Blog Review 2008 (a bit late)

I only just realised that this wasn't posted at the turn of the new year, so apologies for the delay but here's my review of 2008 highlighting a couple of my favourite recipes from each month.

January
Balsamic Grilled Chicken - simple recipe, but fantastically delicious!
Jamie Oliver's Mince Pies - this brought a huge amount of traffic to the site over December 08 and I can tell why, they're delicious!!!!!

February
Cook Yourself Thin Brownies - how can you not love the sound of this?
Chicken Paella - a great tasty one dish dinner



March
Pizza dough/Calzone - this has become a regular feature at the dinner table in our house and even after trying other dough recipes this one still wins.
Sweet pepper pasta sauce - I love making batches of this and freezing for quick meals.



April
Lamb and Apricot Stew - an improved version of an earlier blogged about recipe and also my entry to RTE's Cook of the Year competition
Strawberry Cupcakes with "Champagne" glaze - these were just soooooo good!

May
Bruce Bogtrotter's Chocolate Cake - another favourite on the search engines and a huge hit with my youth group
Chocolate and orange meringues - a great recipe for successful meringues!

June
Sweet bacon and chicken bites - require a little bit of prep but well worth it
New and improved Malteser buns - this is another popular recipe that people seem to do a lot of searches for and a fantastically delicious traybake!



July
Orange and poppy seed cake - what my youth group refers to as "druggy cake" cos of the opium in poppy seeds, but a definite hit
Green chilli chicken - a bit of an experiment of mine and a successful one.

August
Vanilla Fudge - what's not to love about fudge?
Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry chocolate ganache - a tasty treat to mark one year blogging over at Ruth E Babes Blog



September
Crash Hot Potatoes - a great side dish
Victoria Sandwich Cake - a cake I can't help but make over and over and over.

October
Garlic and Chili Chicken with Basil - this dish is jam packed with flavour
Only one post for this month because we were away on holiday for most of it!

November
Gordon Ramsay's Lasagna al Forno - I was so excited to be making this and have loved making it since too
Steak pie - a deliciously comforting dish for this time of year

December
Lemon cake with passionfruit syrup - beautifully tasty cake
Irish Tea Loaf - perfect for snacking on




A belated happy new year to you all!

I've been nominated!

Last year I was a finalist for the 2008 Irish Blog Awards and this year I've been nominated again! The longlist this year is a huge one with some incredible blogs included - check them out....

Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments: http://justaddeggs.blogspot.com
Well Done Fillet: http://welldonefillet.blogspot.com
Sour Grapes - An Irish Wine Blog Covering Wine In Ireland, Wine Tasting, Wine Facts And Wine Recommendations: http://sourgrapes.ie
Italian Foodies: http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com
Forkncork: http://forkncork.com
Cheapeats.ie: http://cheapeats.ie
Ifoods.tv: http://ifoods.tv/blog
Food Culture West Cork: http://foodculturewestcork.wordpress.com
Food And Drink: http://foodanddrinkireland.blogspot.com
Bubble Brothers - Cork Wine Merchants: http://bubblebrothers.com/blog
Ice Cream Ireland: http://icecreamireland.com
The Good Mood Food Blog: http://thegoodmoodfoodblog.com
The Daily Spud: http://thedailyspud.com
Curious: The Curious Wines Wine Blog: http://curiouswines.ie/blog
Messy Chef: http://messy-chef.com
A Food Journey In Korea.: http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com
Olliesplace: Organic Food, Farming, Research, News & Views With Oliver Moore: http://olivermoore.blogspot.com
Little Bird Eats…: http://littlebirdeats.wordpress.com
Cookzors: http://cookzors.com
Messy-chef » Recipes And Reviews: http://messy-chef.com/blog
Robert Francis Wine Review, Wine Newsletter, Free Newsletter, Wedding Wines: http://robertfranciswine.ie/wordpress
The Other Black Stuff: http://theotherblackstuff.ie
Tast.ie: The Spicendipity Irish Food Blog: http://tast.ie
Bibliocook: All About Food: http://bibliocook.com
Lidl Treats - How To Shop And What To Buy In Lidl Ireland: http://lidltreats.com
Eater’s Regret: http://eatersregret.wordpress.com
Cully And Sully - Super Soups And Pies!: http://cullyandsully.ie
Vals Kitchen: http://valskitchen.com


You can see the rest of the nominations for each category here

Omnivore's 100

This has been doing the rounds on the food blogosphere for a while and now I've finally got round to doing it myself.

