Good things!
With all my ranting and whinging I have had no leisure to blog about our otherwise really rather pleasant weekend. Even DD's odd moodiness and BB's teething could not dent it.
Saturday was our official celebration night for our anniversary and my parents came into Cork to babysit and Mr Wol and I prettied up and went to local vegetarian house of gastronomic wonderment Cafe Paradiso. I don't remember if I have blogged about this before but it is an amazing place. It used to be the haunt of choice of the old English Department and I had eaten there three times before I noticed it was vegetarian. It does WONDROUS things with food. Gorgeous, fresh, local, seasonal, delicious, and not-at-all slimming.
Mr wol had:
caramelized beetroot and goat's cheese tartlet with olive mashed potato
deep fried aubergine stuffed with chillis with borlotti beans and greens in a sumptuous vinaigrette type sauce
greengage and almond tart with honey
I had
rice paper parcels of greens and mint with coconut and lime dip and a tomato shot (that I used as a dip being higgerant)
couscous with feta and beans and other things on a bed of kale with coriander yoghurt dip
lavender baked custard with shortbread and raspberries
It was all magnificent!!! and we were laughed at for eating every scrap of everything (well I think Mr Wol did leave the aubergine stalk - wuss). The memory of the couscous is sending my tastebuds to a very happy place even now and Mr Wol's greengage tart on any normal day would have been the highlight of the meal. But the lavender baked custard is now the official best dessert I have ever had. EVER!!! They used to do a lavender ice cream that was fun: kind of like being hit round the head with a lavender scented ice brick. This custard though was langourous and sensual and perfectly thick without being bouncy, creamy but not rich. The lavender was more of a building aroma than a full out assault, and built with teasing slowness and, while it was perfect with the biscuits, combining it with the fresh raspberries was simply sublime, just exquisite! Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but how often are you ten years' married anyway? Cafe Paradiso also do rooms so you can eat and then go to bed and sleep it off ... or not. Oh I could have so gone for that! Instead we floated home, put pretty cooperative kids to bed and snuggled on the couch watching Due South.
Sunday we went to Fota Wildlife OPark for a picnic and got bitten a lot. It was a lovely mild day and Mr Wol got some great shots. The cheetahs have four cubs this year who were sitting right by the wire being all photogenic and cute. The siamang were in fine voice and have three kids now - one from each of the last three years - and they play together like very well behaved children and give their parents a break. BB walked his legs off, discovered that some acorns float and some sink, and was greatly fascinated by some of the animals, especially the giraffes. DD had her usual scramble over all the play equipment and deigned to notice a few of the animals this time. She built a little hide to watch the mara from which was very cute and also quite effective. They were eating food meant for the guanacos and so didn't seem to mind her building her hide close by and then crouching in it to watch them. Funny how different they are our kids for children who look so very alike. DD was at least 3 before she gave a rats behind about the animals. The animals were necessary evils that slowed her parents down between playgrounds and ice-cream. BB was fascinated by the giraffe and zebra and excited by the noisy siamang and very happy to imitate ducks.
It's a fund raising day next Saturday though so we may have to go back and suffer a gourmet barbeque and circus and face painting etc. Ah me!
Saturday was our official celebration night for our anniversary and my parents came into Cork to babysit and Mr Wol and I prettied up and went to local vegetarian house of gastronomic wonderment Cafe Paradiso. I don't remember if I have blogged about this before but it is an amazing place. It used to be the haunt of choice of the old English Department and I had eaten there three times before I noticed it was vegetarian. It does WONDROUS things with food. Gorgeous, fresh, local, seasonal, delicious, and not-at-all slimming.
Mr wol had:
caramelized beetroot and goat's cheese tartlet with olive mashed potato
deep fried aubergine stuffed with chillis with borlotti beans and greens in a sumptuous vinaigrette type sauce
greengage and almond tart with honey
I had
rice paper parcels of greens and mint with coconut and lime dip and a tomato shot (that I used as a dip being higgerant)
couscous with feta and beans and other things on a bed of kale with coriander yoghurt dip
lavender baked custard with shortbread and raspberries
It was all magnificent!!! and we were laughed at for eating every scrap of everything (well I think Mr Wol did leave the aubergine stalk - wuss). The memory of the couscous is sending my tastebuds to a very happy place even now and Mr Wol's greengage tart on any normal day would have been the highlight of the meal. But the lavender baked custard is now the official best dessert I have ever had. EVER!!! They used to do a lavender ice cream that was fun: kind of like being hit round the head with a lavender scented ice brick. This custard though was langourous and sensual and perfectly thick without being bouncy, creamy but not rich. The lavender was more of a building aroma than a full out assault, and built with teasing slowness and, while it was perfect with the biscuits, combining it with the fresh raspberries was simply sublime, just exquisite! Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but how often are you ten years' married anyway? Cafe Paradiso also do rooms so you can eat and then go to bed and sleep it off ... or not. Oh I could have so gone for that! Instead we floated home, put pretty cooperative kids to bed and snuggled on the couch watching Due South.
Sunday we went to Fota Wildlife OPark for a picnic and got bitten a lot. It was a lovely mild day and Mr Wol got some great shots. The cheetahs have four cubs this year who were sitting right by the wire being all photogenic and cute. The siamang were in fine voice and have three kids now - one from each of the last three years - and they play together like very well behaved children and give their parents a break. BB walked his legs off, discovered that some acorns float and some sink, and was greatly fascinated by some of the animals, especially the giraffes. DD had her usual scramble over all the play equipment and deigned to notice a few of the animals this time. She built a little hide to watch the mara from which was very cute and also quite effective. They were eating food meant for the guanacos and so didn't seem to mind her building her hide close by and then crouching in it to watch them. Funny how different they are our kids for children who look so very alike. DD was at least 3 before she gave a rats behind about the animals. The animals were necessary evils that slowed her parents down between playgrounds and ice-cream. BB was fascinated by the giraffe and zebra and excited by the noisy siamang and very happy to imitate ducks.
It's a fund raising day next Saturday though so we may have to go back and suffer a gourmet barbeque and circus and face painting etc. Ah me!