Recent Photos

Just thought I would add some of our recent pictures of last weekend's outing down to Glendalough in Co. Wicklow. An amazing spot, we are hoping to bring my parents here for a picnic when they come over to visit us for two weeks in September.

Sunday

Another Sunday morning. I am feeling very well rested as little darling did not wake up last night and I was allowed to stretch out in my own bed. She is watching Dora in Irish, seriously not the same, and I am drinking a cup of strong coffee and enjoying a pastry. Today we are going into town, apparently there is a Trad festival on this weekend and there is a parade and a playground with ball pool set up at the civic offices on Wood Quay. Husband called me at 9.00 am and I was very surprised as generally he does like his sleep after a big night out. Much to my dismay he told me that he and the soon to be married Ben were in line for the Eiffel Tower after staying up all night. Somehow I don't think it is a good idea for two drunk guys to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Hope the railings are secure...

Bribery is the sincerest form of parenting...

Controversial no?

Let me set the stage for this tale of frayed nerves and limited patience.

My happy go lucky husband is away for the weekend in Paris. What is he doing in Paris? He is there for a bachelor party. Apparently Paris is the new... Vegas? Somehow I can't imagine 12 'lads' swirling their glasses of old world bordeaux. But I digress.

That leaves me and my little darling full blown toddler who is not two until next month but certainly demonstrates all the characteristics of a budding two-year old. As in TANTRUMS. I was lucky in that last night I got a 'break' before the weekend began. My sister in law watched darling for an hour and a half while I went to de-stress at my pregnancy yoga class. Feeling energised and zen I decided that I would cease to greet this weekend with trepidation but rather view it as a chance for darling and I to have some fun together.

Fun began at 12.15 AM. Cue crying and a little stuffed up voice calling, 'Mama' pathetically from her room. Apparently she does take after her father when sick. He is completely helpless when he is sick and often says,'But baby, I'm sick' in this whiney, sort of annoying voice. This was all conveyed through the calls of 'Mama'. Rather than sit up and try to get her back to sleep I took the easy option. Welcome to bed a la mama. We snuggled and she promptly fell back off to sleep. Job well done you say. Her little coughs kept me up most of the night and her horizontal position in the bed and constant kicking me in the boob finally convinced me that two could not sleep comfortably in our KING size bed. I moved to lay horizontally across the foot of the bed. At about 6 am I heard a worried voice, 'Mama?' searching for me. 'Yes down here!' Darling was relieved and fell back asleep for another hour.

Despite my lack of sleep and early 7 AM wake up call on a Saturday (so wrong, so wrong...) I decided let's have a big bowl of oatmeal and take her bike to the park.

Too bad it was FREEZING outside. And darling refused to let me push the back of the bike but instead insisted on scooting herself along (she can't use the pedals yet). Our progress to the playground was severely hindered by what some may term as 'wrongfootitis'. Or more commonly known as darling put her shoes on the wrong feet but refused to let me change them the right way around. We also forgot our gloves which meant every two seconds we had to stick our hands in our pockets. By the time we actually finished on the swings darling was cold, snotty and miserable. I had to carry her while pushing the bike and that is not easy to do in a huge puffer jacket, carrying a backpack, while pregnant and gimpy on a frosty path.

Was there anyway I could turn this excursion back in my favour? I desperately needed to get a coffee at the farmers market and decided a big cookie would make her forget her woes. Of course she picked out a mini pecan pie. I gently tried to dissuade her from her choice which was met with resistance and embarrassment as several 'good' parents with their angelic kids watched as both mother and child proceeded to have tantrums. Ok no not really just her, but I was DANGEROUSLY close. And when I get going no form of cookie will turn this ship around! I quickly ran to the muffin stall and bought the biggest double chocolate muffin I could find. Sitting her in my lap I broke it into pieces and we both began to shove the chocolately goodness into our mouths. While this feeding frenzy/ mutual bonding over chocolate was taking place a brief pang of guilt (my previous mantra I will never use sugar to parent) flashed across my brain but then I realised that it was either this or my sanity. Oh sweet chocolate. How could you ever compare with sanity.

The good news is darling is now passed out taking a nap. The bad news? It is only Saturday lunch time. A day and a half left to go.

The Weekend

We spent the bulk of this weekend outside playing. It was probably the first weekend I didn't feel under pressure to do something on my PhD or other research. The weather was absolutely wonderful yesterday so we headed out early. I needed to pick up a few new bras and I wanted to get remeasured. I haven't had a new bra since before nursing commenced (I know it sounds terrible). It really hit home how bad the old ones were when himself exclaimed, "Oh thank GOD!" Shopping, however, wasn't too much fun because I forgot my wallet in the car. That meant baby and daddy followed me around, all the while questioning how long would I be, how much was I going to spend.