Very Good Taste's Omnivore's 100
Here’s what to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I think that's 23 I have eaten and 18 I wouldn't consider eating, meaning there's 59 I've still to try.

1 year blogaversary!

Just over a week ago I celebrated my 1st birthday for my other blog by making Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Ganache. Today is the first blogaversary for this blog! To celebrate I made THE BBQ ribs that we have grown to love and served them with some steak and chips and also made this month's Sweet and Simple Bakes challenge which I can't post until the end of the month, but look forward to seeing it all lit with a birthday candle!

Thank you to every one who has commented and emailed and read this blog, it's been such an encouragement to keep going and experimenting in my wee kitchen. Love you all!

Happy birthday Ruth's Kitchen Experiments!!!!!

Tips and awards

A few days ago the topic of the day on the Wikihow How To feed was How to Cook. I'll be sending this to hubby with the hope he may learn a little something from it!

I've been very encouraged recently by some fellow bloggers when they sent some awards my way.

First Neen and Do from Post Collegiate Cooking awarded me with a "Blogging with Purpose" award. I felt so touched at receiving this award because I have been asking myself what is the purpose of my blog.... I started this off to force myself to try some new recipes and learn more about cooking using ingredients instead of jars of sauces and ready meals - to get myself out of my comfort zone. I'm still learning a lot about food and cooking but has my purpose for blogging changed or evolved?? Anyways that's enough rubbish from me about that.
I'm passing this award on to That Girl from "Paved with Good Intentions" because she's a top blogger who always has a great story to read with each recipe. She's such an encouragement to so many other bloggers (myself included) and so it seems right to send a little encouragement right back.



The lovely and sweet Dell from Cooking and the City has shown me some love with the "I love you this much" award. And I want to send it right back to Dell, she's been a great friend to me and a great support and encouragement as she's also made something for every week (except 1) of Bookmarked Recipes! I have no expectation for anyone to get involved as this event was primarily for me to get through a long list of recipes I've been meaning to try but it's great to feel the love when others get involved too.


Miss Bliss at Frolicking Foodie has awarded me with the Arte y Pico award which recognises a blog with creativity, design and interesting material - what a huge compliment!!!!
I'd like to pass this honour on to Mr Orph. He is a great cook and is always pushing his boundaries and trying something new. He is an inpiration in his attitude to food and cooking.



Finally Happy Cook at My Kitchen Treasures gave me a "Rockin Girl Blogger" award.... how cool is that!?!?!?! I love it!
And I love Pixie over at You say Tomato I say Tomato. This is one of my favourite blogs, because Pixie is always trying something new and exciting.... and she's also one of the sweetest people in the world!


Rob's been away yesterday, today and will be home tomorrow night and I was hoping to be making some nice food that I don't get to eat when he's around however yesterday I was out for lunch and stuffed myself so much i couldn't eat dinner and tonight I'm so knackered and tired out I'm not sure i feel up for making something new. I'll be back soon with a new recipe though... I promise!!!

Top 10 Food Pics Tag

Rosie from Rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake has tagged me for a really fun meme type thing -

Top 10 food pics......

This tag consists of me choosing 10 of my top food pics and in return tagging 5 people to choose 10 of their tops food pics.

This was difficult seeing as almost all my photos are taken on my phone which isn't really the best camera, but I'm hoping to get a better camera soon anyways. So here's my pick of the pics in no particular order.

