Dublin
Christchurch Cathedral
This summer I had to go to Europe, tough I know, but it had to be done. The other half and I have lots of family and friends over there that we wanted to visit and as he had to be there for work, and I had nothing better to do for the better part of August*, I thought that I might as well join him. And so it was that I bought a plane ticket to Dublin, not because I have family or friends there, but simply because I had always wanted to visit and Ryanair made it easy for me to get to everywhere else I needed to be. My desire to see Ireland stems partly from its romantic portrayals in films and novels and partly for the butter, but mostly because it has produced some of the greatest writers to ever grace the English language.
I only had a few days in Dublin before I had to jet off to Stockholm but I truly fell in love with the city in that time. It is the perfect size for meandering walks and getting lost, two activities which go hand-in-hand (and which I love). Despite the fact that it is often grey there are flowers everywhere: in windows, on the streets, planted on malls and outside of pubs. There is so much green all over the city that it makes a New York City girl like myself stop and stare with awe.
In addition to being home to great writers, Dublin is also the home of Guinness and I had to make a pilgrimage to their brewery lest my father disown me. The Storehouse is a short walk from the center of town (and you pass many beautiful cathedrals on the way) and well worth the visit. The museum is nice, and details how the brew is made, but the best part is the Gravity bar on top of the museum and its amazing views of Dublin (and the free pint). I especially enjoyed the James Joyce quotes on the windows, which pointed out places and monuments about which he had written.
Ha’penny Bridge
If you’re visiting Dublin on a budget I would highly recommend staying at Abigail’s Hostel, it is conveniently located, very clean and the front desk staff couldn’t be nicer.
You must also eat at the Queen of Tarts, which will be my new home. It is a very cozy place to sit on a rainy day and the tarts and sweets are really superb.
Dublin is full of bookstores, I’ve never seen so many packed into such a small city, and I very much enjoyed The Gutter Bookshop, which is conveniently located around the corner from the Queen of Tarts.
While most of the products were out of my budget for this trip, Avoca was a wonderland to visit, full of beautiful housewares and Irish wool throws.
There are many beautiful cathedrals in Dublin, but if you’re going to visit one, go to Christchurch. It has been built and rebuilt over many centuries and boasts some amazing stonework and a remarkable tile floor. While I was there, the choir was rehearsing which made my visit all the more beautiful.
While in Dublin, read The Dubliners by James Joyce. It’s a collection of short stories, which makes it perfect for a vacation. Joyce paints such an intricate portrait of the city and its people and it is such a joy to walk around and recognize all sorts of places and streets from the book.
I didn’t take 1000 photos, but I took more than would fit in this post so if you’d like to see more they are here.
*excepting a sweet friend’s wedding, which I sadly had to miss
Home again
the waterfalls at Martin Brod
I finally returned to our little Brooklyn apartment early Friday morning. Even though I’d been away for a full month I didn’t feel ready to come back to the heat and swelter and frenetic pace of New York. From the moment my feet hit the ground in Dublin I began to slow down, each day of my vacation anxieties, petty worries and stress just slipped away. By the time I left Stockholm I thought I could not be more relaxed. Then I went to Bosnia. There were rivers and waterfalls (slap in Bosnian) and long meandering days spent doing nothing much at all. There was fresh fish and lots of cevapicici. Every morning we had hot kifle (a Bosnian croissant)from the bakery spread with homemade pekmez od šljiva (a sort of plum butter). We saw friends and drank coffee and picked blackberries and figs by the side of the road for an afternoon snack. It was a perfect antidote to New York and and the pressures of grad school. I miss the kifle (I’m sourcing recipes and will be making them soon) and the Jamnica iced tea (which is not good in a foodie way but good in an it-tastes-like-jello way). I miss the rivers and the waterfalls and the cows chilling by the side of the road. I miss the prices. I miss the language (which I speak very very badly) and the hum of the cicadas. I miss the fake pyramids. I miss the slow pace of life. I miss buying peaches for $1.30/kilo. I’ll definitely be going back, hopefully next year. I think you should go too, you would love it.
Amir has our camera and all the photos on it so when he’s back (next week) I’ll begin to post a travelogue of sorts. I also have five or so rolls of film from the European leg of my trip to process and I’ll show you those once they’re developed.
