Keogh's farm are gaining a lot of interest in the media, with numerous write ups in the papers, as well as television and radio interviews. If it's true that consumers buy products because of the people behind them then this would certainly be the case for Keogh's, who each can sell the potato, and how they farm them, with lots of passion. It also helps that the products they produce are fantastic. They have excellent quality potatoes and in recent times they have been making the most perfectly seasoned, irresistible crisps. Traditionally potatoes were the choice for the Irish dinner table but in recent years pasta and rice have been taking their place. When choosing potatoes as part of our diet we are not only choosing a low fat, nutritional and economical food but quite importantly we are supporting local Irish producers. Keogh's are now on a mission to crown the potato the National Vegetable of Ireland and would like to encourage everyone to sign their potato petition. http://www.keoghs.ie/potatopetition.html

If you would like to celebrate all things spud, the second National Potato Day occurs next Saturday. The Tall Ships Festival is happening in Dublin this week and the guys at Keogh's have decided to set up a pop up farm in the city centre. They will be bringing crates, hay, tractors, and naturally lots of potatoes to the farm stall on the North Quays. They will also have spud games and lots of fun activities, all focusing on tastings and nutritional info about potatoes. To add to this there will be lots of goodies given away. The farm will be there from Thursday until Saturday but National Potato Day is on the Saturday, Aug 25. To celebrate National Potato Day the lovely people at Keogh's will be giving me a jam packed hamper, which I will have a competition for here on the blog, sometime next week. 

The boys and Millie love to be outside mucking about, cycling their bikes and planing adventures,which normally involves some of the back-garden animals. Once outside there is rarely a row, as their agenda is always well packed and each of them have a place in these ever important games. What doesn't suit them is prolonged amounts of times indoors, with only each other to annoy. Unfortunately our miserable summer weather has seen many an afternoon spent indoors, which makes the boys quite prone to bickering, but to my surprise my little 'sweetheart' Millie has started to add her own piece to the bickering parade, with occasional little temper tantrums. Normally it is just the two of us, each morning, we're always busy and I find she is a great little companion to have about, but since the boys are out of school she must feel the need to demand my attention. Without any warning and for no apparent reason she will drop to the ground and scream, a lot. I think in some ways she is testing the water as most of her screaming is incoherent but she will often scream out 'lolly' or 'treat'. In a bid not to give into the lolly ransom I normally try to distract her by other means, like heading to the garden or getting one of the boys to coax her into doing a jigsaw, but these don't always work. 

If you have young children, you may of noticed that if there is a small child misbehaving, especially having a good tantrum where the parent is rightly embarrassed, maybe at the supermarket or a park, children find this fascinating, well mine certainly love it. So one of the mornings, while Millie was just kicking off a right wobbler, Jack by chance flicked onto Supernanny. Some of these episodes show children in such an awful state, that I wouldn't even have the boys watching it, but in this particular episode the young man in trouble, happens to be almost three and in fairness he wasn't terribly out of control, just very temper-mental. On watching a couple of minutes of this Millie completely calmed down, maybe because she identified or sympathised with this boy, but I'm not sure whether she ceased her tantrum as she realised she was just doing something similar or was she really taking a few mental notes for her own next outburst. For fear that it is the latter I don't think I will be using it as my regular tantrum-calming technique, but it did work very well that morning. I dread to see how upset she can make herself, when she is normally so happy-go-lucky. Millie is only two and a half so I had reassured myself that this phase will pass, after-all it did with the boys, and once this girl is out and about, and most importantly kept busy, our days are tantrum free. In the past few days the weather has been quite lovely, which has the children outdoors almost all day long and to my delight my happy little miss seems to be back to normal. At least I really hope she is!  

While I'm in the garden, I will always have a few willing helpers, digging weeds and watering plants. From an early age I let the children have their own area to plant with a few seeds and they are always proud-as-punch when something starts to sprout from the ground. We have lots of lovely lavender in the garden and I probably should of picked it a little earlier, as I read on Sally McKennas Blog - Kitchen Lifeskills, that it should be picked before the flowers begin to burst. It is such a beautiful herb and holds the most amazing scent. It is very easy to dry lavender, just hang a tied bunch, upside down, in a cool dark place. Each year I like to dry some lavender, to use throughout the year as a very pretty garnish for any sweet cake, but mostly I hang a few bunches in the wardrobe and also the kitchen, for that wonderful sense of calm that we sometimes need.

The garden is a very exciting place for children, especially when there are so many bees, busy at work, to watch and follow.

The sun seems to have finally started to shine on the Emerald Isle and you couldn't be in a more beautiful place when it does. Plants are benefiting from it, the animals are enjoying basking in it and the children are doing what their summer childhood memories should be filled with; spending hours on end adventuring in the garden. To our hens, dog and cats, this summer has welcomed some kittens and also some beautiful ducks into our garden. So rain or shine the children are outdoors and the garden has become a very exciting place for them to spend a few hours. I have wanted to keep ducks for some time, as we had a few when I was a child and I adored them. I had a pet drake that would follow me around as if he were a dog. I tell you there were many tears shed when late one evening Mr. Fox came for supper and all he left behind was a few feathers. I'm hoping my new family of ducks won't meet a similar fate and will be as lucky as our hens, living happily into their old age.