Strawberry and Champagne Cupcakes


Sweet Pepper Pasta Sauce


Ulster Fry - Potato Bread and Soda Bread


Canary Pudding


BBQ Ribs


Roast Beef


Basic Chocolate Cake


Rhubarb from my Rhubarb Strudel


Swiss Roll


Perfect Party Cake




People being tagged for this are:
Deborah at Taste and Tell
Sarah at Homemade
Jaime at Good eats n sweet treats
That Girl at Paved with Good Intentions
Dell at Cooking and the City

iFoods Food Blog Database

Niall at iFoods just posted about how he and his team have completed a huge search of the interweb and created a database of what should be EVERY food blog in the world!!!!! How cool is that?

However they fear a few may be missing (like mine is at the minute) so have a look and see if yours is there and also spread the word about this great resource!

News just in....

Got the call from RTE this morning, I didn't get through to the next round, but Miss Geeky Pants did!!!! I'm so excited for her not just because she is an ahahahahahahamazing cook but also because she really wanted to get to do the next challenge of being given a hamper and told to create something with it... I would have loved this too, but realistically when I think about food blog events like Platinum Chef and Royal Foodie Joust and even the ones where you're given one ingredient and told to be creative with it, I realise that for me I need to think through what I'm going to do, ponder ideas and take my time over it, I really couldn't do the next round very well at all!

Anyways cooking this week, at least the first half of the week, will be mostly using up leftovers so there won't be many updates, but i'll be blogging the new and improved stew recipe soon. I was also out for dinner on Saturday so might do a review as well.

Also I have more news!!! In a world where there are loads and loads of food blog events, I've come up with an idea for a new one which I'm hoping to post about soon but keep checking back for details!!!!

News update

I have a few things to update you all on.... food related but not much to do with cooking.

1. I posted recently about how I had signed up to take part in RTE's Cook of the Year competition. Well I headed to Derry/Londonderry for the "auditions" on Saturday with the loverly Miss Geeky Pants who also entered.

It was such a fun morning! I made lamb and apricot stew with some edits that totally changes the taste of this recipe... don't worry I'll blog the new version soon! It was so tasty and the judges seemed to like it, the dish was left with them after talking to me and it came back almost empty!

There were 5 of us competing on Saturday and the competition was fierce! There was an incredibly mediterranean inspired potato bake, Miss Geeky Pants made an incredible Goan Curry, there was some good curried parsnip soup with wheaten bread and a beautiful sponge cake that was to die for!!!! We haven't heard yet who is through to the next round but should apparently know tomorrow! I'll keep you informed as tot he outcome for Miss Geeky Pants and I! Here's the 2 pics I took... I did mean to take more but was all caught up in the moment!




2. I've signed up as a "featured publisher" for Foodbuzz and so have some ads for them in my side bar.... which is another announcement in itself but I'll just tell you about it in this announcement because "Ruth's Kitchen Experiments" now has 2 side bars in order to facilitate the ads and not send all my stuff to the end of the blog (and I've also got a new header for the blog too). Supposedly I'll get a little money for the trouble of having the ads there, but I'll see how it goes, I doubt it'll be much, but it's better than "nowt"!!!

3. I've joined another cooking blogroll: The Great Cooks Blogroll. If you're a food blogger you should really sign up, it's a great way to get more traffic to your site but also a great way to build community and get some inspiration yourself! If you're not a food blogger, I still recommend having a look and getting some inspiration for your home cooking anyways and seeing what's out there!

Well I think that's all my news for now. I'll be sure to post the new and improved lamb and apricot stew and let you know the outcome of the auditions! Ciao for now!

Go ahead....make my day

Jaime over at Good eats n sweet treats has made me smile and give me a warm fuzzy feeling by giving me a "You make my day" award. I'm all blushful now!

I'm supposed to pick 10 people to pass this on to but I've got 12 on my list:
1. Cake Spy - Loving the most recent post Interview with a Cadbury Creme Egg
2. Rosie from Rosie bakes a peace of cake
3. Dell from Cooking and the City
4. Pixie in You say Tomahto, I say Tomayto
5. Meeta in What's for lunch honey?
6. Maria from The Goddess's kitchen
7. Happy Cook from My kitchen treasures
8. Deborah from Taste and Tell
9. Kate in Paved with good intentions (I know she's already received this several times already but she deserves it again!)
10. Jeena from Jeena's kitchen
11. Katie in Good things catered
12. Priscilla in Priscilla bakes

Another change of look

I changed the look of this blog about a month ago and I liked it but wasn't all that won over by it. So I've changed it again to something I prefer much more, it looks much cleaner now and I'm thinking gives me more variety in the picture I can use in the Title Bar.