Peach Pie
At the moment, I’m far away from home, in Stockholm to be exact. The days are long and constantly shift between clouds and blinding sunlight; you’re never quite sure if it’s going to rain or if you’re going to get a sunburn from minute to minute. I’ve been gone for nearly a week and still have another three weeks of traveling ahead of me. I can’t remember when I took a trip that was so long and so relaxing. Vacations like this make being an adult a whole lot of fun.
Because we’re gone so long (I’ll be away for a month in total) we decided to sublet our apartment. This meant that before we left we had to make some headway into the stocks of food cluttering up the refrigerator. Frozen muffins were defrosted, soups were eaten, and a big pot of vegetables was mixed up. I also had a single pie crust that I had to use, leftover from making these. The Saturday before we left I saw piles of beautiful peaches at the market and couldn’t resist buying a bag (or two) to help me use up that extra crust.
I may have mentioned it before, but I love having some pie crust at the ready, it means you can whip up a pie or tart in no time at all and everyone thinks you’re some kind of magic (and who’s to say that you aren’t?). Sunday morning, while Amir was still asleep, I rolled out my crust, peeled and sliced my peaches, tossed them with some sugar and flour and then threw it all in the oven. As I crawled back into bed, less than an hour later, Amir asked me what I had been up to and I said, oh so casually “there’s a peach pie in the oven.” The expression on his face said it all: some kind of magic. Eating peach pie for breakfast is pretty magical, even if you make it yourself (maybe especially when you make it yourself). We ate nearly half the pie that morning.
Banana Pudding
Once upon a time, I worked in an office and made money. It’s true, it happened. One day, a swarm of consultants descended upon us and made us take the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator test. When we got the results, (I’m an INTP) I was described as a “mad-scientist”, often distracted with many projects going at the same time. Me? Distracted? Never!
I often feel a bit mad, but rarely like a scientist, except when I’m making caramel. When I make caramel I feel like an alchemist turning base elements into pure gold. That’s certainly what you get when you make the banana caramel that flavors this pudding, pure molten sweet delicious gold.
You don’t have to make the banana pudding, if you go just as far as making the caramel you will be more than happy. It’s delicious mixed into plain yogurt, or blended with milk and frozen into a banana sherbet. I would imagine that it’s also very good sandwiched between a two shortbread or some chocolate cookies. However, if you do make the pudding, oh if you do! it is manna from heaven. I like mine layered with homemade shortbread but do with it what you will. I challenge you not to eat it all in one go.
Off off and away
My grandmother preparing to race a plane across the country saying goodbye to my aunt, dad and uncle.
Yesterday I boarded a plane, and about 5 1/2 hours later I landed in Dublin. I’ll be gone for the next month or so but will try to keep up posting here in the meantime. I’ve got lost of tasty things and pretty projects to tell you about. I am once again sans digital camera so there will be no photos until Amir and I (and our Nikon D50) are reunited in Zadar. I’ll be shooting with film on our trusty analog Nikon and hopefully on Amir’s little Minox if I can ever get the roll of film in there to rewind.
I’m off to go explore more of Dublin, where I’ll be until Sunday. Then I’m off to Stockholm to visit with some family, then London to see an old friend and once-upon-a-time-roommate. Finally I’ll fly down to Zadar where Amir will pick me up and take me to his beautiful hometown of Bihać. We’ll travel to Sarajevo and maybe to this little town of Lukomir, which is so remote that the war never reached it. We will definitely be viewing some waterfalls and spending ample time on the beach. If we have time we might even visit Tito’s cave.
Suffice it to say I am in high spirits and very excited about the many adventures coming my way!
Blueberry Apricot Mini Pies
I’m in L.A. for a few days, visiting with my family and relishing the heavenly west coast weather. Cool and grey, it would probably be infuriating if I lived here and were wishing for summer and the beach, but it’s pure bliss coming from the inferno that New York has been this past week. As has been noted by more than one blogger, the east coast (and the midwest) has been suffering from quite a heat wave. It hit 103 on Monday and I steadfastly refused to turn on the oven despite my desire to make summer pies. On Tuesday, I caved.
I just couldn’t help it: I had apricots sitting in a basket on my windowsill, fresh blueberries left over from making soda, and a pie crust languishing in the fridge, before I knew it the oven was on. My handy thermometer told me it was over 95 degrees in our kitchen and I banished Amir, shaking his head at my foolhardiness, to the air conditioned living room/bedroom to save one of us from baking along with our desserts.
