Spring is officially upon us…can you feel it? In the past few days there’s been a waft of something on the air – I’m not sure what. Inspiration? Possibility? Whatever it is, I’m enjoying everything this spring has brought so far – warmer weather, longer evenings, and the sight of baby bunnies and ickle lambs frolicking in the fields, to name but a few - and excited about the long and hopefully hot summer ahead.

I should preface this post with an apology of sorts…I’ve been more than neglectful of late, even for me. I’m not even sure what exactly it was that kept me away from my little blog so long - a combination of things, I suppose. Joe’s been renovating a house since June of last year, and at the end of January he moved in. I decided to wait for such luxuries as flooring, and a kitchen, and have been firmly ensconced at my parents’ house for the past couple of months. My mother has a Rayburn in her kitchen and it’s amazing – it cooks, heats the house AND the hot water – but I’m damned if I can cook/bake with it. The temperature is impossible to control, so anything delicate like fairy cakes, or recipes which demand a certain heat and cooking time, like brownies, are a no-go. This is probably good for my health and well-being, as I’m no longer ingesting massive amounts of baked goods, but it also means that I have nothing to blog about!

So, until I get into my shiny new – read, second-hand; whave very little – read, no – money – kitchen, Imma turn The Loving  Spoonful into a food and lifestyle blog. I’ll update you on foodie goings-on around the country, and blog about products/utensils/gadgets that I love and think you will too. I’m also going to throw in the occasional giveaway to bribe you all into liking me again - starting now!

I met Judith of A Box For My Treasure at Dublin’s Ferocious Mingle Market a couple of months ago, and couldn’t leave without snapping up some of her gorgeous pieces. I’ve been wearing them non-stop ever since, and love the way they look, the compliments I get on them, and the fact that they’re something cute, but different, that not everyone will have. They’re also really reasonably priced, and make great gifts for Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, birthdays or even a keepsake for nieces/daughters/goddaughters who are making their Communion or Confirmation over the next couple of weeks.

Judith has very kindly given me TWO pieces to giveaway to one lucky commenter – check them out!

This gorgeous brass feather ring – I bought one of these, and LOVE it.

AND

These fabulous earrings. So pretty, and perfect for spring.

To be in with a chance of winning these gorgeous goodies, just leave a comment telling me three things you’ve enjoyed this spring, and one lucky winner will receive the pieces above! If you like what you see, make sure to visit Judith’s Etsy shop, or like her on Facebook to keep up-to-date with all she has to offer.

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Time for some foodie news, and the biggest is that Masterchef is coming to Ireland! This is a great opportunity for all you talented amateur cooks out there to showcase your skills in front of the amazing Nick Munier and Dylan McGrath to win the coveted title of Masterchef Ireland, as well as €25,000 in cash! Successful applicants will proceed to the audition phases of the competition where they will be up against some of the best amateur cooks in the country. Those that prove themselves worthy of a place in the final 16 will put through a series of intense tests, tasks and challenges which will test their culinary skill to the limit. Each week, cooks will be eliminated until they are left with only one winner, Ireland’s very first MasterChef Champion. All the details are here and you have until the 27th April to apply. Good luck!

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Has anyone been to Lidl/Aldi recently? I used to do all of my shopping there (there was an Aldi within spitting distance of our apartment in town), until I realised that their fruit and veg lasted a spookily long time. That said, there are still some gems to be had. I picked up a waffle maker in Lidl a couple of weeks ago for €17 – bargain! Aldi also do pretty cheap maple syrup – about €3.50, as I recall, compared to €6 or €7 in most places – and they’ve just brought out a range of frozen yoghurts which are DIVINE. The strawberry one tastes just like strawberry ice-cream, and as someone who has a horrible addiction to Eddie Rockets’ strawberry malts, this is a very, very good thing indeed.

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The Waterford Festival of Food was on at the weekend, culiminating in a huge outdoor food market in Dungarvan’s Main Square on Sunday. I went along to hang out with Candi of The Boho Kitchen, who was selling her signature white chocolate and pecan blondies, fudgey chocolate brownies, cupcakes, cookies and lots of other new treats for Easter, like her red velvet cake balls (and Girlfriend needs to slap a warning sticker on ‘em, ’cause they are addictive). I took home a selection of her tasty treats and they were gorgeous, check out her stall at a festival near you soon!

