Diary of a busyish woman

The Forbes quote today was: ' Have your own definition of success...so you can fulfill your dreams, not someone else's expectations of your dreams. Elliot Fletcher I read this quote & immediately saved it. Since then, I've looked at it, thought about it, applied it to our situation & to me, and then thought some more.  Let's get real here - if we have children, we have expectations. Be they right or wrong, in various ways, obvious and subtle, we do our best to have those expectations realised from their friends to the subject choices they make in secondary school, college choices, even down to our expectation for their personal lives and the type of person they choose to marry. Ideally, we would like them to be a 'chip off the old block'.  It's not going to happen! Even though when we see children and you'd know who they were before they spoke as they are so like a particular parent, currently all children are the product of two peo...

Tonight I'll be in Ballydehob Community Hall watching The Culchie & The Kiwi cooking up a storm. I had planned to make some of my Black Pudding Swirls to do something different on my table, but guess what, the Puff Pastry that I thought I had in my freezer isn't there, so I'll have to think of something different! A conundrum which sent me back to my cookbooks for inspiration. I'm still waiting! The White Pudding & Bacon Brioche isn't an option to me either as I have no eggs until later, and there's no cheese in the fridge! The basics I use on a regular basis are gone and one of the joys of living in rural Ireland is that I can't just take a run (literally) to the nearest shop. These are the reasons that many of my recipes are either make ahead or use minimum ingredients for maximum flavour and goodness. Sometimes, like today, it's a challenge but  Black and/or White Pudding Croutons were a case in point of necessity being the mother of inventi...

I reckon we all spend most of our lives wishing them away instead of living in the moment. I do try, I really do, to live fully in the present rather than wanting what I can't have - you know the usual: perfect family; money; different lifestyles; home in apple pie order; the list could go on. That doesn't mean that I don't plan ahead - I have to. However tonight is one of those 'I wish it was next week' moments, because this time next week (and it's now 20:00), I'll be sitting down in the West Cork Hotel enjoying a Burns Supper. This is the night when  Logan Ancient Plaid you can nearly be guaranteed that there will be more men wearing kilts than trousers; when your ears have to tune into English being spoken in a very different way & as the evening progresses, the accents may become more indecipherable; when the Irish and other nationalities will be in the minority in Ireland;  the 'whiskey' will be definitely 'whisky'; a...

I can't believe it's TWO weeks since I posted but on reflection, it's not surprising. The last weeks in December were absolutely hectic culminating in my 18 hour day on Tuesday, 23rd - this was a shocker for me when I actually added up my hours. I did manage to do a little bit of office work on 24th, but really I was present physically & on a mental shut down. We were supposed to be more than 4 for Christmas dinner, but that didn't pan out, so we spent most of the day from 8am church service catching up with each other and relaxing most of all. Yes, we enjoyed turkey and our own smoked ham, but we'd sold out of spiced beef & I didn't have time to make either a Christmas pudding or a cake so we did without. In fact as I hadn't been shopping, there was no cream in the house either & we were down to 3 onions! Early to bed on Christmas night and I actually didn't get up again until nearly noon St. Stephen's Day. The last time I ...

Listening to the rain belting the window early this morning, I decided that I was not getting up at 5.30am to make a delivery to S.V. Clonakilty , but would wait at least for daylight. I had that choice which so many don't. Even when I did get up, it was still raining. So since 7am, I've made a rather interesting Lebanese style omelette but included our black pudding . It tasted stunning hot & I'm now waiting for a comment from William and our employee, who have been working since 6am & they have the choice to eat it hot or cold. I've also made that delivery and just now finished at 11am with a meeting with our F.S.A.I . Vet. We meet with the F.S.A.I. on a monthly basis to review our business premises; products etc. This has become a very proactive meeting with an exchange of views. We are determined that our quality is to the very best standards we can achieve and beyond. If we keep the little things right, the big things are easier to achieve. Another busy ...

It's true. Employees go home when they've completed their working day. The bosses stay until the job's finished - well, we do. Willie & I could be called 'control freaks'. For example, we made Rosscarbery Black and White Pudding today. Willie started at some ungodly hour, while I appeared at a respectable 5am. Both boys have been here all day also. Now it's 20:23 & I'm going home. To say that I'm tired is to be very kind, but there's also the unquestionable satisfaction of a job well done. Another busy day tomorrow, but so what. It's what we do. Until later Avril

 It's been one of those days & now my poor brain is buzzing. This morning we had our monthly FSAI audit, which is done through the County Council Veterinary Dept . Everything went well & these days it is as much a conversation as it is a regulatory inspection. If I have queries or issues, I can discuss them; and our vet is willing to advise us. I for one am delighted with this very proactive approach to our food business, and indeed very relieved also that there is a listening expert ear for that occasion when something goes wrong. In food business, you can never be too careful or complacent. Then I headed to Brosnan's in Schull who were celebrating their lovely revamp with a host of local producers. I often say that small producers don't often get a chance to shoot the breeze as we try to do a range of functions to progress our business. I literally parked my van at the front door, changed from jeans to a dress and left again this time for the laun...