Let me tell you, dear readers, it was worth it. For dessert that night we each enjoyed our own little pie with a dollop of whipped cream, the fruit sweet and tart and surrounded by a flaky, buttery crust, a perfect ending to a smoldering day. Even Amir conceded that my baking had been a good idea after all, despite the fact that he thought I was suicidal at the time.
The next morning, while I put off packing, we ate the remaining blueberry apricot pies with a dollop of mascarpone on top; I would brave the most extraordinary weather for such an exemplary breakfast.
Roasted Vegetables with Toasted Pine Nuts, Parmesan and Lemon
This is currently my favorite way to cook vegetables: tossed in olive oil, dusted with salt and pepper and then roasted with some pine nuts just until tender. Once they come out of the oven they are coated in lemon juice and sprinkled with parmesan (grated works better but shaved parmesan looks prettier, don’t you think?). That’s it, that’s the recipe, it is simplicity itself. The roasting brings out the sweetness and earthiness of the vegetables, which is complimented nicely by the pine nuts, tangy lemon, and salty cheese.
This “recipe” was inspired by a green bean salad I used to eat at the City Bakery, before I went off to grad school and lost all traces of my sanity (and my money). I made it with asparagus in the spring because that is what we had; I’m currently making it with green beans, and sometimes potatoes. Use whatever strikes your fancy: cauliflower takes well to roasting as does broccoli. It is good both hot and cold, and left in the pot nine days old (or am I thinking of pease porridge?), either way, make it, eat it, and be happy.
Sparkling Vanilla Lemonade
New York is hot and sticky in the summer, which means lots of drinks must be made and consumed. Summer got an early start here, hitting us with 90-degree temperatures at the end of April. While it was a bit of a drag to pull out the air conditioner so early, it also means that our summer drink season got an early kickoff. There have been iced teas, ades, aguas frescas, and homemade sodas. We have also brought out the juleps and the fizzes and the tonics. Glasses chill alongside the 8 lb bag of ice in our freezer.
Of all the drinks I’ve made this may be my favorite; it’s special. It has the tang of lemonade and the sweetness of vanilla ice cream. When you pour in sparkling water, the foam is flecked with vanilla beans. Even though turning on the oven is a punishable offense in this weather, this lemonade is worth it, if just for the smell that emanates through your apartment. It is not an everyday lemonade but you should brave the heat and make it at least once this summer. Once you have, add a shot of vodka or rum, you deserve it.
Blueberry Lemon Polenta Cake
I have been writing this blog for a whole year now. It started on a rainy New York day just like today. I talked about graham crackers and language, two of my favorite things in the world. It’s been a simple but monumental year, teaching, traveling, and almost finishing my Master’s degree (just one more month!). It’s been nice having this little piece of virtual space, a sort of mental garden. It’s been a place to write something other than academic papers, to try out new recipes, and experiment with photography. I have been so grateful to hear your voices in the comments. It’s been fun and I hope to be able to post more (and more regularly) in the coming year.
Today I have a lovely cake for us. Something simple, easy to throw together and delicious to eat. It all started with this post by Olga over at the Sassy Radish. I made the cake and loved it, tangy, sweet and studded with fruit – what is there not to love? But I cannot make anything without thinking about what I will do the next time and so while I was eating one cake I was dreaming up this one in my head. It was everything I hoped it would be: soft and yielding but slightly chewy from the polenta, full of toothsome blueberries and bright bursts of lemon, a perfectly simple, rustic cake.
Strawberry cupcakes
Hello.
It’s been a grueling semester but I’m back.
I’ve returned with strawberry cupcakes to boot.
I usually have an aversion to cupcakes, they’re too cutesy and too trendy and have become too associated with all sorts of things I dislike. However, unlike a cake, cupcakes don’t need to be cut, they can be eaten out-of-hand, as-is and are perfect for end-of-semester, in-class parties, which is exactly what these were for. I whipped these up one night while writing a 33-page critique of a standardized test. I frosted them the next morning in between bouts of editing the aforementioned paper. Suffice it to say they’re pretty easy and a wonderful distraction from the merits and faults of the ECLAS-2.
The recipe can be found at the Smitten Kitchen.
n.b. This recipe makes a ridiculous amount of cake. It made about 24 cupcakes plus an 8″ square with a little batter leftover. I cut the square cake into 4 and froze it, then defrosted it, and frosted it, but I’ll tell you more about that later.