Hope you like!

Blog events

I've been taking part in a few blog events recently and in fact most of my upcoming recipes will be for blog events too. I thought I'd share a list of some that are out there (that I know about) at the minute in case anyone is interested in getting involved themselves.

Royal Foodie Joust - Deadline 1st of each month
Tuesdays with Dorie - Every Tuesday
International women's day - cook something yellow - Deadline 8th March
Monthly Mingle -One Dish Dinners - Deadline 10th March
Homegrown Gourmet - Breakfast - 13th March
Pi Day - Deadline 14th March
Food for Plastic - a taste of spring (or fall) - 14th March
Cupcakes Spectacular - Deadline 15th March
Root Source Challenge - Maple syrup - Deadline 18th March
The Heart of the Matter - Deadline 19th March
Art you can eat - egg shaped - Deadline 19th March
Apples and Thyme - Deadline 20th of each month
No croutons required... - Dealine 20th of each month
Blog Party - Pizza - Deadline 20th March
Novel Food - Deadline 22nd March
Festa Italiana - March 22nd
Great British Pudding Challenge - Canary Pudding - Last day of the month
Master Baker - Deadline end of each month
Daring Bakers - Last day of the month
Spring Funny Cuppy - 18th April
Livestrong day - cook something yellow - 19th April

Irish Blog Awards: the outcome

We had a great night at the awards last night! There were loads of people there, great atmosphere, goody bags and a fantastic theme of "Rick for President" (the host) and had great clips of George Bush with great voiceovers to introduce each award. It was fantastic!


Unfortunately "Ruth's Kitchen Experiments" didn't win the Best Food and Drink blog: the award went to the incredible Italian Foodies. Congrats Lor & Bru!

However I did end up winning a DVD player in the prize draw which was really rather cool!

I got to thinking on the way home about how I don't need an award because I already feel like a winner with this blog due to the fact that people read it and more than that, comment on it! I've found a great community of people who are so encouraging, supportive and just great! Thank you everyone!

Also Dell from Cooking and the City has been so sweet and awarded me a "Nice Matters" award! Thank you Dell!

Irish blog awards - tomorrow!!!!!

Tomorrow night is the night all the winners will be revealed for the Irish blog awards 2007. Rob and I will be there, and I'm so excited, I've no idea what to expect but I'm really looking forward to meeting some fellow bloggers. I'm not expecting to win or anything but how cool to be going to an actual award ceremony!

I've been tagged.

I've been tagged for a "meme" by the loverly Goddess herself, Maria. So here goes:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was in 4th year at school, wondering why boys didn't like me.... hormones eh?

What were you doing 1 year ago?
This time last year I was single and about to be married 6 weeks later, so I was sending out invites and making table plans and sorting flowers and other weddingy things.

Five snacks you enjoy:at the minute my favourites are
1) Fruit
2) Biscuits
3) Buttered toast
4) Cheese on toast
5) Chocolate

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1) Pay off the mortgage.
2) Put some money aside for a little dream of ours - don't want to share the details yet.
3) Buy a new car for me and keep money aside for petrol, tax, insurance etc
4) Buy a new car for Rob and keep money aside for petrol, tax, insurance etc
5) Go on a real nice holiday and re do our honeymoon

Five bad habits:
1) I'm so disorganised and messy - something I really need to work on if I want to stay happily married.
2) I'm so bad at being on time, as much as I try to plan being on time, it never seems to work.
3) I'm real lazy about doing my hair - I usually end up just tying it back instead of styling it.
4) Like Maria, I'm an impulsive shopper too - especially when I'm food shopping, despite making lists of what we need I'll always end up seeing other little things to buy and try.
5) I get a bit of road rage but I'm working on it.