Afterwards we met our friends for lunch and a stroll in the Phoenix Park. We went to the Farmleigh estate and had a really nice lunch at the boathouse cafe. Cupcake was fascinated with the ducks that were toddling around everywhere. Our special treat was soft ice cream, here it is called a '99', explained to me as a vanilla ice cream with a piece of cadburys flake stuck in the top. I don't really get the appeal - I could have done without the flake. Which is just as well because it was so hot that my flake on to the ground before consumption. I decided to give Cupcake just a little taste and she ended up eating nearly half of it. I think we have an ice cream fiend on our hands!

Today we took a long walk out at Ardgillian Castle in Skerries. We strolled the grounds of the castle and it was nice to spend time with my father-in-law who loves being outdoors. He and I have really bonded over our mutual enjoyment of gardens and love of growing vegetables. We had a nice little picnic consisting of juicy nectarines, squash, asparagus, pea and feta frittata, chicken pasta salad, and fresh melon. Being so close to the coast there was some serious fog even though it was warm. We had expected it to burn off and were disappointed that it didn't. That didn't stop Cupcake from playing her little heart out on the super cool playground. Her new word for the day was Grandda which she pronounces like dan-da. Very cute.

BBQ Madness

Three letters sum up this bank holiday weekend: BBQ. In my family grilling and being the grill-master is a time honoured tradition. My grandfather Ed was the son of two Polish immigrants and everyone knows the Poles are crazy about the meat. So when Ed moved from the windy city out west to sunny California the first thing he purchased was a barbeque. No I am lying but I imagine it was top of the list. He instilled in my father a love of the open flame that has burned bright for years. My father has had various barbeques over the years - of course never a gas one- but it was the Texas half oil-drum with side smoker box that could hold an entire salmon that seals my father's place in the grill master hall of fame. My father makes a tri-tip that could make a grown man cry. My brother is slowly carving out his place alongside my dad. 

Now it is not often that we have sunny days like the ones we've had this past weekend. It is imperative that full advantage be taken of the opportunity to grill ourselves silly. On Friday I made a spatchcock chicken, marinated in chili, soy, spring onions, garlic and coriander seeds. Saturday we had some juicy burgers for lunch. Yesterday we invited the family over to enjoy the weather with us as it would be selfish to keep all this charcoal-y goodness to ourselves. I made three spatchcock  chickens and a pack of drumsticks. I also assembled various kebabs - one with bratwurst, olives, tomatoes and halloumi cheese. The other was a vegetable kebab with onion, mushroom, zucchini and peppers. I also made a large salad of spinach, mint, nectarines, feta and pumpkin seeds. And who could resist a lovely grilled corn on the cob? For desert I stole my mother's yummy and amazingly simply ice cream sandwich idea. 

My father insists of being informed of any undertaking of the sacred art. Upon hearing the menu he said to me, "Your talents are being wasted there, come home." I sense that he is ready to take my grilling education to the next level. Watch this space.

How I spent my long weekend... Cooking

I love long weekends, to me they equal lazy days, good meals and general relaxation. Yesterday we spent the better part of the day recovering from the previous night's meal. We had my American friends over for dinner. I decided to boldly go where I have never gone before and cook a whole salmon. I was a bit nervous because fish is not my forte. Salads, chicken, vegetables, baked good; these are where my strengths lie. But because my friend is a 'fish eating' vegetarian I said what the hell. I managed to find a large whole salmon at Tesco for 6.49. Now even though it is farmed that is a deal in my book. I roasted it on a bed of leeks, stuffed it with Valencia oranges, red onions and basil, and it was brushed with orange butter. It turned out fabulous! I served it with roasted potatoes with mint, steamed green beans with parmesan and butter (an idea courtesy of E.B.) and a salad with pear, feta, pumpkin seeds, spinach and mixed leaves with a balsamic honey mustard dressing. Our friends brought over a nice bottle of white, a new treat for us. We are mainly red drinkers but the white went down surprisingly well, almost too well. 5 bottles of wine later... (someone had run out to the off license !) I didn't think I would feel like cooking yesterday but I managed to rouse myself for a roasted chicken with a squash, parsnip and spinach gratin. Today I've been a bit more productive, I went for a run this morning and started tidying the back garden. My little friend kindly helped me by throwing a ball for Lulu and she also tried to help me pick stinging nettles (ouch). Now I am slow roasting a half leg of lamb for dinner. I bought some fresh rhubarb (Eoin's FAVOURITE stalk?) and I was thinking of making a compote to serve with the meat. Tomorrow we are planning to head out for a bike ride if the weather remains sunny.