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Finally, there’s another new market on the scene. The Market Waterford is a pretty new set-up in what was the old An Post sorting office on Waterford’s High St/Kaiser St. Run by Fran and her partner Paul who developed the old SOMA Market I sold at before, it’s a huge venue and a great way for local producers to showcase their talent. The market currently runs on Saturdays, but they’re hoping to open from Thursday through to Sunday as the summer market season progresses. Make sure to come along and check it out next time you’re in town, and see the talent of our local bakers, jewellers and interior decorators – to name a few – for yourself! If you’re interested in having a stall, more information can be found on their Facebook page.

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That’s about it for the foodie news this week – I have another large and exciting announcement to make which deserves its own post, so stay tuned! In the meantime, make sure to enter the giveaway by posting in the comments’ section below and one lucky reader will be selected to win the lovely jewellery from A Box For My Treasure. You have until midnight on Easter Sunday (April 24th) to enter, so get scribbling. Best of luck!

*Silence*

Honestly, I’m not surprised. If my blog was a boyfriend, it would have broken up with me by now. Things have been manic recently, and once again, at the start of November, I found myself staring down the barrel of two jam-packed months. Being busy is great, but I was starting to long for some time off before December hit and things got even busier. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for – my great plans for a trip to Ikea this morning skidded to a halt when I woke up to this:

 Snow. In Waterford. IN NOVEMBER! It doesn’t look terribly impressive in the above photos, but it got even heavier as the morning went on – big fat flakes falling with happy abandon. I called off my trip in favour of a cosy-pyjama-clad, kitchen-ensconced day at home, and so far I’ve done more baking in a few short hours than I have in the previous couple of weeks.

One of my recent cookbook acquisitions is Kitchen, the new tome from Nigella Lawson. I’ve only had a chance to quickly flick through it, but her recipe for apple cinnamon muffins caught my eye. They’re, helpfully, located in the section on using up leftovers, and as I had two unused cooking apples from making a batch of mincemeat a couple of weeks ago which eyed me reproachfully every time I entered the kitchen, I decided to give them a go.

They turned out gorgeously, and are, I think, better when made with cooking apples as opposed to eating, as these muffins are quite sweet, and the tartness of the cooking apple gives your tastebuds a welcome reprieve. I would also say be careful when measuring out the honey; I think I used slightly too much here, and next time I’ll reduce the amount of sugar in the topping. That’s just me though – although I have a sweet tooth, I don’t like things that are overpoweringly sweet, so they may taste just fine to anyone else.  My efforts at this recipe are not the most attractive-looking either – I gave them their requisite 20 minutes in the oven, at which point they were perfectly puffed-up and golden, but still seemed a little undercooked. I baked them for another five minutes, and they came out slightly overdone. Oh well, not to worry, they still tasted delicious; I broke off a piece to try it and ended up scoffing the whole thing in seconds. The yoghurt and oil make these beautifully moist, the apples add a lovely tartness, and the toasted almonds in the topping are divine. Make them, and savour their still-warm-from-the-oven flavour with a cup of tea or coffee. You’ll love them!

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins, taken from Kitchen, by Nigella Lawson

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

2 eating apples or 1 large cooking apple, peeled and cut into small dice

250g plain flour or spelt flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

125g light brown sugar, plus 4 tsp for topping

125ml honey

60ml runny natural yoghurt

125ml flavourless vegetable oil

2 eggs

75g whole almonds, skin on

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius and line a 12-hold muffin tin with papers.

2. Measure the flour, baking powder and 1 tsp cinnamon into a bowl.

3. Whisk together the 125g brown sugar, honey, oil and eggs in a bowl – or, as I prefer, a jug, for ease of pouring.

4. Chop the almonds roughly and add half of them to the flour. Keep the other half aside, and to them add the second teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 4 tsp of brown sugar. This will be the topping for your muffins.

5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Add the chopped apple and stir to combine. As with all muffin batters, don’t overmix – the lumpier and heavier the batter, the lighter the finished muffin will be.

6. Spoon the batter into the muffin papers and sprinkle with the topping.

7. Put into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, by which time the muffins should have risen, and become beautifully golden.

8. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes, before taking them out of the pan and devouring with unapologetic greed.

When the evenings get shorter and the temperatures start to drop, my thoughts turn to woolly jumpers, crackling fires, snuggling down under a cosy blanket with a good book, and I crave hearty food like rib-sticking stews, luscious, gravy-filled pies, and warm, comforting fruit crumbles. This apple and blackberry crumble is one such dish, with the sweet and crunchy topping revealing a bed of soft and delicious fruit. Apple and blackberry is a classic autumnal combination, and one that I’m more than happy to indulge in while both fruits are at their best.

