Preparing for the Finale

Because Charlene will be arriving net Thursday and I would like to spend a little time with my beloved, I'm starting to study for the written final, as well as study for the wine exam next Wednesday.  Consequently, this will be a relatively short blog, or at least written quickly (remember my quote from Ben Franklin).

Cooking this week was lots of fun.  Monday, I cooked a roast duck with potato stuffing and gravy, roast potatoes, and Jerusalem artichoke slices.  The duck was BIG; so, even though mine was the first in the oven, it was the last one out.  Tasted good, but duck is a little too fatty for me to love.  Preparing the gravy was good practice for my final, as was roasting the potatoes, and both were very good.  Jerusalem artichokes were new to me, but I liked them and will look for them back in ABQ.  On to Tuesday and cucumber salad, a plate of smoked fish with horseradish sauce and sweet dill pickle, cauliflower cheese, and a Bakewell Tart (named after the town of Bakewell, where it originated).  I first prepared the pastry for the tart, which has an almond-based filling, but uses more sugar and butter than almonds.  The hard part is the pastry, including a lattice top, but I was up to the task!  Unfortunately, even though it turned out well, I don't particularly care for it.  I do, however, love the cauliflower cheese, which uses a Mournay sauce that is so rich tasting you can feel your stomach drop inches when you swallow.  The plate of fish was really just putting ingredients together in an attractive manner -- not my strong suit -- but I managed.  Interesting side note:  when I was starting to assemble the plate and went looking for dill for garnish, I realized that I had used chopped chives, not dill in the mayo.  Oops!  So, I added lots of dill and it tasted fine.  Until now, no one knew the difference (got away with one).

Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, a national holiday here (they don't worry about the religious implications, like some in the U.S. do about Christmas).  Surprisingly, we had cooking and demo on Thursday, so we could have Friday off and a 3-day weekend.  And we had lobster!  I love lobster and, because of cost and the land-locked nature of New Mexico, have it very rarely.  Well, I made lobster in a cream and fresh herb sauce.  The sauce was quite complicated and I had to make Hollandaise sauce as an ingredient.  After one false start on the Hollandaise, Tina helped me for a minute or two and I made the only Hollandaise in our kitchen; so others used some of mine with lots of thanks (felt kind of nice).  I normally like my lobster plain with butter for dipping, but I've got to admit that this lobster in cream and herb sauce was outstanding -- best meal I've had here.  Tina told me to take the lobster and the warm salad my partner had prepared into the dining room and eat them warm before I cleaned up.  I was in 7th heaven.

One of my cottage mates, Louise, invited me to spend the long weekend with her and her husband.  Originally Bryony was going to join us, but her plans changed.  Below are pictures I took from the window of the my bedroom at their home.

In the 1st picture, the hills on the left are the ones that extend onto the Dingle Peninsula, which is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland.  In the 2nd picture you can see ocean water with another small peninsula behind it.  Very beautiful place to live.  Below are Louise (right), Mark, and Sue, who is Louise's long-time friend who joined us.  Of course, Lizzy had to get in the act.  For Friday's dinner, I attempted to cook the dinner I will do for my final exam.  Let's just say that I learned a few things.  In any case, I had a most enjoyable evening with some very nice people. 

While Horace just relaxed!

 Just to show you the vagaries of Irish weather, the pictures from the bedroom window were taken about 9 a.m. and, by the time I left at 12:30, it was too rainy to go just down the road and play the Castlegregory 9-hole golf course, which was one of my favorites on a previous visit to this island.  Shucks!

Last Sunday I took the cliff walk from Ballycotton.  Here is one shot to give you an idea of the beauty along the coast on a beautiful afternoon.

Charlene and I will spend next weekend in Kinsale, so I don't know when I'll prepare the next blog.  Have patience and know I'm thinking about my friends and relatives in the good old U.S. of A.