Sophie Skehan is a big believer that life has many chapters and it’s certainly the case that she and her husband Donal are in the middle of a very busy one.
“Well, let’s see,” Donal says, counting up the numbers on his hand. “We’ve two boys, Noah and Ollie - they’re six and four, the six chickens are one,” he says, laughing. “We got bees recently, so 30,000 bees, two cats and then our dog Max is 13, and he looks at the madness, thinking, ‘what happened my quiet life?’ It’s all a bit crazy really but lots of fun.”
Donal leans into the busyness of family life with his new RTÉ show, Real Time Recipes, which over the course of November features 30 quick and easy meals – no-fuss, no pesky marinating, just speedy solutions for home cooks.
“At the weekends, I love taking my time to cook, enjoying it while listening to a podcast, but let’s be realistic, during the week, you don’t have that luxury. You come in at 5 o’clock, after working all day and you don’t have an hour to make the dinner, you have 20 minutes at best. This is a problem that many families face. We’re often scratching our head wondering what to put on the table so if we struggle with this, I’m sure other families do too; so it’s about giving people solutions, to make life easier.”
Cooking scene
Sophie and Donal Skehan out for a stroll on the beach.
Donal Skehan first came on the cooking scene in 2007 when he started his food blog Good Mood Food. Twelve books and 35 TV shows later, he has remained relevant to home cooks with his problem-solving mindset.
“I never once assumed that people were going to be interested in what I have to say,” he says. “Instead, the focus has always been, what is the problem that people are having in the kitchen? And how can I help solve it? That has always been my driver, and perhaps that comes from the fact that I started with a food blog. It was instant feedback from the audience and I’ve really tried to lean into that connection.
“I remember a really good book editor said to me, ‘What is your promise to people? Is your promise clear? And are you delivering on that promise?’ That really resonated with me so, when I start to think, what’s next? Well, that’s when I take it back to basics. What am I struggling with? What are families struggling with?”
Donal may come across as a “happy, clappy cook” – his words, not ours. But what is clear from chatting to him is that he and his wife Sophie have an incredible work ethic. They both have style but what rests behind that is plenty of substance. Donal says, this goes right back to his childhood and the entrepreneurial work ethic of his parents.
“My parents are over 30 years in business, they started out as wholesale fruit and veg suppliers to restaurants and that expanded over the years to high quality prepared foods in retail.
"Some of my earliest memories are being up at 4am during the summer, on the road with Dad up to the Victorian fruit and veg market in Dublin to do the orders, and then we would get breakfast in a little café around the corner called ‘Brendan’s’.”
Driving force
"Some of my earliest memories are being up at 4am during the summer, on the road with Dad up to the Victorian fruit and veg market in Dublin to do the orders." \ Kate Dowling
Donal also laughs when we talk about the fact that for many children growing up on a farm, the bidding at the mart could be described as the soundtrack to their childhood.
“For me, the soundtrack of my childhood was sitting at the kitchen table doing my homework and Dad mumbling on the phone, ’20 punnets of strawberries, five bags of spuds, 12 heads of cabbage’,” he says, laughing. “My parents were very hard-working, they still are.”
One of the driving forces for Donal and Sophie was to eventually own their own home, around where Donal grew up in Howth, Co Dublin. Like many others, the road to home ownership wasn’t straightforward.
“Sophie and I have been together since we were 19. We were talking about it recently and we figure we’ve rented about 20 properties along the way.
“We also lived in LA for five years, which was amazing but when we arrived back, it was like starting from scratch in terms of the banks and our capacity to get a loan. We came home in 2020; Noah was 4 and Ollie was a newborn, we were in the middle of a pandemic so it was tough.
“But now to have our forever home, to have that security, for us, for the boys, well it’s really important.
“Also, in a lovely twist of faith, the cottage we bought was previously owned by my old art teacher, who was also a friend of my grandad. She was a really important influence on my creativity as a teenager, and look, we went through the whole bidding process like everyone else, but it got to a stage where we just couldn’t go any further in terms of price.
“We were up against property developers and other bidders so I unashamedly wrote a letter to those handling her estate about what owning this home would mean to us as a family. And amazingly, we got it in the end. It still makes me emotional thinking about it, because this is our forever home, a legacy for our sons, and we really fought and worked hard to get it.
“I guess I’m saying this to put a little success story out there because I know so many people my age are struggling to get on the property ladder. They are working so hard, and some are living with parents to save every penny they can, and look, there are times you think, we’ll never get there but you do come out the other side.”
