photo credit to @ze_foodie (my partner this week Hannah Z!

This morning I awoke to what sounded like a river or a constant flow of rain ... not the best start to the morning or indeed week five and hardly inspiring you to jump out of bed full of the joys of summer ... but jump out I did and was in place in my "new kitchen" by 8 a.m. Last week I was in kitchen three ... today I was in Demo kitchen ... for those of you reading the blog regularly ... that's the area when Darina, Rory and Rachel give their demonstrations from. It's a different setup than the others ... you have limited space and there is only limited interaction with your fellow students as every one is in a line ... and today I learned ... I don't like limited interaction 😝

Today wasn't a busy day for me on paper! I was making Cabbage (to go with bacon, shock horror😱) and an apple tart, it shouldn't have been too taxing ... so I decided to make some orange butter scones also ... I don't know what it was but nothing clicked for me today ... I had an issue with the weighing scale (story of my life🤫) my tart took longer to do than expected, then someone turned the oven off ... my food was good in the end but I felt that the whole day was a cluster f*&% (Jez, that one's for you). The problem for me here is that I expect a high level of performance from myself and If I don't achieve that in my own eyes I get annoyed ... my new teacher, Sorcha came close to offering me a hug just to try cheer me up 😂

Anyway ... I have a new partner this week too, Hannah Z (from New York) and she was the one positive today ... neither of us felt the love for the new kitchen but we have decided to own it tomorrow! Game on! 🤙

The afternoon demo today was one of the well known demos at Ballymaloe ... it's one they open up specifically to the public prior to the day (as opposed to public turning up on the day) ... the Brunch demo ... where Rory O'Connell turns breakfast on its head and makes enough brunch classics to make every hipster drool and put their skinny jeans to the test! He really covers everything ... from simple freshly pressed juices to Green "nutri bullet" style things (he doesn't call them that!) from a simple boiled or poached egg to eggs Benedict ... have a look at the list below!

Chilled Grapefruit with Ginger Sugar and Mint
Freshly squeezed juices: orange; ruby grapefruit; tangerine; clementine; citrus fruit; carrot, apple and turmeric juice; New Season’s apple juice; (blood orange –February)
Scary Green Juice
Smoothie: Banana and variations
Pinhead Oatmeal Porridge with Soft Brown Sugar and Cream
Macroom Oatmeal Porridge from the last remaining Stone-ground Mill in Ireland
Granola – toasted breakfast cereal
Traditional Smoked Kippers from Woodcock Smokery, Parsley Butter served with Sourdough Toast
Beans and Sausages
Fried Eggs with Sage Leaves
Perfect Poached Eggs on Toast
Variation: Poached Eggs with Smoked Black Pudding; Poached Eggs on Toast with Bacon
Eggs Benedict
Scrambled Eggs and variations - Indian Scrambled Eggs
Shakshuka
Breakfast Frittata
Avocado Toast with Hard-Boiled Eggs, Sumac, Red Onion and Coriander
Classic Waffles with Maple Syrup
Homemade Yoghurt with Local Honey
Labne with Saffron, Apricots and Pistachio Bread
A Basket of Ballymaloe Breads
Brown and White Soda Bread, Spotted Dog; Stripy Cat;
Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread
Ballymaloe Breakfast Scones
Brioche; Brioche Cinnamon Butter Buns
Strawberry Jam; Strawberry and Redcurrant Jam
Kumquat Marmalade

See what I mean ... and of course as usual he receives a round of applause at the end of the demo!

I will try post a recipe on the cookbook blog in the next few days (like I don't have enough to do) for one of the soda breads or maybe spotted dog or stripy cat (yes, I am serious) as they are in Darina's Ballymaloe Cookery School cookbook in the same proportions! I have become a big fan of these breads while I'm here and I don't understand why more people aren't making them fresh rather than buying supermarket bread (oh dear there I go ... sounding like Darina and Rory!!! 😂)

This evening I felt completely wrecked and a little down hearted if I'm honest ... but I felt close to myself again after sharing a slice of kotopita and a glass of white with my housemate Christian and a call home 🏠 !

Order of work completed, Whites ironed, Ready for a new day! Day 30 !!! ✅

Day Twenty Nine - I guess it had to happen ...