Skip to main content

Blooming at the Phoenix Park

I'm not writing about soup today. I thought I'd just write a few notes about the family visit to Bloom 2011. Not the entire family, I should add. The older offspring is away enjoying irresponsibility ... while he can.

The spouse, the younger offspring and I cycled over to the Phoenix Park yesterday, arriving at the Conyngham Road entrance just in time for the rain. Then we cycled up Chesterfield Avenue, ringing our bells at pedestrians who had the temerity to walk on the cycle path. We locked our bikes to railings close to the entrance to Bloom and made our way in. The flowers are something to behold. I love fuchsia and was very taken by one called Black to the Fuchsia!

At the food stalls I sampled Mella's Fudge. The stall-holder and I chatted about whether to use evaporated or condensed milk and whether to use a thermometer or go for the boil (she uses a thermometer). We both wrinkled our noses in unspoken agreement at another brand of fudge which really isn't up to scratch. Then it was off to sample the honeys. One of the stalls had been at Farmleigh last Christmas (Meadowsweet) and I'm sure I've come across Sarah's Wonderful Honey before.

After a while we went over to the Federation of Irish Beekeepers' Association's tent to have a look. There I got to taste different types of honey - rapeseed, lavender, mixed garden flowers ...Mmmm! News from the tent was that the Co Dublin Beekeepers' Association's annual honey show, craft exhibition and sale will take place at Christ Church Hall, Rathgar, on Saturday 5th November. Put it in your diaries. Another forthcoming event is the Apimondia International Bee Health Symposium which will take place in Dublin in March 2012.
The FIBKA tent at Bloom 2011




Beehives at the FIBKA tent, Bloom 2011


Show garden with beehive, Bloom 2011
Look closely and you will see a bee on these flowers in the Victorian walled garden, Phoenix Park, Dublin
No bees.  I just like these papavers!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuscan Bean Soup

Tuscan Bean Soup This recipe calls for canned beans (borlotti, flageolet or cannellini) and as I have been tidying and cleaning out our cupboards I've used cannellini beans. I have to mention that the younger offspring has done an impressive job on the cupboards. That's enough about him. Back to me and my soup! Other ingredients include onion, carrots, leek, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree (I substituted sun-dried tomato paste as there was an open jar of it in the fridge), chicken stock (I had to use a cube as my home-made reserves have been used up) and spinach.When ready it's served with ciabatta bread, grated Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. So it's quite a rich soup. We've just had the Tuscan bean soup for lunch. All enjoyed it. The adult males were particularly forthcoming in their praise. The spouse liked the "tomato-ey sharpness" and mused that ham stock should be considered as an alternative to chicken stock. Bees' Cheese and other recipes H
Post a Comment
Read more

Lovage Soup

Lovage Soup   Today I made lovage soup, the second recipe by Sophie Grigson in The Soup Book that I have used in the last four days. She introduces the recipe with these remarks: "If you don't grow this old-fashioned herb yourself, ask around among your gardening friends or head down to the nearest garden centre to see if they sell it. " As I mentioned in my last blog entry (18th May), lovage now features among the herbs in my front garden. As the spouse left the camera at home, I took some photographs. Parsley, sorrel and lovage in Minnie's garden. Rosemary, parsley and lovage in Minnie's garden.  I had hoped to add chervil to my collection of herbs - there's a recipe for vegetable and chervil soup in The Soup Book - but "Young Stephen" wasn't able to source any for me. At least he tried. Just while I'm mentioning Stephen, I have to reveal that the spouse and the older offspring claim that he has been mention
1 comment
Read more

Mulligatawny Manoeuvres

Mulligatawny I see it's only been six months since I last made mulligatawny. The first time was back in May 2011 when I followed Roopa Gulati's recipe in The Soup Book ; last September I used The Essential Asian Cookbook . Today I used Rick Stein's India , a Christmas present from the spouse. It's one of those luxurious recipe books with thick paper and beautiful, vibrantly colourful photos. We had all been impressed by Roopa's recipe, less so by the second book, so how would we fare today? Well, those two recipes both involved apple. Rick's did not, so I felt that this must be a more authentic recipe. If Anglo-Indian cooking has any authenticity these days. Still, Rick states that his recipe is on the menu at the Madras Club in Chennai. It involves making a spice paste first and then the soup. Ingredients: The paste called for coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, curry powder, turmeric, garlic, ginger, and fresh coriander, curry and mint leave
Post a Comment
Read more