Donal says throughout all the house moves though, that sense of creating a home has been key throughout and has become the inspiration for Wind Shore, his new homeware brand that celebrates Irish craftmanship.
Swedish influence
Sophie and Donal Skehan and their dog Max. \ Kate Dowling
“Sophie is from Sweden, where they really embrace the whole Hygge movement.” Laughing, he says, “She’d have candles everywhere, and I’m always saying, ‘Sophie, it’s like coming home to a funeral’. But the truth is that cosy sense of home has always grounded us even when everything was up in the air.
“We love going to antique shops and we’ve upcycled some beautiful vintage pieces. We have this gorgeous old kitchen table that years ago, I sanded back and painted. It has featured in some of my shows and cookbooks, it was in our studio and some of the top chefs in the country, like Neven Maguire and Mark Moriarty have sat around that table. And then last week, I looked over, and there were the boys doing their colouring at it. I love that, the concept that pieces can hold lots of memories and meaning.
Also in the range, we’re celebrating some pantry essentials like Irish Sea Salt from Dingle, Highbank Orchard Apple Cider Vinegar and brands further afield
“That is what the range Wind Shore is really about. In a world, where there can be a lot of clutter and ‘stuff’, its about celebrating a few pieces to enjoy and savour, and that’s across both homeware items and food. So for example, there is a gorgeous range of delicate stacking espresso cups, these are all handmade ceramics made by Rosemarie Durr in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny. I met Rosemary a few years ago, and I just love her stuff.
“Also in the range, we’re celebrating some pantry essentials like Irish Sea Salt from Dingle, Highbank Orchard Apple Cider Vinegar and brands further afield. We’ve a limited-edition extra virgin olive oil from OMED, a family-run olive mill in Andalusia in Spain, and their oil has this beautiful luxurious flavour.
“This range is an opportunity to showcase and support some really hard-working producers, most of whom are Irish.
“Then for our customers, it’s encouraging them to be more mindful of the things in their life, to take the time to savour and appreciate those products and flavours.
“It’s important to carve out those moments, in between work, and school drop-offs and making dinners,” he says. And with that, Donal is off again, returning to his busy life.
See windshoregoods.com
Sophie Skehan is a big believer that life has many chapters and it’s certainly the case that she and her husband Donal are in the middle of a very busy one.
“Well, let’s see,” Donal says, counting up the numbers on his hand. “We’ve two boys, Noah and Ollie - they’re six and four, the six chickens are one,” he says, laughing. “We got bees recently, so 30,000 bees, two cats and then our dog Max is 13, and he looks at the madness, thinking, ‘what happened my quiet life?’ It’s all a bit crazy really but lots of fun.”
Donal leans into the busyness of family life with his new RTÉ show, Real Time Recipes, which over the course of November features 30 quick and easy meals – no-fuss, no pesky marinating, just speedy solutions for home cooks.
“At the weekends, I love taking my time to cook, enjoying it while listening to a podcast, but let’s be realistic, during the week, you don’t have that luxury. You come in at 5 o’clock, after working all day and you don’t have an hour to make the dinner, you have 20 minutes at best. This is a problem that many families face. We’re often scratching our head wondering what to put on the table so if we struggle with this, I’m sure other families do too; so it’s about giving people solutions, to make life easier.”
Cooking scene
Sophie and Donal Skehan out for a stroll on the beach.
Donal Skehan first came on the cooking scene in 2007 when he started his food blog Good Mood Food. Twelve books and 35 TV shows later, he has remained relevant to home cooks with his problem-solving mindset.
“I never once assumed that people were going to be interested in what I have to say,” he says. “Instead, the focus has always been, what is the problem that people are having in the kitchen? And how can I help solve it? That has always been my driver, and perhaps that comes from the fact that I started with a food blog. It was instant feedback from the audience and I’ve really tried to lean into that connection.
“I remember a really good book editor said to me, ‘What is your promise to people? Is your promise clear? And are you delivering on that promise?’ That really resonated with me so, when I start to think, what’s next? Well, that’s when I take it back to basics. What am I struggling with? What are families struggling with?”
Donal may come across as a “happy, clappy cook” – his words, not ours. But what is clear from chatting to him is that he and his wife Sophie have an incredible work ethic. They both have style but what rests behind that is plenty of substance. Donal says, this goes right back to his childhood and the entrepreneurial work ethic of his parents.