Five things you like doing:
1) Shopping
2) Cooking and Baking
3) Dancing and singing - mostly on my own, but Rob is one of the privileged few who would get to see me dancing like a fool
4) Going on long walks with Rob and Stewie on dry, sunny days.
5) Catching up with friends and hearing what they've been up to.

Five things you would never wear again:
1) Shell suits - It's just not a good look
2) My old McDonalds uniform - wash as much as you like, the grease just isn't coming out!
3) Adidas trousers with "poppers" up the side so they split right up to your hip. It's not a good look and it's just not practical, especially when you have mates who have a right laugh unpopping them all in 0.5seconds.
4) A leotard - for a start there's no way I'll ever be able to do gymnastics again!
5) My wedding dress :-( well maybe I'll wear it for fun someday, but you'll never know!

Five favorite toys:
1) My iBook
2) My iPhone
3) My car - does that count?
4) My Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker
5) Does a toastie machine count?

Well there ya go.
I'm supposed to tag 5 people to do this, but instead I'll leave it open for anyone to do if you want to. If you do, leave a comment here for me to check it out

An excellent award

Dear sweet lovely Rosie from rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake has given me a wee award! The "Excellent Award": I feel so privileged and humbled.

So the five people I'm awarding this to are:
Dell from Cooking and the City who has been blogging what she's been cooking for just three months but already has loads of great recipes posted! I always feel inspired when I read her recipes and always look forward to reading her next post.

Jeena at Jeena's kitchen who works very hard at her blog. She has some truly incredible recipes which I've tried before and loved. A lot of work goes in to this blog as she has photos for each stage of the recipes she blogs about. And they're all her own recipes! If that's not excellent I don't know what is!

Maryann in Finding La Dolce Vita is an incredible food blog and not only teaches great Italian recipes, it also teaches a lot about Italian culture and traditions. I love this blog and just wish my hubby liked Italian food more so I could make some of these!

Kate at Paved with Good Intentions writes a fascinating blog, not only about cooking but the events that happen around cooking and more. I love this girl! She has some fantastic recipes here that leave me feeling hungry just looking at the photos.

Elly in Elly says Opa! is yet another fantastic cook with more photos that leave me drooling. She's such an inspiration and does really incredible things with food.

Irish Blog Awards - yeo!

The short lists have been announced for the Irish Blog Awards and I've made it through to the food and drink shortlist! How cool eh?!?!?! I can't believe it! It's given me a big smile for the day.

Congrats to all the other shortlisters! Hopefully I'll be meeting you at the awards in Dublin.

I've also got the use of my computer back so I'll be adding the pics for my Valentine's "ice cream cake" later today or early tomorrow. As well as that adding the recipe I made last night for dinner: Indian Style Cottage Pie. yummmmmmmm

Addition: The shortlist is comprised of 11, whittled down from the 15 on the longlist:

Little bird eats…

Eat Drink Live

iFoods Blog

English Mum in Ireland

The Humble Housewife

Italian Foodies

Sour Grapes

Just add eggs

Well done fillet

Val’s Kitchen

Martin Dwyer

Change of look

I've just been changing some of the colours of this blog. I decided the blue and grey was a little dull and seeing as the days are getting brighter for longer, I may as well reflect that on the blog and anticipate lovely summery food!

Let me know what you think!

Pancake Tuesday

It's Pancake Tuesday today! We've already had our pancakes for breakfast this morning but if you're looking for a recipe for later today you could try some French Crepes or good ol' chunky American pancakes!

Enjoy. We certainly did!

Big Grin!!!!

I found out a couple of days ago that this blog has been nominated for an Irish Blog Award in the Food and Drink category. I feel so honoured to be a part of this list, some fantastic food and drink bloggers there, most of whom I was unaware of but excited to start reading their posts too.

Here's the longlist (which will become a shortlist after the first round of judging)

Well Done Fillet
Val’s Kitchen
English Mum in Ireland
The Humble Housewife
Sour Grapes
What the Waiter Knows
Ruth's Kitchen Experiments
Food Lorists
Icecream Ireland
iFoods
Martin Dwyer
Italian Foodies
Eat, Drink, Live
The Mood Food Blog

Congrats to everyone! I hope you all have as big a grin on your face as I do!