Back from holiday, refreshed and inspired, with a few ideas up my sleeve, sun and storms in July, lovely fresh vegetables and herbs in the garden.
Looking forward to fresh bread this saturday 11 april and I hope I did not get a bad name for missing two weeks recently but I did good work I think with my bookmaking muscles. What the weather will be at is anyone’s guess.
Look out for the wondeful programme of training an courses at Knockvicar, you can pick up your own little booklet but here is what’s coming up :
saturday 4 april 10-2pm (€40) introductory course to permaculture
saturday 9 may 10-2pm (€40, €30 concessions) weeds, pests, diseases, the organic way.
saturday 7 June 10-4pm (€40, €30 concessions) salad leaf day
in knockvicar this saturday 21 february with bread, cakes and things and the following day I’ll be back dressed as a seed swapper. Yes, if you are around come for a seed swap sunday at 2, and bring your seeds.
lovely lovely day at knockvicar on 7 february, we sat out in the sun and drank hot beverages (all proceeds go to survival international) and tasted the New Cake : chocolate and beetroot. Next week 14 february at 3pm after my knockvicar morning shift I’ll rush to the Dock (disshevelled and outofbreath) in carrick for my next perfectly edible art performance : Love ? We would like to help, to coincide with the opening of the love show. All and everyone welcome. Click below for invites.
well I never, I started the week with very mild labyrinthitis (I say very mild because I’ve done much much worse) so I took to bed immediately, day three I am up and quite steady but rather terribly weak and now the throat is sore, so I’m calling in sick for this coming saturday rather than make a meal of it and spread it over 5 weeks of my life and all over the northwest, see you on 31 january !
happy two thousand and nice Back in knockvicar on 17 january 2009 for a very busy day and some dramatic weather. Good to be back in action. Planning to be there every saturday in January, planning to miss at least one saturday in february or march, will keep you posted. New year resolution : posting more photographs and more recipes.
at knockvicar for the last two saturdays this year 13 december and saturday 20 december for mulled organic apple juice & biscotti. And then I will hibernate at home to reappear in knockvicar on saturday 17 january.
Food in the dock for the opening of the last show of 2008, Eight [Clive Bright, Majella Clancy, Dearbhail Connon, Billy Moore, Ricardo Marques, Elaine Reynolds, Heidi Wickham and Kate Wilson), and the food will be 'eat, ate, eaten', friday 12 december at 5.30 pm, all welcome.
4 october saturday morning in knockvicar, with breads and things (featuring The Return of The Biscotti), a dry day would be nice, we were blown back into the house today (thursday) from doing some animal work, drenched to the inner bones. Next week, 11 october, I'm afraid is not on, not at all, as I am away in the Tyrone Guthrie centre for the second week of my bursary. Will I miss my daily chores, will I invent new ones ? Back on 18 october yes, a dry day would be nice. I enjoy the chill announcing an autumn in our lives, fallen leaves, wood ash to bring out to the compost and tonight a little glass of Anjou wine.
19 september at 5.30p.m. food for the opening reception of "commodity form" at the dock, Colin Darke and David Mabb, everyone welcome. Double shift for me up at the crack of dawn the next morning to bake the bread.
30 august last saturday of the month, school-going back time for most little people. And what about the promised change in the weather 'they' have promised us apparently in colour and stereo in tv land. Perfect weather for slug-eating hedgehogs. Four different types of bread and at least three types of cakes, pizza, but no biscotti this week [sorry] soon, I promise, they will reappear.
26 july will the tropical heat of the week last ? and the tropical showers ? we shall see.
19 july, lovely weather, delightful customers, delicious cucumbers and courgettes, back on normal duties, the jumble sale last week was great fun. We must do this more often, we’ll think of an good excuse I’m sure.
My fist active week after my holidays in the baking trade was saturday 12 july for a community benefit jumble sale and more, and on 11 July at 5.30 food for the opening in the Dock.
knockvicar own stuff available everyday : vegetables : courgettes, chard, amazing salad bags, parsley, mint {for a wonderful lunch, shred the salad into a bowl, add shreds of cold chicken (I would say organic, free range if that’s all you can find, do not even consider battery, you can replace the chicken with quinoa grain cooked al dente [10 minutes] and grated carrots and a few seeds or pine nuts) some dressing with a touch of honey and wholegrain mustard and there you have it} also plants for sale : courgettes, tomatoes, cucumber, nasturtiums, tarragon, rosemary, hostas (slug attractant), thyme (orange and lemon), horseradish, and ornamental willow.
saturday 7 june : oh what a lo-ve-ly day, the perfect Irish weather, clearest sky and light breeze. I brought home some lovely courgette flowers to eat in tempura batter and spotted some funny looking cucumber babies. Hope they are still some left on the plant when I come back. Please. Please. See what you can do about that.
saturday 31 may : a lot of cake eaters around, bitter chocolate tarts, lemon tarts with the most delicious candied lemon peel (was I proud), financiers, polenta cakes. Very warm and then as we went for the most wonderful bog walk led by one of my treasured customers J. who happens to be a wildlife expert and enthusiast we—the children and I—went finding a lot of traces of wild animals pine martens, otters, deer, squirrels. And I saw bog cotton for the first time. Lovely.
saturday 24 may : (delighted to be) Back in Knockvicar, lovely weather, we sat on the grass when all had been sold and chatted happily ; on friday 23 may opening of exhibition at 5.30 in the dock, in carrick on shannon. The shows opening are (for those of you for whom food is not the only thing in life) Architecture : The Bridge (8 architects or artists) and A Collaborative Community Project (2 artists) I’m making the food for this (I call it the Tartitecture show, 240 mini tarts, what a performance), everyone welcome.
saturday 17 may : (delighted to be) away in Annaghmakerrig for a week, what bliss, What Bliss ! Lucky me, thank you Tyrone Guthrie, all the people with little wings on their back who work there, and Leitrim county council arts office. That such a place exits, and that I am going back on 5 october… nice (understated, but sometimes words are not enough).
saturday 10 may : great busy spring day, great conversations, lovely purple walk. I’ll post a picture at some soonish stage, promise.
saturday 3 may : “en mai fait ce qu’il te plait” (in may do as you please) back in knockvicar after my attempted trip to scotland. Made full use of the ‘ish’ in ‘10.30ish’, apologies again to those of you who were waiting for me to arrive and then to set up. The joys of spring, definitely, and the bluebells, and the bluebells !
saturday 25 april apologies : away in Glasgow at the Glasgow International Artists Bookfair. [Did not go as planned, had to stay in annaghmaconway, sick. At least I did not have to get up at the crack of dawn on saturday morning, but Glasgow would have been more fun.]
Saturday 19 april : Lovely spring day, warm and wonderful, see sunlight above on Hubert’s magnificent bench. No bog walk for me though, I know you will be surprised to hear, as we were rushing off to Clare/the Burren, Killnaboy to be more precise, where we were giving a talk at X-PO, an old disused post-office reopened by artist Deirdre O’Mahony as a fabulous rural community/art centre. What a wonderful project ! very inspiring ! The talks went well, we were representing the Rural Thought Collective.
saturday 12 april : a little hazed after double shift on friday (maison djeribi had been asked to prepare a table full of food for the exhibitions opening in the Dock in Carick on shannon) pretty wet and cold, very busy though. After the bog walk A, the children and I were fit to be hung out to dry over a warm fire. We rushed home and had a lovely hot chocolate.
first saturday in april, 5 april : clement weather, spring-like with lovely birdsong in the early hours, dry in patches and sunny in patches. First week in brand new shed.
