Limerick Tour

April 9, 2012

Last weekend, instead of laying low at home, celebrating Easter like most people around the country, Michael and I headed off to Limerick. He had to coach at a college basketball tournament and I had made plans to meet up with my friend Rachael of Gastronomics. Rachael and I met a year ago and immediately hit it off. We’ve only gotten the chance to meet up a few times in the last year, but I love it when we do. She’s lovely and smart and we could probably chat for days!

We started out at the Milk Market, Limerick’s famous farmer’s market. It was a little quiet at nine, but by ten o’clock it was buzzing!

{That’s Miss Rachael checking out the cheeses! We might as well have been in France!}
{We tried this Smoked Applewood and it was absolutely delicious.}
{I was a wee bit obsessed with the kid at the cheese stall. Check out his tools for cutting and sampling the cheese! Plus, I loved the idea that a teenager would be such a huge part of the family business – he was so professional.}

But there were other things at the Milk Market too – like pickled kelp!

And chickens!

And flat fishes.

This guy was selling cool buckets for storing and carrying firewood made from rubber tires. Don’t you love his paddy hat?

Around the outside of the Milk Market are little stores and shops that are open throughout the week. This couple was so cute – they were there the whole time, reading the paper together.

After the Milk Market, we took a little wander around Limerick City.

There were castles and lots of old stone. I’m terrible for remembering the history, but everything was very old and serious-looking.

{These derelict houses had been spruced up with little paintings in each window of flowers, curtains and cats. Such a lovely idea until they get properly spruced up!}

We finished the official tour with a stop at Bunratty Castle and Durty Nelly’s. Apparently they’re both a huge tourist draw. I thought this antique bicycle convention was so cute. There were lots of old men in tweed riding around on ancient bicycles. This guy in the black was in full costume with a bowler hat!

Huge thanks to Rachael for her incredible hospitality. After our tour, Michael joined us and we all shared a delicious meal and lots of chats. She also kindly let me take a few photos of her newly renovated house. I’ll be back to share those soon!

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Happy Easter!

April 6, 2012

Happy Friday, everyone! We had an early morning start on our trip to Limerick for the weekend, so I’ve spent the afternoon lounging and catching up on a little work that was left by the wayside while my parents were visiting. Tomorrow, I’m very excited to be getting a little tour of Limerick city by my lovely friend Rachael. She’s just renovated her house and I’m so excited to see it! Perhaps I might even be able to show a few photos next week!

Do you have fun plans for the weekend? Any Easter egg hunts? Cake-baking plans? I hope you all have a lovely, relaxing weekend. See you Monday!

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Annual Visitors

April 5, 2012

Last week my parents made their annual visit to Dublin and we had such a fun time chatting, eating and travelling. Here are a few highlights from their visit!

A Stroll in Howth

We took a long stroll along the pier and beach in Howth. There were kids out swimming! It was warm, I’ll admit, but not warm enough for us to jump in! We picked up two whole salmons from the fishmonger (and walked with them all the way home!) and baked one over the weekend. It was buttery and delicious. Even Michael, who’s not too fish-friendly, asked for seconds!

A Family Tennis Tournament

On Saturday morning, we had a family tennis tournament at the neighborhood club. My sister-in-law’s parents were visiting too, so we had four doubles teams. Left, above, my father-in-law (digging his tennis ball out of the bushes!) partnered with Angie’s mum, and Angie and her dad were partners. They are all going to kill me for posting these photos!

Meanwhile, Michael and his brother Isaac were partners. Michael hadn’t really ever played and got a little frustrated that he wasn’t Nadal on his first time out. But I thought he did so well!

My dad and I were partners – and won! It was great to be playing with him again even though I hadn’t picked up a racket in two years. It was the first time we’ve played on these courts – they’re only a five minute walk from the house – and we’ll definitely be back to play soon. There was even a resident cat who stalked around the courts all morning, flopping on the warm turf!

