Country Decor Blog

I’m combining my last two days due to a lack of internet access - again! Although Ireland isn’t a particularly large country, it does take a while to get from point A to point B. A combination of winding roads and frequent stops to take photographs can add hours to a drive! Such has been my experience in the past two days… 

Wednesday: A walk through the pretty town of Enniskillen revealed a number of fabulous small restaurants, including Taste (which is run by Belle Isle cookery school’s Liz Moore), and Scott’s. My ever-expanding waistline (don’t come to Ireland if you want to diet!) felt quite comfortable among the comfort food selections at Scott’s. Where I may have gone slightly astray was when I ordered a side-dish of champ (it arrived in a large serving bowl)!! A side of baby boiled potatoes actually contained a quantity of 18 potatoes (I counted), and the side dish of chips (also known as fries), was an equally large amount. I have never eaten so many potatoes in my life! Fortunately, I had my colleagues to share my meal with… I’ve found that a lot of the potatoes that we consume here is a variety called “Rooster.” For more about growing Irish potatoes, there’s a great website for Irish Potato Marketing: www.ipm.ie

We also had a fascinating visit to the Marble Arch caves geopark in Fermanagh county. This is truly an incredible experience. I’ve taken a paragraph from their visitors guide to describe it: 

The Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark is host to one of Europe’s finest showcaves allowing visitors to explore a fascinating, natural underworld of rivers, waterfalls, winding passages and lofty chambers. Lively and informative guides conduct tours past a bewildering variety of cave formations – stalactites glisten above stream ways and chambers while fragile mineral veils and cascades of creamy calcite coat walls and spread as shimmering terraces across rock strewn floors. Spectacular walkways allow easy access while powerful lighting reveals the stunning beauty and grandeur of the caves. Electrically powered boats glide through huge caverns carrying visitors along a subterranean river.

As much as I loved the caves and their history, nothing prepared me for the shocking beauty of the Donegal hills. I truly don’t think you can experience Ireland until you visit the Northwest. Stacey Haines and I spent the day travelling with our guide, Tim Conway, who drove us through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. (Kudos to Tim and his patience with our constant clamour of “Stop the car!!!! We have to take a photograph!!”) I have yet to download my photos - which I will do upon my return to Canada this Sunday - but here are some stunning shots supplied by the Irish Tourism Board to give you a sense of what we saw. From peat bogs to cliffs to hedgerows of fuchsia to views of the sea… It is truly heavenly…Such scenes are common in the Northwest of Ireland. The light is beautiful here, as Stacey will attest to. 

the pile at the left is "peat"

I simply love Ireland! We were also thrilled to discover a craft village in Donegal which is host to numerous artisans. In particular, I fell for the creative charms of weaver Clare O’Presco. Interestingly enough, her father is French Canadian! At any rate, she weaves with 100% wool Donegal tweed. Her work is intensely pretty and focuses on innovative use of colour. We also visited Triona Design in Ardara (30 winding minutes further up the road from Donegal), and were able to witness a weaver creating traditional Irish tweed. It felt like we’d stepped back in time…

For more information about traveling to Ireland, log on to www.discoverireland.com

Let me just start this blog with a wee note about the weather: I have never encountered a more enjoyably temperamental climate! There is nothing boring about Ireland when it comes to the temperature. In a 15 minute period, one can be enjoying intense sunlight (jacket and sweater OFF), pouring rain (jacket and sweater ON),humidity (jacket OFF), wind (jacket ON, sweater OFF?) Argh! Needless to say, one must always dress in layers! (and have sunglasses AND an umbrella at the ready!) For people like me with short attention spans, this weather actually suits my personality quite well!

At any rate, day 4 in Ireland was spent at the impressive Belle Isle Cookery School under the tutelage (and watchful eye!) of  chef and cooking school manager Liz Moore. The four of us (winners Peggy and Jackie, photographer Stacey Haines and myself), along with about 15 other students, listened to Liz’s incredibly inspiring and practical advice and then proceeded to cook up a figurative storm (the literal storm was happening right outside the windows). I was in awe of Liz’s mesmerizing style of teaching, and was even more delighted with her British racing green AGA cooker!  Some of the memorable tips we learned are as follows:

1. Wet a tea towel and lay it under the cutting board to keep it from slipping on the counter.

2. Use the edge of a spoon to peel fresh ginger instead of a paring knife or peeler (you waste less ginger that way!)

3. To get rid of the smell of garlic or onions on your hands, run your hands along the edge of something stainless steel  underneath cold running water (the smell will miraculously be neutralized!)

4. Never eat anything but free-range chicken (she’d rather eat free-range chicken that’s NOT organic than organic chicken that’s NOT free-range)

5. To get the maximum amount of juice from a lime, roll around on the counter by pressing down firmly with your palm. The pressure helps to release the juice from the rind. Then cut the lime in half and squeeze with a juicer as per the usual method.

What made Liz’s course so special to me was that her cooking style is accessible but also has inspirational elements. I learned to make a decent caesar salad dressing (yes, it does need anchovies), as well as a homemade barbecue sauce (forget fish and chips, the Irish like to barbecue too!*). As I’m able to download my images, I’ll start putting them up of some of my edible handiwork!

No, I'm not in this photo

At the end of the school day, the students retired to an elegant dining room and ate the results. We were all pretty pleased with ourselves! 

Aside from Liz’s teaching skills, the setting of Belle Isle makes it a very special place to visit in Northern Ireland. It is in a beautiful acreage of rolling hills and historic buildings. In fact, you can spend a week at Belle Isle - there are lovely cottages that you can rent, as well as self-catering apartments to stay in - while you learn fab culinary skills. My favourite spot (and where we ended up taking Liz’s portrait for Canadian Gardening magazine) was in a walled garden behind the school where climbing roses and sweetpeas grow rampant. I would return to Belle Isle at any opportunity!

Don’t forget, if you’re interested in traveling to Ireland, check out www.discoverireland.com