The original recipe calls for cooking apples, but I used regular eating apples and cut out most of the sugar. Normally, I would add cinnamon to an apple crumble, but omitted it here as the blackberries added more than enough extra flavour. This makes a lovely ending to a autumnal Sunday lunch when served, still warm, with vanilla ice-cream, softly-whipped cream, or a blob of crème fraiche…woolly jumper and crackling fire optional.

Apple and Blackberry Crumble (taken from Rachel’s Favourite Food, by Rachel Allen)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3-4 large cooking apples (or 4-5 eating apples), peeled, cored and cut into large chunks

1 tbsp water

2-3 tbsp sugar (you can cut this down to about 1/2 tbsp of sugar if using eating apples)

225g blackberries (frozen is fine)

For the crumble:

175g plain white flour

75g cold butter, cut into chunks

75g demerara sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Put the apple chunks, water and sugar into a saucepan over a low heat and cook until the apples are soft and pulpy – about 10 minutes. If using eating apples, they won’t break down as much, so cook them until they are soft to the point of a knife. While the apples are cooking, stir every minute or so to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Taste and add more sugar if needed, before transferring to a pie dish (or to several small ramekins) to cool slightly. Pop the blackberries onto the cooked apple at this point.

2. To make the crumble, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Don’t rub it in too much however, as the crumble won’t be crunchy if you do. Add the sugar into the crumble topping and mix. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the apple and blackberries.

3. Bake for 15 minutes for small crumbles, or 30-45 minutes for larger crumbles. Remove from the oven when the crumble is cooked and golden. Serve whilst still warm, with cream, vanilla ice-cream or crème fraiche.

I know, I know – I haven’t posted for almost two months; things have been utterly hectic. After flitting about aimlessly all summer, August hit, and suddenly the following eight weekends were packed solid. Although I enjoyed every minute of my holidaying, socialising and time-with-friends spending, I could feel autumn beckoning and couldn’t wait for October, with its promise of a weekend spent in my deeply unsexy but oh-so-comfy flannel jammies, sleeping late under piles of woolly blankets, eating warm, leisurely breakfasts, and happily pottering about the house. Finally, autumn is here, with its crunchy, burnt orange leaves underfoot, cooler mornings which necessitate the digging out of winter coats from the back of the wardrobe, and cravings for pies, stews, and the warmth of pumpkin-pie spiced baked goods. Saturday morning, with its grey skies and torrential rain, provided a guilt-free opportunity for some pyjama-clad stoveside pottering, and a bowl of this delicious baked oatmeal made for the perfect autumnal breakfast.

I love porridge on winter mornings, but had never thought of baking it until I saw a recent post on one of my favourite food blogs, Joy the Baker. Any of the recipes I’ve tried from her site have been delicious, so I couldn’t wait to try her take on Baked Oatmeal. Porridge oats are mixed with brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, bound with egg, milk and melted butter, and baked until golden brown and fragrant. It takes five minutes to throw together, and a mere 25 minutes to bake – giving you plenty of time to pop out for the papers, take a shower, or snuggle your still-in-bed other half. The texture is somewhere between a giant oatmeal cookie, a flapjack, and a cake…and utterly compelling. Not only is this dish perfect for weekends, but it keeps well, making a great weekday breakfast after a quick spin in the microwave – just knowing that this is waiting for me in the kitchen is enough to get me out of bed on a Monday morning. I love this equally with ice-cold milk, chopped pecans and dried cranberries; sweet blackberry coulis and natural yoghurt; and with warm milk and raisins scattered over the top. Next time, I’m going to top it with creme fraiche and cinnamon-breathed applesauce – the perfect autumnal waker-upper.

Baked Oatmeal (from Joy the Baker)

Serves 4 greedy people

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk (any fat content is fine)

1/4 cup melted butter

1 large egg

splash of vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celcius.

2. Whisk together the oats, sugar, cinnamon and baking powder in a bowl.  Whisk together the milk, butter, egg and vanilla extract (for ease of addition, and to avoid any early-morning kitchen mishaps, I mix the wet ingredients up in a jug as opposed to a bowl).  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. 

3. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 9-inch pie dish.  Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly firm to the touch. If the oatmeal wobbles when you shake the dish slightly, give it another few minutes in the oven.

4. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes before spooning it into serving bowls.  Top with whatever takes your fancy, and enjoy! 

This is a lovely recipe for a lazy Sunday morning – you probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already, so just buy some fresh or frozen berries this evening and leisurely throw these together in the morning for a delicious breakfast with a cup of good coffee. To make life even easier, you can rub in the butter the night before , and add the baking powder, milk, eggs and berries the next morning. Voila! Delicious, freshly-baked scones with very little effort.