And Family Pub Time! 

All the in-laws met up one evening at the local pub and it was one of my favorite moments – it’s so lovely to see your family getting along with your other family!

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Accidental Hiatus

April 4, 2012

Errrr, oops! My parents arrived for their annual visit last week and I accidentally took a total break from all things interwebs. It was a wonderful, much needed visit and break for both them and me. I’ll have photos to share from our adventures tomorrow, but in the meantime, I thought I’d share some great links I meant to share at the end of last week!

Tomorrow, back to regularly scheduled programming here on FCV!

Creating a purpose-filled home.

Sprucing up a pitcher.

Pruning to focus. Loved this.

Really lovely maps.

Charm City Cake’s latest line is not what you’d expect. 

Give your resume a design-y makeover!

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Yes, Those Are Feathers

March 28, 2012

So I did this thing.

And then I told a few people about this thing that I did.

And they looked at me like I had seventeen heads.

But this thing? It’s my new favorite thing. Feathers stenciled onto my dining room table. Even Michael loves it. Score one for me!

This table technically belongs to our lovely landlord. And I did not check with our lovely landlord before I did this. However, it is totally un-doable if necessary and, I would argue, very likable.

Our living room is also our dining room, so the table is tucked behind one of the two couches, pushed against the wall. It’s not my favorite situation, as it’s nearly impossible to fit people actually around the table, but it seems to be the best way to use the space.

But that’s also the reason you’re only getting photos of the top of the table. The photos of the table squished in behind the couch make me grumpy. If we pretend the table lives in a spacious dining room, I am a much happier camper.

In fairness, the table needed to be sanded down – the finish had gotten a little gummy over time – so the table itself is much, much happier now. I borrowed my mother-in-law’s rotary sander and spent about an hour sanding the top of the table out in the back garden on a sunny Sunday. I only sanded the top because the rest of the table would have taken me an eternity to finish. That’s just too long in my book.

But the top of the table is vastly improved.

Once the table was sanded, I cut out stencils in four different feather shapes and taped them to the sanded table. I gave each feather about three coats of white paint. I could have sanded in between each coat, but I didn’t bother. Once the feathers were all dry, I gave the table about three coats of varnish.

Every time we sit down to dinner, it makes me happy. When I get sick of it (or when our landlord sees this post), I can sand it off and start over or leave it plain. So yes, those are feathers on my dining room table. And don’t you look at me like I have seventeen heads!

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An Easy Easter Basket Cake

March 27, 2012

My family never had a big celebration for Easter growing up, but it was always a good excuse to get together with our extended family for a springy meal. Since moving to Dublin, I’ve been trying to reenact that part each year. (Not always smoothly!)

But this year, Michael has to work in Limerick over Easter weekend, so the day will be a little different. Don’t get me going on how a country that barely separates church and state can allow a college basketball tournament on Easter Sunday. It’s such a bummer!

In any case, I thought I’d make my mom’s traditional Easter basket cake last weekend since we’ll be missing real Easter. It is the simplest and sweetest little cake to make if you’re the celebrating-Easter type.

Here’s what to do:

1. Make your favorite cake – choose your flavor and size. I made a 5-inch cake that was about 2.5 inches tall, but my mom always makes a regular 9-inch cake in two layers. (I used this recipe and it was yummy!)

2. Frost your cake with your favorite icing recipe. I usually use a barely buttercream icing (confectioner’s sugar, butter, milk and vanilla extract), but this time I used 7-minute icing and it was so marshmallow-y and shiny!

3. Create a little indentation in the top of the cake (my mom digs out a little cake from the top layer, but I just build up the icing a little at the sides since I happen to like extra icing) and fill it with green sprinkles or flaked coconut colored with green food coloring.

4. Make a little basket handle by scrunching up aluminum foil and wrapping ribbon around it. Curl it into a u-shape and insert it into the cake.

