My Birthday

It was my birthday! woot! First birthday in Ireland, and first birthday with my Irish boy. I must say, I could have asked for the weather to be a tiny bit brighter for my birthday, and perhaps minus a few rain clouds here and there... but all in all, I had a lovely day.

It first started with a wee surprise which came in basket form...

This lovely picnic basket will definitely come in handy in the future... but Ireland, you really need to work on this whole "weather" business. You can't just already rain and blow wind everyday... it gets a tad bit boring Mister! Or misses...

We then headed down to Holywood, Co.Down for a wee bit of a change in scenery. Now, it was Sunday, and it was raining, but that doesn't bring our spirits down! We took the train into town, and stopped at a  cafe called "The Bay Tree Cafe" (recommended to me by a friend).

Read more after the jump!

A Searcher's Cookbook: Caramel Squares

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Condensed milk is wonderful. I don't see how they can get a cow to sit down on those little cans. 

- Fred Allen

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Caramel Squares a.k.a Millionaire Squares. This sweet and caramel-y tray bake is a popular one here in Northern Ireland and across the UK. It's comprises of a shortbread base, caramel filling and chocolate topping! YUM! 

I was first introduced to this delicacy when my boyfriend insisted I try it whilst visiting a local bakery. I had never heard of a caramel square. In Canada we have butter tarts that have the same gooey/caramel like texture but nothing that really came in square form a.k.a tray bakes. That's another thing I learned here: tray bakes. Back home we simply call them squares or bars, but here, if you see a selection of squares and bars they are referred to as 'tray bakes' Essentially, a tray bake is exactly what it sounds like. It's a 'cake' that is baked in a tray, usually cooled as well and then cut into squares, which you'll notice in this recipe. I'd say the Canadian equivalent to a caramel square would be the nanaimo bar. They don't taste the same, but if there's one really popular tray bake in Canada it's the nanaimo bar (though you don't bake it....bah! you get what I mean right?).

Anywho, I decided today I would attempt baking up some caramel squares for the second time (the first time was 'okay' but I may have burnt the caramel, and thus steered clear of making them again). This time however, I learned my lesson and would like to share this delicious treat with all of you! Now keep in mind, this is only one version of making caramel squares. If you google recipes, you'll notice there are tons of variations. I mean tons. The one I'm sharing with you a simple recipe that uses few ingredients. It's just like what you find in cafes here! 

Now, it's a rainy day today, so it really set the "baking" atmosphere in my home. Perhaps you'd like to try this on a rainy day as well, perhaps play some Jason Collet in the background? That's what I did, and my squares turned out perfectly! 

Recipe after the jump!

Belfast Mural: Titanic Workers

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"We just builds 'em, and shove 'em in" quotes one shipyard worker

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Located in the Sandy Row area of Belfast, a new mural popped up last week commemorating the Titanic workers of Belfast. There's so much hype over the Titanic in Belfast, with everything basically Titanic branded from crisps to tea to whiskey to your next born child. It's nice to see something that truly represents what the Titanic meant for the city of Belfast. The people that helped build it. 

My boyfriend's classmates helped commission this mural with the help of the Belfast City Council for a class project. Well done I say!

me with a worker dog...so lifelike! 

Nice eh? 

- M. 

Broken Umbrellas of Belfast: Part 3 - May Day Edition

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Why does it always rain on me?

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It's May Day! woohooo!

Alright, so I don't really *know* what May Day is or why it exists, etc. All I know is that it seems to be another excuse for a holiday in the UK/Ireland. Coming from a country (ie. Canada) that does not have as many public holidays as the UK, it's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that there is yet again another long weekend for schools, etc. If you work in the food service industry, (like myself at the moment) you definitely start to notice how often kids have "breaks" from their studies, and it certainly feels as though it is ALL THE TIME. 

Anywho, I digress. 

It's coming to the end of May Day today, and what a day for broken umbrellas!!! Today was also the Belfast Marathon which surely helped increase the ample amount of umbrellas scattered around the city. I should add that it was pouring this morning. Windy, and pouring. Cold as well...

As I walked to work today (upstream of the marathon walkers mind you), I witnessed many an umbrella on it's way to the umbrella graveyard. It was quite the site! Women struggled to use the wind to put their umbrellas back in shape, small children tried to protect their faces from splashes and others completely gave up and just held the poor things. I must admit, I sturggled with the wind and rain this morning. My umbrella was not in good form. I had to quit using it in fear that it would soon end up in a trash can. What is with these Belfast winds?!? Uncontrollable! 

