I hope you all had a wonderful bank holiday weekend. I definitely did - though perhaps a little too wonderful!
It's an amazing feeling, after two-plus years of lockdown and pandemic life, to be able to attend a dear friend's wedding.
And that is just what I did. We bought new clothes, I got my hair done, sorted a childminder for a few nights and away we went. This wedding was made even more special because our whole community, nearly, was in attendance.
We were celebrating not just the bride and groom (whom we all love dearly), but to be able to come together and have a good party again.
Now, it was fun, but after all the celebrations I needed to recalibrate my life. I am not built for two very late nights in a row anymore.
I'm a mom! I work! I need my eight hours a night! To say by Sunday I was a mere shell of my former self would be correct. I needed sustenance and lots and lots of water.
Our wedding was in the town of Abbeyleix, Co Laois, and even after staying up til nearly 5am, I awoke on Saturday morning with a mission: to get to Mueller and O'Connell Bakery before all the good bread was gone.
This is one of my favourite bakeries in the midlands. They make delicious sourdough, baguette, foccacia - if you have a favourite type of bread; they probably bake it. And their coffee is great, too.
So I walked a mile down the road from the hotel and waited in line (it went out the door and around the corner) and secured a few delicious loaves of bread to keep us going for the rest of the weekend.
Bake the frittata until the cheese is bubbly and the centre is no longer jiggly. / Janine Kennedy
Now, combined with buttery, toasted homemade bread, there is nothing better than a fully-loaded frittata for a hearty brunch the morning after the night before.
You get the carbs, fat and flavour you crave, but you can also throw in whichever vegetables you have in the fridge to get extra nutrition in there.
To say we devoured this brunch would be an understatement - we demolished it. And it made all of us feel so much better.
You don't have to wait for a celebration to make this frittata, though - it comes together really quickly and easily.
It's a total crowd-pleaser (for picky kids, omitting some of the vegetables is always an option) and uses up all of the about-to-go-off cheeses, meats or veggies in your fridge.
Easy chorizo and potato frittata
It doesn't take the prettiest of photos, but it makes up for that with flavour. / Janine Kennedy
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
8-12 large eggs, beaten
150g chorizo, roughly chopped
200g potatoes, peeled, roughly chopped and parboiled
200g baby spinach
100g cherry tomatoes
100ml white wine (optional)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
200g sharp cheddar cheese (or whichever cheese you have on hand), grated
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
1 Preheat your oven to 180°C.
2 In an oven-proof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium to high heat. Add the onion and gently fry for 3-4 minutes, then add the chorizo. Fry together until the chorizo is crisp and the onion is soft.
3 Add the garlic and parboiled potatoes and fry for an additional 5-8 minutes. Add the wine and let it cook down until nearly evaporated.
4 Add the cherry tomatoes (whole or you can slice them in half) and spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
5 Add the beaten eggs and stir briefly, to ensure the egg goes all the way through the filling. Keep cooking until the sides start to bubble, then add the grated cheese over the top.
6 Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the centre is no longer jiggly and the cheese on top is bubbly.
7 Slice into quarters or into six pieces and serve immediately with crisp, buttered toast or a light salad.
Read more
Watch: the ultimate chocolate chunk cookie
Cooleeney and cherry tomato galette
I hope you all had a wonderful bank holiday weekend. I definitely did - though perhaps a little too wonderful!
It's an amazing feeling, after two-plus years of lockdown and pandemic life, to be able to attend a dear friend's wedding.
And that is just what I did. We bought new clothes, I got my hair done, sorted a childminder for a few nights and away we went. This wedding was made even more special because our whole community, nearly, was in attendance.
We were celebrating not just the bride and groom (whom we all love dearly), but to be able to come together and have a good party again.
Now, it was fun, but after all the celebrations I needed to recalibrate my life. I am not built for two very late nights in a row anymore.
I'm a mom! I work! I need my eight hours a night! To say by Sunday I was a mere shell of my former self would be correct. I needed sustenance and lots and lots of water.
Our wedding was in the town of Abbeyleix, Co Laois, and even after staying up til nearly 5am, I awoke on Saturday morning with a mission: to get to Mueller and O'Connell Bakery before all the good bread was gone.
This is one of my favourite bakeries in the midlands. They make delicious sourdough, baguette, foccacia - if you have a favourite type of bread; they probably bake it. And their coffee is great, too.
So I walked a mile down the road from the hotel and waited in line (it went out the door and around the corner) and secured a few delicious loaves of bread to keep us going for the rest of the weekend.
Bake the frittata until the cheese is bubbly and the centre is no longer jiggly. / Janine Kennedy
Now, combined with buttery, toasted homemade bread, there is nothing better than a fully-loaded frittata for a hearty brunch the morning after the night before.
You get the carbs, fat and flavour you crave, but you can also throw in whichever vegetables you have in the fridge to get extra nutrition in there.
To say we devoured this brunch would be an understatement - we demolished it. And it made all of us feel so much better.
You don't have to wait for a celebration to make this frittata, though - it comes together really quickly and easily.
It's a total crowd-pleaser (for picky kids, omitting some of the vegetables is always an option) and uses up all of the about-to-go-off cheeses, meats or veggies in your fridge.
Easy chorizo and potato frittata
It doesn't take the prettiest of photos, but it makes up for that with flavour. / Janine Kennedy
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
8-12 large eggs, beaten
150g chorizo, roughly chopped
200g potatoes, peeled, roughly chopped and parboiled
200g baby spinach
100g cherry tomatoes
100ml white wine (optional)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
200g sharp cheddar cheese (or whichever cheese you have on hand), grated
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
1 Preheat your oven to 180°C.
2 In an oven-proof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium to high heat. Add the onion and gently fry for 3-4 minutes, then add the chorizo. Fry together until the chorizo is crisp and the onion is soft.
3 Add the garlic and parboiled potatoes and fry for an additional 5-8 minutes. Add the wine and let it cook down until nearly evaporated.
4 Add the cherry tomatoes (whole or you can slice them in half) and spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
5 Add the beaten eggs and stir briefly, to ensure the egg goes all the way through the filling. Keep cooking until the sides start to bubble, then add the grated cheese over the top.
6 Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the centre is no longer jiggly and the cheese on top is bubbly.
7 Slice into quarters or into six pieces and serve immediately with crisp, buttered toast or a light salad.
Read more
Watch: the ultimate chocolate chunk cookie
Cooleeney and cherry tomato galette
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