The Shanagarry holiday village was lucky enough to have 4 beautiful Welsh girls staying for the weekend, although we were sadly bereft of one, the lovely Willo who tragically missed her flight due to all the flooding at home. Despite this set back the girls were promptly initiated into Irish life with a jaunt to the pub, where we sampled the local brew of choice here, Beamish (like Guinness, but stronger I think). There were also trips to several churches, more than several eateries and the odd bracing sea walk. We made our way along the cliffs down to where us Pink Cottage diehards went for a dip in the first few weeks we got here. Now, mid November, this previously peaceful little bay with glass-still water has been transformed into a frothy, swirling, incredibly unappealing swimming spot....

But with the sun shining, wind blowing and spray on our faces it was invigorating nonetheless! Some of us chose to enjoy the view from a distance....

Whilst others got a little closer, and a little wetter....

Back to the kitchens of Ballymaloe, and the second to last week of cooking! With Christmas trips to the southern hemisphere on the horizon I vowed to have a healthy week, plans meanly thwarted by being assigned sticky toffee pudding! Totally delicious, although the amount of butter, brown sugar,golden syrup, and castor sugar that goes into the hot toffee sauce alone is almost enough to put you off...

Almost.

On a more nutritious note, I also made curried parsnip soup and glazed some carrots to perfection, as well as managing unbeknown to colour co-ordinate them with my Le Creuset....

They have a nifty little way of doing carrots here although i think they might have borrowed it from France as its proper title is 'Carrots Vichy'....in which case I can tell you the recipe! You just take 450g carrots sliced at an angle (all the same thickness), a pinch of salt, a large pinch of sugar, 50g butter, 240 ml water all in a pot (colour coding optional). Then you cover and simmer them until all the liquid has been absorbed by the carrots/evaporated and you're magically left with a subtle sweet and buttery glaze. Although 'glazed' carrots can quickly turn to 'charred' carrots if your not keeping an eye out. Demonstration this afternoon with Rory had a distinctly Indian feel with currys, various accompaniments, lassis, poori bread, chapatis etc all being on the menu for tomorrow. We're also cooking squid for the first time, a sea creature that seemed to fascinate Rory, convinced as he is that the opened body sack with its scalloped shaped bottom it is the inspiration for Batman's cape and the tentacles for the design of the jester hat. They are also known as 'scribes of the sea', their transparent backbones being exactly the shape of a quill and their heads full of ink. Oh, and, aged 6 days old, the sourdough starter is bouncy, bubbly and full of life!