IRELAND: PART I

Ah, Doolin! How I miss you...your beautiful rolling green hills, sparkling blue sea and occasional sunshine... I have been back in the states for over a week now and have been running around none stop. I moved out of my current apartment and temporarily into my aunt's house. Next week, I'll be driving my things out to Chicago and into my new apartment. Until then, there is no rest for the weary but rather a long list of odds and ends that need to be taken care of...so in between the craziness, I am going to try to post some...I've even cooked a bit and took some pictures...hopefully, I'll have a few free moments to get them up here...but first a bit about my trip...

When I graduated from college two years ago, I had three non-career related goals...

1. Learn to make a souffle.
2. Learn how to blow glass.
3. Travel to Ireland.

I am happy to announce that I completed all three...one and two will make it into a post one of these days... My trip to Ireland was alot of fun. It was the first time that I had ever traveled alone for that long. Overall, I loved it. I spent my time roaming, reading and relaxing.

After arriving in Dublin, I took a bus over to Doolin, a small town on the Western Coast known for its fabulous music. From there, I took a beautiful but strenuous hike to the Cliffs of Mohr. These photos are from that trek. That night, slightly exhausted, I settled down in the pub with a wonderful Guinness Beef stew served over mashed potatoes with a pint of Guinness. It was an excellent meal and the local music did not disappoint!

After a few days in Doolin, I took the ferry to the Aran Islands. I spent one day biking around Inishmore. There were many old ruins to explore and I saw seals. I did not take too many pictures because the weather was very misty that I did not want to get my camera too wet. I did break it out to capture these roosters...

That about sums up the highlights of the first part of my trip...I don't want to leave you without a recipe. When I returned, J and I made a green chutney inspired by Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children as we had previously done with our Lotus Root Curry disaster. The chutney was a success and did not last long. We ate it with some samosas and a chicken curry. The pictures looked awful but it looks like any green pesto or dip. It was fabuous!!!

Green Chutney
(adapted from One Hot Stove)

2 cups packed fresh cilantro
1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup roughly chopped onion
2 green chillies
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp lime juice
salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend with a little water to get a thick chutney.

P.S. For more photos from Ireland, check out my flickr. Warning: I am just learning how to use flickr.