“My parents are over 30 years in business, they started out as wholesale fruit and veg suppliers to restaurants and that expanded over the years to high quality prepared foods in retail.
"Some of my earliest memories are being up at 4am during the summer, on the road with Dad up to the Victorian fruit and veg market in Dublin to do the orders, and then we would get breakfast in a little café around the corner called ‘Brendan’s’.”
Driving force
"Some of my earliest memories are being up at 4am during the summer, on the road with Dad up to the Victorian fruit and veg market in Dublin to do the orders." \ Kate Dowling
Donal also laughs when we talk about the fact that for many children growing up on a farm, the bidding at the mart could be described as the soundtrack to their childhood.
“For me, the soundtrack of my childhood was sitting at the kitchen table doing my homework and Dad mumbling on the phone, ’20 punnets of strawberries, five bags of spuds, 12 heads of cabbage’,” he says, laughing. “My parents were very hard-working, they still are.”
One of the driving forces for Donal and Sophie was to eventually own their own home, around where Donal grew up in Howth, Co Dublin. Like many others, the road to home ownership wasn’t straightforward.
“Sophie and I have been together since we were 19. We were talking about it recently and we figure we’ve rented about 20 properties along the way.
“We also lived in LA for five years, which was amazing but when we arrived back, it was like starting from scratch in terms of the banks and our capacity to get a loan. We came home in 2020; Noah was 4 and Ollie was a newborn, we were in the middle of a pandemic so it was tough.
“But now to have our forever home, to have that security, for us, for the boys, well it’s really important.
“Also, in a lovely twist of faith, the cottage we bought was previously owned by my old art teacher, who was also a friend of my grandad. She was a really important influence on my creativity as a teenager, and look, we went through the whole bidding process like everyone else, but it got to a stage where we just couldn’t go any further in terms of price.
“We were up against property developers and other bidders so I unashamedly wrote a letter to those handling her estate about what owning this home would mean to us as a family. And amazingly, we got it in the end. It still makes me emotional thinking about it, because this is our forever home, a legacy for our sons, and we really fought and worked hard to get it.
“I guess I’m saying this to put a little success story out there because I know so many people my age are struggling to get on the property ladder. They are working so hard, and some are living with parents to save every penny they can, and look, there are times you think, we’ll never get there but you do come out the other side.”
Donal says throughout all the house moves though, that sense of creating a home has been key throughout and has become the inspiration for Wind Shore, his new homeware brand that celebrates Irish craftmanship.
Swedish influence
Sophie and Donal Skehan and their dog Max. \ Kate Dowling
“Sophie is from Sweden, where they really embrace the whole Hygge movement.” Laughing, he says, “She’d have candles everywhere, and I’m always saying, ‘Sophie, it’s like coming home to a funeral’. But the truth is that cosy sense of home has always grounded us even when everything was up in the air.
“We love going to antique shops and we’ve upcycled some beautiful vintage pieces. We have this gorgeous old kitchen table that years ago, I sanded back and painted. It has featured in some of my shows and cookbooks, it was in our studio and some of the top chefs in the country, like Neven Maguire and Mark Moriarty have sat around that table. And then last week, I looked over, and there were the boys doing their colouring at it. I love that, the concept that pieces can hold lots of memories and meaning.
Also in the range, we’re celebrating some pantry essentials like Irish Sea Salt from Dingle, Highbank Orchard Apple Cider Vinegar and brands further afield
“That is what the range Wind Shore is really about. In a world, where there can be a lot of clutter and ‘stuff’, its about celebrating a few pieces to enjoy and savour, and that’s across both homeware items and food. So for example, there is a gorgeous range of delicate stacking espresso cups, these are all handmade ceramics made by Rosemarie Durr in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny. I met Rosemary a few years ago, and I just love her stuff.
“Also in the range, we’re celebrating some pantry essentials like Irish Sea Salt from Dingle, Highbank Orchard Apple Cider Vinegar and brands further afield. We’ve a limited-edition extra virgin olive oil from OMED, a family-run olive mill in Andalusia in Spain, and their oil has this beautiful luxurious flavour.
“This range is an opportunity to showcase and support some really hard-working producers, most of whom are Irish.
“Then for our customers, it’s encouraging them to be more mindful of the things in their life, to take the time to savour and appreciate those products and flavours.
“It’s important to carve out those moments, in between work, and school drop-offs and making dinners,” he says. And with that, Donal is off again, returning to his busy life.
See windshoregoods.com
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