AH SURE AZURE

Blog

  • NCAD Community Garden

    img_1814

     

    When you walk up off the Oliver Bond street parallel to Thomas Street and go through the tall metal gates, you leave behind the city and enter a mini garden of paradise.

    Order has been brought to chaos with rows of vegetables stretching out in raised beds and more chaos has been created with the mountains of composting material being gathered daily by Tony Lowth whose brainchild this project is.

    The cycle continues with the compost being spread on the ground ceating no dig beds with minimal weeds. It is a pleasure to work this soil. Rich and friable , dark but light to the touch, its fertility is evident in the abundance of lettuce, leeks and kale still growing in November.

    Tony is no stranger to social change and he has a plan to create employment out of waste.  The practical application of labour to waste ground is no random idea but is carefully thought out.

    IN the meantime, the backdrop of the citys noise – sellers in Meath Street calling out, Christchurch playing the Bells of the Angelus at noon and the visual  impact of graffiti on the gardens walls remind you where you are. In the heart of the oldest part of Dublin and not 500 metres from where Robert Emmet was hanged, a farm that out forefathers would be proud of is thriving.

  • Vegetarian Paradise

    Vegetarian Paradise

    Cafe Paradiso is the most aptly named restaurant in Ireland.

    It takes you to a world of fresh food cooked with care and expertise. It introduces your taste buds to stimulating flavours and your eyes to natural colours of bright greens , reds and orange.

    Using a base such as haloumi or coucous, the dish is built up with beluga lentils or surrounded with chick peas

    Hazelnut gougeres were divine as nutty starters – balls of delicate flavour to mop up the delicious sauce.

    Lyndas buffalo mozzarella was delicate and refreshing with a clear taste. We both admitted to having thought buffalo referred to the size of the cheese,not the fact that it actually came from real buffalos near Macroom County Cork. Lynda never thought that there had of course to be female buffalo!

    We loved the delicious thin crackers with seeds in top that were placed in the middle of the table. The waitress kindly jotted down the recipe and we will both produce our version and see who produces the better cracker.

    The service was excellent and the restaurant was full from 5.45 pm.

    Great value.  €102 between us including the bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

    We finished the night in the Bodhran on Oliver Plunkett Street – which we were informed by a barman in the Imperial is “the best street in Europe”. Who were we to argue? There are not many pubs in this country where you would walk in to hear Lou Reed followed by a mix of classic tracks from Blondie to , of course, Rory Gallagher

    Nothing like a good dose of nostalgia!!

    Cafe Paradiso certainly was not something that would have succeeded when I was growing up in Cork

    its surely a sign of our growing appreciation of good foods and sustainability that it has such a huge reputation in Ireland and abroad .

    As the big healthy man himself said- I’ll be back!

     

  • Daily Prompt: Volunteer

    Daily Prompt: Volunteer

    via Daily Prompt: Volunteer

    today is your chance to make a difference to the world. Our lives are divided into work, leisure and functional activities – we sometimes miss the giving opportunities that dont benefit ourselves.

    Being moved to do something for no obvious gain is exhilarating and fulfilling in itself.