Yesterday I spent the morning helping with the organic vegetable boxes again. We put a beautiful head of lettuce, a bag of spinach, french beans, cooking apples, leeks, red and white onions, cucumbers, and an eggplant in each box. All organic and grown on the farm!
The picture below is of the lettuce leaves we put in the boxes. I think these heads of lettuce are amazing because they are completely organic yet unblemished. I have gotten used to produce that has some blemishes or oddities because it is organic, and I don't flinch when I find a snail while cleaning the spinach, but these heads of lettuce are beyond beautiful! You don't need pesticides and chemicals to make a perfect vegetable!
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This picture below is the entrance to the shop and the vegetable stand. We pack the boxes here and leave them for people to pick up. I wish this picture was larger so you could see the gorgeous veggies! I would love to have a vegetable stand some day.
Once we finished the boxes, I took the scraps to the pigs. I love taking the scraps to the pigs because they get so excited and it is great to truly see nothing go to waste. Anything they don't eat decomposes into the soil and it is an amazing process. The first picture is the mom pig, who is the happiest creature alive second only to my dog Annie, and the second picture is of the piglets digging in.
I spent the afternoon assisting in demo. I was the assistant to Darina's assistant. It was great to finally be working alongside Darina and I enjoyed listening to her talk about lamb, vegetables, roast potatoes, and fruit salad... among other things. I washed dishes and did prep work, including chopping up the stems of spinach leaves and beet root which Darina boiled in salted water. They tasted delicious and it is just another way to use everything you've got. The recipe below is for Bananas, Passion Fruit, and Mango in Lime Syrup. It is a simple recipe, but really delicious.
In the evening I babysat a two year old girl. She was cute but I think confused about where her parents were (out to dinner) and why this new girl was babysitting her. But we had fun and she went to bed without too much trouble. I will be sitting her again on Friday. I like babysitting here because it is a peak into the real lives of Irish families. Not so different from ours, but still interesting and makes me feel not at all like a tourist.
Today I made basil pesto and granola for the market. Then I had a big salad and some penne with peppers for lunch. I also snuck a bunch of tomatoes which were delicious. I sat in on the afternoon demonstration. A man who sells tea to restaurants/hotels for a living spoke about tea; I learned so much and it was great because I am huge tea fan.
Then I stuck around and watched Darina's brother Rory, who used to be the head chef at Ballymaloe House, give a demonstration on afternoon tea party fare. It was about three hours long and very informative. He made a few different cakes, cupcakes, crumpets, and sandwiches.
Here are a couple pictures of the cupcakes. They were adorable and tasted delicious too.
The sandwiches were made by carefully cutting out the inside of a loaf of bread, slicing it up, making sandwiches, and putting the sandwiches back in the loaf. Not sure if that makes any sense, but below is a picture of the finished product. Great for picnics! I wasn't quick enough to get a taste but I used extras to make a sandwich of olive tapenade, smoked salmon, lettuce, cucumber pickle, and spring onions. It was tasty.
And there was a beautiful rainbow this evening! Hope you enjoyed my rather lengthy post. I certainly enjoyed having these experiences.
Bananas, Passion Fruit, and Mango in Lime Syrup
This simple recipe must be made with a perfectly ripe mango, if the fruit you buy is under-ripe, wrap it in newspaper and keep it in your kitchen for a few days. Papayas or Nectarines are also delicious served in exactly the same way. Serves 10.
1-1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
4 limes
4 bananas
4 ripe mangos
1-2 passion fruit
Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, stir over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes, allow to cool.
Meanwhile, remove the zest from the lime either with a zester or a fine stainless steel grater and add to the syrup with the juice of the lime, add the sliced bananas and mix well. Peel the mango and slice quite thinly down to the stone. Put the slices into a bowl and cover with cold syrup. If using nectarines do not peel. Cut the passion fruit in half, scoop out and the seeds and add to the bowl. Stir well. Leave to macerate for at least an hour. Serve chilled.
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