I made two-thirds of this recipe because I didn’t want to end up eating 20 scones by myself, and although the dough was quite sticky, the scones turned out perfectly. I don’t have a scone cutter so I used a tumbler instead. Next time, I’m going to use an ice-cream scoop for perfect bite-size scones. The recipe stipulates painting the scones with an egg-wash glaze to help the sugar to stick to their tops, but I skipped this step as the sugar stuck easily to the tacky dough. If you feel that the scones do need an egg wash, however, simply beat an egg and brush onto their tops before dipping them into the fragrant sugar. The topping caramelises in the oven to give these scones a delicious crunch. Not only are these fabulous for breakfast, but they are great at teatime, and would be perfect for a coffee morning.

Blueberry Scones with a Cinnamon Sugar Topping (based on a recipe for Sweet White Scones from The Ballymaloe Cookery Course, by Darina Allen)

Makes 18-20 scones using a 7.5cm (3in) cutter

Ingredients:

900g plain white flour

pinch of salt

50g caster sugar

3 heaped tsp baking powder

175g butter

3 organic eggs

425ml milk, to mix

110g blueberries

For the Topping:

1 tsp cinnamon mixed with 50g granulated sugar

Method:

1. Prehat the oven to 250 degrees Celcius. Sieve all the dry ingredients in a wide, large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and rub in the butter. Add the berries, stir, and make a well in the centre of the mixture.

2. Whisk the eggs into the milk, add to the dry ingredients and mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured board.

3. Knead lightly, just enough to shape the dough into a round. Roll out to about 2.5cm (1in) thick and cut into scones. Dip the tops in the cinnamon sugar.

4. Put on a baking sheet (no need  to grease) and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and cool slightly, before slathering in butter and devouring.

Today I had a stall at my first ever farmer’s market, which was a resounding success. By the end of the day, I had one Snickers and peanut butter muffin, and about 10 cookies left over! My sister helped me with the baking last night, and we fell into bed at 2am. I’m so grateful for her help – I would never have gotten everything done otherwise! Many of my friends and family came along to support me and buy my treats, including Candi of The Boho Kitchen - who is going to have a stall there next weekend, so if you enjoyed her baking at the recent Dunmore Food Festival, take note. I had a brilliant day – everyone was so friendly and, most importantly, enjoyed my baking, which was the best thing. I was a bit nervous going into it, but got great feedback which really boosted my confidence. One lady who’d bought some flapjacks came back a couple of hours later to buy all the flapjacks that I had left…apparently her husband told her that they were nicer than the ones she makes!

I was so touched and thriled that so many people turned up to see me – I really appreciated the effort that you all made, so thank you very, very much. I’m booked in to do it again on the 21st August, so I hope to see you there next time! Hopefully my table will look like this by 4pm again…

Like any self-respecting girl, I love my chocolate, and this mousse is perfect for any chocoholics that you may know.  I use a mixture of milk and dark chocolate to give this dessert a sweetly creamy, yet intense chocolate flavour. This mousse is quick and easy to make – the only slightly tricksy bit is the adding of the egg whites, and that’s not very difficult at all. This makes a fabulous end to a meal with a cup of good coffee, and needs no embellishment (though some sharp raspberry coulis would be gorgeous). Make this for your next dinner party, and your guests will want to come back again, and again!

Chocolate Mousse (taken from Rachel’s Favourite Food, by Rachel Allen)

Ingredients:

120g good-quality dark chocolate (or use a mixture of milk and dark, as I do)

120ml cream

2 eggs separated

Method:

1. Finely chop the chocolate. In a saucepan, bring the cream up to the boil. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted. Whisk in the egg yolks, and transfer to a large, wide bowl. This will make it easier to fold in the egg whites in the next step.

2. In a separate, clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until just stiff, and then gently stir in a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites, being careful not to knock all the air out. It’s the air bubbles that will make your mousse feather-light and airy.

3. Spoon into little bowls, glasses or cups, and leave in the fridge for an hour or two to set. Rachel says that this fills about 10 small glasses, but I half-filled four heart-shaped ramekins instead. This mousse is so tasty that you’ll want to eat lots of it!

In the meantime, I have been cooking, but just not photographing or blogging about the results – by the time I’ve finished creating a meal I’m more in the mood to actually eat it, as opposed to style it and make it look pretty.