5. Fill the indentation in the cake with Easter candy and enjoy your sweet little cake!

And here’s how I managed to include spring-y M&M’s when you can’t find them in Ireland! The cake was delicious – the icing was like marshmallow fluff but not too sweet. It was perfect with a little vanilla ice cream!

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A Sweet Gift

March 27, 2012

Every week, I get emails from readers who are planning trips to Dublin. They’re often looking for suggestions for what to do, where to eat, where to stay. I also get a lot of questions about how to get the most out of a short trip to Dublin. It can be really hard to know which of the hundreds of amazing things should be at the top of your list when you come to visit.

I love getting these emails – and I try to respond to every one. It’s a fun little diversion for me to think of the best places to recommend and the best ways to enjoy my adopted city.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a lovely reader named Dusty, who was trying to plan a visit with her husband and baby boy for a short trip to Dublin.

We exchanged a few emails and I made a bunch of suggestions (like this and this). Then Dusty kindly offered to bring me a little something American as a thank you for helping her narrow down their trip. It was the sweetest offer and I couldn’t help but take her up on it.

We met up and she presented me with the biggest bag of Easter M&M’s ever. I’m embarrassed to admit exactly how many I ate before I asked Michael to hide them from me until Easter. But it was so fun to chat with her and hear what she thought of Dublin – I love having discussions about the ways Ireland is different from America. Everyone has such different insights about this city. I just find it fascinating!

So this isn’t a post to explain that I expect sweets if I give you tips for enjoying Dublin. Although I probably wouldn’t refuse! This is a post to say thank you to sweet Dusty for bringing me a treat I always miss this time of year. And a post to say I’m always happy to put in my two cents if you’re planning a trip to Dublin and you’re not sure where to start!

I used these sweet treats in a project I’ll be sharing later today or tomorrow. It’s very cute!

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A Sunny Weekend

March 26, 2012

Happy Monday!

I’m home sick from work today, but I wanted to share a few bits of my weekend. It was busy, productive and sunny! Sun in Dublin is amazing, but I also find it a little stressful. Since sunny days are a little rare, they make me need to be out in it for every, single minute. This weekend I found myself practically counting the freckles on my nose  – watching the proof that I’m properly soaking up the vitamin D. (Don’t worry, Dad, I was wearing sunscreen!)

I spent Saturday afternoon in the City Centre, had lunch at the Temple Bar Market (the most seriously veggie-packed quiche) and then took a walking tour. I’ll share more about that over on Poppytalk soon.

{Have you ever seen carrots in a quiche? Those roasted veggies were so yummy.}
{check out those glasses!}

Last night, after a long walk, a little cake baking and some cleaning for my parents’ visit this week, we had our first barbecue of the season! We sat for a few hours under Michael’s parents’ gazebo, watching the sun set. I’d like to order a few more of those days, please!

How was your weekend? Any excitement?

 

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Happy Friday!

March 23, 2012

{Volker Kraft and his family hang 10,000 painted Easter eggs on this tree in Germany every year. It takes two weeks! Possibly the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Via here and here.}

For the last few Fridays, I’ve felt like the weeks have crawled by. But this week, I’m not quite as exhausted and drained. The week flew! I think it’s because we had a few sunny hours this week (not whole days, mind you) and I’ve been waking up to light and bright mornings – sometimes even before my alarm goes off! What a difference some sunlight makes!

This weekend, Michael and I are spending some time gearing up for my parents to visit next week. Our front garden needs some serious sprucing! I also signed myself up for a walking tour in the city centre tomorrow afternoon and I think it’s going to be so fun!

What are you all up to? Any fun plans?

A few links to make your Friday a little brighter!

A sweet surprise wedding.

Cute recipe bags.

Super-fast DIY checker board from Martha.

A popsicle-maker that makes popsicles in 7 minutes. Amazing!

The more Ashley writes about Berlin, the more excited I get about my trip!

A very clever taco box for new parents.

And totally useful business cards (via here).

Have a lovely weekend!

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