The sun is always most welcome by any parent, as keeping young ones amused indoors for days on end can become an ever difficult task. When time allows I pull out some ingredients, a few bowls, rolling pins and biscuit cutters and let the kids fire away with a little bit of baking. Biscuit making is always a good one, for little hands, as similar to play doh they will shape and re-shape the dough many times, keeping them happy and amused for a very long time indeed. Yes, there will be flour all over the counter-top and floor, but after a certain man in a red suit introduced us to marvellous moon sand last Christmas, I don't think I could ever complain about flour explosions again. A quick brush and a wet cloth sees everywhere clean and is certainly easier to manage than play doh or sand. 

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Biscuits
This is a basic shortbread biscuit recipe from Rachel Allen's Favourite Food and I've just added some chocolate chips. These are quite delicious and even though the less handled the better, these seem to hold up pretty well to lots of sculpting.  

Ingredients

170g (6oz) white flour
110g (4oz) butter
55g (2oz) caster sugar
25g chocolate chips

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C(fan)/390°F/gas mark 6.

2. Put the flour and sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter. Add the chocolate chips

3. Gather the mixture together and knead lightly. Roll out to about 8mm thick. Cut into shapes using a biscuit cutter. 

4. Bake in the oven until golden or pale brown, 8– 12 minutes- depending on their thickness. 

5. Remove, cool on a rack and serve with a big glass of milk.

Enjoy!

I'm not sure if we've ever had so much rain in one summer before, but I'm still a little hopeful that we may be reacquainted with the sun, sometime before the summer's end. Al-fresco dining and summer barbecues wouldn't be complete without the accompanying big bowls of salad. Encouraging children to throw a scoop of salad on their plate, along side their barbecued sausage or chicken, can often be a mighty task to undertake, which quite often requires a lot of negotiating skills. As a rule I find that the salads that my children enjoy are ones based on ingredients that they already really like, with maybe a few ingredients, sliced very finely, hidden in the mix. My children love rice and noodles and will quite happily eat both cold, so a salad based on either of these is generally a winner. This salad is a great way to use up leftover rice and is much tastier than any pre-packed salad you could buy. The roasted peppers add a delicious sweetness to this dish. Don't completely drain off the liquid from the pepper, as the juice helps to dress the rice. 

Summery Rice Salad

450g cold cooked rice

1 roasted pepper {from a jar}

30g sunflower seeds

handful fresh basil

zest 1/2 lemon

drizzle of olive oil

salt & pepper

Method

1. Finely chop the roasted pepper and basil.

2. Add to a large serving bowl along with the cooled cooked rice and sunflower seeds.

3. Zest the lemon into the bowl. Drizzle over a little olive oil and mix well.

4. Taste and if required add a little salt and pepper.

Competition Winner

I'd like to thank everyone who entered last week's competition. The lucky winner will be sent, with a friend, to Carton House Hotel where they can relish a master class with Cathal Kavanagh and then enjoy dinner in the Linden Tree restaurant after. All names were put in the hat and the winner is..............

Well done Finola! Congratulations and please contact me with your details. Nessa

Have you ever stayed at a hotel and enjoyed the experience so much that you wished you could bring a little bit of this magic to your everyday life? At Carton House Hotel they have produced 36 online videos where they share with the viewer a wealth of knowledge on everything from Golf, Gardening and Beauty to Cookery, Wine & Cocktails. These videos give a wonderful behind the scenes look at how a successful hotel operates, while sharing some of the hotels top culinary and hospitality tips which you can utilise at home. 

From the kitchens of Carton House Hotel, resident executive chef Cathal Kavanagh gives viewers some fantastic recipes and lots of interesting tips. Cathal gives advise on how a great peppered steak includes three different types of ground pepper, why Guinness makes the perfect batter for fish goujons and basic tips like why vinegar is not necessarily needed for the perfect poached eggs!

These videos are accessible via their website and Carton House's YouTube page. Here are just a few of the included videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGhzeYqHKc&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWKOgdnp5mQ&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvM6u535hPg&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/user/cartonhousehotel#g/u
As well as their master series on cookery, wine and cocktail  videos, Carton House Hotel also shares expert tips and advice on gardening, fitness & beauty and golf through these short videos.
Gardening:                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asLceaUjxBA
Fitness & Beauty:          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4gQCudfZqA
Golf:                               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u4c8Cel91U
Wine and Cocktails:         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNq7adcky_M

Top Tips from the experts at Carton House is available free of charge on Carton House Hotel's website the series will also be available through the Carton House App and Pinterest and will be shared with facebook followers on a weekly basis.

Competition Time
The Prize: The lovely people at Carton House Hotel have given me a very nice prize for one of my readers. The lucky winner will be sent, with a friend, to Carton House Hotel where they can relish a master class with Cathal Kavanagh and then enjoy dinner in the Linden Tree restaurant after. 