So, today I saw many umbrellas, so much so that the following is not a collection of what I've found since the last blog post, it's actually just umbrellas from today! So that's quite a bit! I sent Patrick on a mission to hunt for broken umbrellas as well... but he forgot our camera at home, and apparently he saw many! Is it wrong that I'm actually kinda sad I don't have more images to share with you? 

So friends, here they are AFTER THE JUMP!

A Tale of Two Taytos: The Origins of Flavoured Crisps

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[Disclaimer: I apologize for using the word crisp and chip interchangeably...but I am referring to the wonderful potato product that has been sliced thinly, deep fried, and packaged in bags...get it?] 

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Chips or crisps, either way you slice it, it's still made of potatoes and enjoyed all over the world. It comes deep fried or baked, all sorts of shapes and sizes, in bags and tubes.

Now, the potato chip originated in New York or something...but that's not what I'm concerned about today. I'm more concerned with what actually makes crisps taste good: the seasonings! And where was the first flavoured crisp produce? Well, Ireland of course!

For years after the invention of the potato chip in the 1850s, chip lovers had to put up with plain chips. I know... such a sad life eh? No sweet chili, or dill pickle, no all-dressed? Taste-buds were so neglected!

But then, there was one man, an Irish man (obviously, cause they're experts in the field of potato eating), who thought "How can I make this crunchy, deep fried potatoe bigger and better than before?" [okay, maybe he didn't say that.. but lets just imagine.] Actually, I read that it was his dislike of the only flavour available - salt, which came in a packet inside the bag of crisps which you had to "sprinkle" on yourself. Think, shake 'n' bake, but more sprinkle and eat. Doesn't have the same ring to it does it? A change was needed! Someone needed to come along and save crisps addicts from around the world!

So who was this Irish lad? Joe 'Spud' Murphy! 

The story begins in Dublin. 

The year 1954. 

Flavour that started it all - Cheese and Onion. 

Mr. 'Spud' Murphy, an entrepreneur looking for gaps in the market, started a snackfood company, Tayto, in just two rented rooms off Moore Street, with initial set up costs of £500. His employees included himself, and 8 others, and the use of a single van. One of his employees, Seamus Burke, was in charge with creating a new flavour for Murphy's empire, and the flavour of choice: Cheese and Onion.

mmm cheese and onion.... probably the most popular and traditional flavoured crisp in Ireland and the UK.

Now, there's lots of back story involved in the start of Tayto Inc. But, it's interesting to know that Tayto crisps used to be sold for 4 pence per bag. Incredible! They even made tin boxes that contained 18 bags of crisps which sold for 4 shillings. Bags were hand-glued with a tiny paintbrush to guarantee Tayto's trademark freshness. Tayto quickly became Ireland's favourite crisp manufacturer, and is still considered a standard today.

BUT... there's a twist to this story folks...

Wait... did Tayto change their packaging or something? NOPE! What you're looking at is in fact, another Tayto crisps manufacturer, but owned by a separate entity!

You know how I said Tayto was created by Mr. Murphy? Well, in 1956, another man by the name of Thomas Hutchinson came along and decided to create a wee crisp empire of his own, but in Northern Ireland!

To make a long story short - in 1955, Mr. Hutchinson's bought a castle in Tandragee, County Armagh, Northern Ireland a.k.a still Ireland (but for the purposes of this explanation I'd like to make the separation from the Republic without calling it the UK... oh the trouble I could get into! shh). Anyway, he bought this castle and also bought the licence for use of the name and recipes from our friend Spud Murphy from the South! Until I actually started researching Tayto crisps, I had no idea that the Northern Irish version of Tayto was actually something 'bought' from the south. No where on the NI Tayto site does it mention buying the licence from Mr. Murphy, it's not until I did a bit of googling that I figured it out! Shocking.

Anyway, the Hutchinson's family made quite the empire for themselves with Tayto Castle, and you can even tour it! 




So, it's really hard for me to give a definitive title to who really made crisps into what they are today because there's also many British companies (like Walkers) to take into consideration. If I'm not mistaken, Walkers helped produce that whole "Salt 'n' Shake" business...

Anyway, there are tons and tons of crisp flavours out there, and I'd say that the Irish and the British sure take the cake when it comes to having quite the variety. Though I do love my Dill Pickle from back home in Canada... yum...

So that's that. There's more to the story of crisps and their flavours, etc... but I must say, both Taytos are relatively the same. I'm not even sure there's quite a difference... perhaps I'll just have to eat both crisps at the same time in the future...

One thing is for sure though, flavoured crisps first started in Ireland, and that's all that matters...

Now, all this talk of crisps has made me a bit peckish... excuse me...

Keep Crunchin'!


M.