When autumn arrives, trees turn shades of ochre, orange and scandalous scarlet, scents of wood smoke waft on the suddenly chill air, and I am annually reminded of my first trip to Ireland. It was October, and after landing at Shannon, I rented a car and headed for my lodging, a country estate in County Sligo. As I drove, I smelled something burning. Figuring I was passing … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Bless the Buttie!
Slainte: Irish Recipes
Sláinte!: Irish Wedding Traditions
Just when I think I have my dad all figured out, a new snippet of info comes to light, and June always finds me thinking more about him than usual. It’s Father’s Day month, his birthday was the 3rd, and my parents were married on June 16th, now celebrated globally as Bloomsday, the day Leopold Bloom wandered through Dublin in Ulysses by James Joyce, Dad’s favorite author. June … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Irish Wedding Traditions
Sláinte!: The Tree of Life
Though I am at most times a mild-mannered pacifist, last week I had a meltdown. But I had a good reason. I was fighting to save a tree. Every winter since moving into my Fifties Bungalow in 2002, I have pleaded with the owner not to prune the 50-plus-year-old 60-foot-tall poplar tree on the front lawn. The last ‘pruning,’ just before I moved in, had almost killed the tree. It … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: The Tree of Life
Sláinte!: Runny Honey
One day last summer while inspecting the progress of my vegetable plants, I heard something that sounded like a giant cell phone on vibrator setting. Turning in the direction of the noise and peering under a tangled mass of grapevines, I found myself standing nose-to-buzz with a mass of bees that was considerably larger than a beachball. I freaked. Moving as smoothly as coming … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Runny Honey
Sláinte!: Penny Wise & Tasty Too
As I sit and write this during the global economic meltdown of October 2008, I admit to getting tired of listening to all the pundits predict that 2009 is going to be a humdinger of a financial challenge and families will have to cut back on just about everything that isn’t absolutely necessary. Why, I ask, is that not a good thing? I am the child of parents who really did … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Penny Wise & Tasty Too