ManicMammy’s Blog

So Wimbledon was in progress, I was in my local bookshop and this novel caught my eye.

Its the story of Willy, a low ranking tennis professional on the way up when we first encounter her. She’s been playing tennis since aged four and is now in her mid twenties so time is running out for her to make it big.  She is obviously very driven, tennis is “her life”, her reason for being and she can’t seem to define herself without the game. She meets and falls in love with Eric, who took up the game at eighteen and is fast improving his ranking. Unlike her, he has other interests and talents and his not being as all consumed with tennis seems to irk her.

This book deals with their subsequent marriage and the rivalry between them as his career blossoms and her’s deteriorates. She resents the ease at which he excels and becomes very jealous of his success. Its a bleak book on relationships to be honest and the rivalry that may exist within a marriage. Her rage, jealousy and envy as pretty unrelenting can make uncomfortable reading.  None of the characters are particularly likeable and whilst this isn’t a huge problem, I found it very difficult to empathise with them or to find their actions credible. The same point is driven home again and again and as result I found persevering with reading this novel tough at times as the repetition grated.

Today myself and Oisín had a day out to ourselves. It was very enjoyable as he’s a highly entertaining fellow and was in top chatty form.  We ambled about Cork city centre and inevitably visited O’Conaill’s Chocolate shop on French church Street.

As I’ve mentioned before this place is a chocolate lover’s heaven. This time my purchases included 2 milk chocolate bars: one with chilli flakes and one with pink peppercorns. I haven’t tried these yet.

But my firm favourites of the moment are the milk chocolate and white chocolate chips. Wow, these are delicious.

Fabulous on their own or used to make some hot chocolate, they’re irresistable. Go buy some.

Last Friday, it rained all day here. I was on my own with the children and by around 4pm we were all going ever so slightly stir crazy, cabin fever had struck. With the weather showing no signs of abating, we set out for Chuckies in the Doughcloyne Industrial Estate so that they could burn off some excess energy and run about for an hour or so.

It had been over a year since the last time we’d been there. I have always liked the layout of Chuckies. It is definitely the most user friendly from a parent’s point of view.  The reception/pay desk at the door, a buzz in and out gate next and then the seating area facing the play section which is located along the back wall. The bathrooms are to the right in clear view of the seating area. All this means, that I can see all my children at all times and there is little to no chance of them leaving the playzone without me noticing. As my brood of 5 now range from 9 years to 1 year old, I need somewhere which has different age levels play areas side by side, so I can keep an eye on all at once. This is the major disadvantage of Supernova in Ballincollig. There though the equipment is newer and there’s more of it, the different age groups areas are very spread apart and I’m forced to leave the older kids in one area whilst I watch the juniors. To be honest, its the reason we don’t go there much as I can’t relax.

Chuckies has plenty of equipment to suit all my children. For the under 5s: a big slide, climbing area, ballpond, giant lego area, little tikes cars, playhouse, ball shooters and a touch screen interactive magic house game. For the older kids: a larger climbing area incorporating 2 slides, football/basketball section, a rodeo bull.

I was able to watch all from the comfort of one of the leather couches and have a much needed cup of coffee. Coffee, tea, sweets, scones, muffins, soft drinks, juices and sandwiches are on sale. The entrance cost was €7.50 per child as we had a group of 5.

All of the kids had a great time, they really enjoyed it and we all left happier and less hassled!

Hurrah,  the Spicendipity site is open for business. It looks gorgeous and theres a great selection of spice mixes, sauces, baking mixes and gift hampers. In addition, a very helpful recipe section which gives plenty of serving/cooking suggestions and examples and is therefore excellent for people like me who are culinary imagination challenged. All the products looked great. So without delay, I ordered amongst other goodies one of their chocolate brownie mixes.

This is baking made very very easy. Oscar did most of the work. I melted the butter, he stirred the mix into it. Another advantage is that the mix doesn’t contain any artifical preservatives, colouring or additives. A teaspoon of vanilla extract was measured, poured and stirred in. We then cracked in the eggs and he whisked. He greased the baking tray and poured the mixture in. Oisín then appeared for the most important part of the baking experience: the licking of the bowl, whisk and spoon. All faces were covered but the mixture tasted yummy, very chocolately and gooey.

At this stage, due to the fact our oven doesn’t appear to uniformly heat and has hotspots, the brownies got slightly charred around the edges. The middle was still perfect: moist, chocolately and very rich. The next time we’ll take more care and keep a closer eye on the baking stage.

As they were very rich, we cut up the slab of cooked brownies in to small rectangles rather than the larger size shown above. Needless to say, they didn’t last very long in this house with both parents and kids loving them. They were delicious.

I’m looking forward to trying some of the suggested variations out. Maybe adding some chopped nuts or making them as small muffins as Deborah suggests and turning them into an easy to prepare, fun and delicious dessert. Yummy.

One of the many stalls we visited whilst at the Taste of Cork festival was Declan Ryan’s Arbutus bread one. After sampling the delicious bread we decided to purchase a few bags of his West Cork Brown Soda Mix to take home.

Finally got organised enough to bake one today. You just need to add 1/2 pint of water to the dry ingredients in the bag which include wholemeal wheat flour, pinhead oatmeal, dried buttermilk, bread soda and cream of tartar. Pop in the oven for 45 minutes or so and violá, its ready. This is what I love, its so convenient. I don’t need any extra ingredients here in the house.

It’s smell was fabulous and it tasted divine. I am a sucker for fresh bread with butter and this met my expectations.

It cost €2 per pack which makes a good sized load as can be seen above. I used a silicone bakeware container which isn’t as rigid as standard loaf tins and so its flatter a loaf than I’d normally expect.

I will definitely be keeping a few packs of this mix on standby in the cupboard and use on a regular basis. Excellent product. I’m not sure where else it is available to purchase, I am hoping I’ll be able to find it in the English market in Cork or in the other local farmers’ markets.

UPDATE: emailed Arbutus and discovered the mix is available at Mahon Point Market on Thursdays, Midleton Market on Saturdays or from Nash19 Restaurant.