The biggest news, as far as me and my culinary career is concerned, is that I’ve gotten into a local market in town - it’s the SOMA Garden Market, Lombard St - and will be selling my baked treats there this Saturday. I’m absolutely thrilled – it’s my dream to open my own cafe some day, and doing local markets is the first step on the rung for me. It’s a great way to not only make contacts, but to see how people will react to my baking, and what items will sell. So far I’m planning to do a mix of goodies – some of which I have posted on this blog, and some tasty bites that I’ve made before. For sale will be Lemon Squares, Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies and Banana Bread, along with Peanut Butter and Snickers muffins, White Chocolate and Raspberry muffins, Cranberry and White Chocolate cookies, and some other treats. I have so many other things to do beforehand but I’m really looking forward to it! If you’re in the Waterford area on Saturday, pop in and say hello, I’d love to see you there.

Flipping through cookbooks, looking for a recipe to use up three lemons that were on their way out, I came across this little gem in The Ballymaloe Cookery Course. These are outrageously, unbelievably quick and easy to throw together, and so are perfect to make just before you have people over for coffee and a chat. You tip butter, sugar, flour and eggs into a bowl/mixer, pour the resulting mixture into a Swiss Roll tin, bake, top it with a syrupy icing, and enjoy. This took literally three minutes to mix together, and it tastes like something that was slaved over for hours. The sponge is light and tender, and the icing is both tangy and sweet. They don’t need any accompaniment, but a blob of softly-whipped cream would be utter gorgeousness.

Lemon Squares (from The Ballymaloe Cookery Course by Darina Allen)

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

170g soft butter

170g caster sugar

2 eggs

170g self-raising flour

For the icing:

freshly-grated rind of 1 lemon

freshly-squeezed juice of 1-2 lemons (I used the juice of one and a half lemons, so add the juice of one and then taste)

110g caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

2. Put the butter, sugar, flour and eggs into a bowl, or into the bowl of a food mixer. Mix gently to combine.

3. Spread the mixture evenly into a well-greased Swiss Roll tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden-brown and well-risen.

4. Meanwhile, mix the icing ingredients together, pour over the sponge as soon as it comes out of the oven and leave to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

 LOOK! Look at this – it’s a blog post, ON SCHEDULE. I know, I know, I’m shocked too.

When you’ve all picked yourselves up off the floor, allow me to introduce you to my Super Duper Salad. It’s not just a summer salad (I admit it, I like alliteration), but is delicious at any time of the year. I invented it in a flash of hunger-driven inspiration one evening – I’m not struck by culinary inspiration very often, but when it happens, it’s good. All of the flavours and textures in this salad complement each other perfectly – the crisp, salty bacon against the sweet sauteed potatoes and crumbly feta, the bitter leaves against the cool, creamy avocado, and the sweet honey against the lemon juice in the dressing. This is a robust, filling salad – and the guilt-assuaging leaves make you feel good about eating bacon and cheese.

You can either saute precooked potatoes, if you’ve got any hanging around, or oven-roast them from scratch, which is how I make this.  However you cook them, I urge you to add a sprinkling of my new favourite secret ingredient – garlic granules. They add a sweet, garlicky hit to any dish, without the palaver of peeling and mincing fresh cloves.

As with all warm salads, this needs to be assembled at the last minute – but no matter. It’s hardly taxing – just divide the salad leaves between however many plates you need, top with cool scoops of avocado, add the still-warm potatoes, scatter over the crispy bacon and crumble over some feta before drizzling with the fresh-tasting dressing and falling upon your plate with besotted greed.

Super Salad (serves 2)

Ingredients:

For the salad:

600g waxy potatoes

Bag of mixed salad leaves or rocket

1 large, ripe avocade

100g bacon lardons (or 2 bacon slices, chopped)

feta cheese

For the dressing:

olive oil

honey

lemon juice

Method:

1. Either saute your cooked potatoes in a little oil and butter, sprinkling over some salt, pepper and garlic granules. Cook until golden and crisp. If cooking potatoes from scratch, cut them into evenly-sized pieces, drizzle with oil, sprinkle over some salt, pepper and garlic granules and pop into an oven at 150 Celcius for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through and golden.

2. In the meantime make your dressing. Pour a glug of oil into a bowl or screw-top jar, add the juice of half a lemon and enough honey to taste. Whisk or shake up the dressing, taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

3. When the potatoes are ready, quickly fry the bacon in a hot pan until crisp.

4. Divide the salad leaves between two plates (I like to use those wide, large, soup-style bowls) and add half of a scooped-out avocado to each plate, scatter over half each of the cooked potatoes and bacon, before crumbling over some feta and drizzling on the dressing.

5. Serve and enjoy!