How To Enter: It is very easy to enter this competition. All you have to do, to be in with a chance to win this lovely prize is A.Be a follower of Nessa's Family Kitchen, see the sidebar on the right and B. Answer the question, using the comment box below.
The Question: In what county is Carton House Hotel located?

OPTIONAL:
* Like Nessa's Family Kitchen on Facebook.
* Follow Nessa's Family Kitchen on Twitter.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: you must be a resident of Ireland (north or south); you must be over 18; no cash alternative is possible, the competition will close at 6pm on Friday 20th July. The winner will be picked at random from the correct entries.

Best of Luck!!

I'm one of those people that always likes to know a little bit more about someone's life. I'm interested in finding out about their background and what has brought them to where they are today. I'm a talker but also I really like to listen. I think it's partly just in my nature, as I come from a very chatty brood and as the youngest member of the clan my childhood was spent more with ageing relatives drinking tea than amongst my peers in a playground. I also worked as a nurse for many years and good conversational skills are essential, when dealing with people at their most vulnerable. I enjoyed my job and I appreciated the people I met along the way. So my chatty and inquisitive ways could stem from a combination of raring and career choice or maybe I'm just plain nosey, but people from all different walks in life really interest me. I feel the same way about the authors of books I choose to read. When picking a book I always flick to the back page to have a read about who has actually written this book. The two or three lines are never enough for me so I will normally google the writer, to find out a little more. As peculiar as it may sound, I almost need to like something about the author to like the book and am completely disappointed if I see an interview, or indeed meet them, only to find they are not as admiring as I had anticipated. In the case of my latest read, The Chef & I - A Nourishing Narrative, I had previously had a couple of encounters with the author, Móna Wise, so the question as to whether or not I would like who was behind this book was already covered. As a friendly and amicable lady, Móna is certainly someone that I could get along with easily, but also we have some similarities; she is a busy mother to four with a huge passion for feeding her family well, she is also a keen gardener and has plenty of poultry in the back garden. Upon chatting with this lady it's clear that she really has excellent conversational skills. Móna writes a hugely successful blog {Wise Words} and only recently herself and her husband Ron became the new food writers with The Sunday Times. Amongst all these commitments this lady manages to attend college, where she is studying for her degree in creative writing. A project as part of this course was to write this book which she then, quite rightly, decided to self publish to share with a greater audience. Mona's a very knowledgeable lady and with an ability to tell a tale with lots of gusto, this book is a great celebration of  Mona's story telling skills.  

This is a book with a difference as it's divided into two parts; first part is autobiographical and the second part is dedicated to Ron's recipes. The first seventy five pages certainly satisfied my need to know a little more about the author. This along with a large selection of recipes really make it my sort of read. The first part of the book gives a wonderful  introduction to Móna and Ron's life together. How they met and all that goes with it. Móna opens her heart to the reader and doesn't shy away from sharing the bad days as well as the good. Marriage and parenthood can sometimes be a little rocky and it's refreshing to read an accurate and honest account of normal family life. It's a touching tale that mostly made me laugh but there were parts of the book that were also terribly sad. I certainly don't feel it is necessary to already know Móna or Ron as their story unfolds beautifully and within a few pages of the book one would feel like they are already very familiar with the Wise family. This is an admirable love story about a girl who very much loved a man from the first moment she set eyes on him and sixteen years on this love is still as strong. I enjoyed every page of this story as Móna delivered her tale with not only heart and emotion but also with a lot of wit.  

The second part of the book is home to Ron's unique, interesting and very enticing recipes. Ron is a trained chef and currently works as a gourmet baker in Morton’s of Salthil, however his recipes couldn't be described as over complicated and are surely delivered very much with the home chef in mind.The recipes are divided into Sauces, Snacks, Soups & Sides, Bigger Eats and Sweet Treats. When trying to choose which recipe to cook first, the one that caught my eye was the Buttermilk Fried Chicken and by gosh did I choose a good one. This chicken was so deliciously moist and tasty that all at the table were chanting for more. The next dish I want to make is 'Grandma's Chocolate Nutty Pie', as with many of the included recipes it's the sentiment of the introduction that had me hooked. The photography on Móna's blog is always stunning and the book is no different; the photographs are very beautiful and recognisably homely. This is a fabulous book and I'm very much looking forward to the next two editions. 

Competition Time

Móna has very kindly offered me a copy of The Chef & I to give to one of my readers. Móna will personalise it and post it anywhere in the world, so everyone is in with a chance. To be in the draw for winning this beautiful book simply leave a comment below. I will then pop all the names in a hat and the winner will be chosen next Wednesday 11th July. Best of luck!

If you would like to purchase a copy of The Chef and I: A Nourishing Narrative by Móna Wise it is available to purchase from www.kennys.ie and is €25.00. It is also available for the kindle here.


This competition is now over. Thank you to all who entered. All names were put in a hat and the winner is....Carolanne. Congratulations!