dad, and working on a few other book ideas of my own. I’ll be teaching craft classes for adults and camps for kiddos, and I’ll finally have time to work through the long list of ideas I’ve been stashing away throughout the year.

Over the last year, I’ve learned a lot about what makes me happy and what doesn’t. I now know it’s nearly impossible for me to sit at a computer all day long, and I really like to be out and about meeting people and learning about the cool things they do. So in addition to the other projects I have going on, you’re going to get a lot more posts about goings on in Dublin, tips for enjoying my adopted city, and even more of my day-to-day. I’m even working on a few radio projects that will hopefully see the light of day in the next few months!

Now, for the most important part. Thank you all for reading, for supporting this space that I love so much, and for keeping me creative for the last two years. I’m excited about what’s to come and I know I couldn’t do it without all your lovely comments every week! FCV is only going to grow from here!

Until next week, have a happy weekend!

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