There really is very little to it. Just make the dough, prepare the tomato sauce, get the toppings together, get the oven up to temperature, assemble the pizza, cook and serve, right?
Wrong. Oh so very, very, very, very wrong. If you want a quick pizza ring Domino’s. If you want the best pizza you have ever tasted, read on my friends, read on. The down-side is that preparing pizza for two is a lot of work for one. Particularly when I am the one doing the working. Continue reading
Many visitors to that fine country have no understanding of the national psyche of the French. They are a very proud nation with an incredibly rich history and more culture than one might find in a Roquefort cheese. Tourists wrestle with the concept of the entire country closing every day between noon and three. They also don’t follow the reasons for the early start in the day and everything remaining closed on Sunday. The divide is prised open by foreigners who speak loudly in English while affecting a stage French accent “No, garçon, we want a pot of tea for two.” or “Non, J’ai asked for it to be cooked medium. This est rare.”
My friend Michael Houseright asked me to guest post over at The Blissful Adventurer while he was away in Italy last month. I thought I should throw it up here too. (Visit Michael’s new blog or he will kill me for reposting without telling him.)
My tale begins 127 years ago. The story goes that Giuseppe Cerve came to Ireland from Casalattico in central Italy. He came here with very little, to find a better life for his family. He began selling potatoes cooked in oil from a barrow. We Irish liked it so much that he soon opened Ireland’s first ‘Chipper’ where he began selling fish and chips. An Irish Italian tradition was born.
A rare photo of Giuseppe Cerve’s original Chip Shop. This image from the collection of the late Barbie Borza.
Don’t get me wrong. I really, really, really appreciate the various awards I have received from fellow bloggers. I am even grateful for the couple that my blogging daughter has bestowed upon my blog. Though, I do have a problem. The Versatile Blogger Award asks that each recipient passes it on to 15 others. Let me explain first with a bit of maths: Continue reading
In our advertising agency business we try to maintain reasonably high ethical standards. We like to get paid for what we do. We like to pay our business partners in a timely fashion and we don’t expect any special treatment. We don’t approve of inducements.
For you fans of Don Draper in Mad Men, please note that he is showing how it was back in the 50s and 60s not how it is today. I know this because I was around for the tail end of all that. It was a daft business back then. Standards were not what they are today. Continue reading
Back when Adam was a boy (the early 1950s) the British were encouraged to ‘Go to work on an egg’. This was a great advertising campaign built around a fantastic piece of copywriting. Having Tony Hancock in front of the camera helped a bit too.
In my business life, I have had the dubious pleasure of writing copy for various Easter advertisements featuring ‘Eggstravaganza’ in the headline. This usually followed up with ‘eggciting offers’ ‘cracking deals’ and other eggscrutiating word plays. Continue reading
Not many people know me well. I’m a pretty private kind of guy with a narrow focus of interests. Those who do know me, know that I am not big on self promotion. I rarely coddle myself with dramatic expressions of ego centric boastfulness or vulgar displays of self-congratulatory indulgence.
By writing this blog, I have allowed a certain number of you to lift a small corner of the dark shroud that envelops my being. That comfort blanket that has protected me from slights and emotional injury has been raised ever so slightly. I have been nervous about it being lifted. I have viewed each comment on my various posts with foreboding, nervous that more of my inner self will be exposed. All that was until late last week…… Continue reading
My eldest is very competitive. Some say, too competitive. When she started her travel blog, Shallow Pockets Travel, I helped her out where I could. I learned a lot by the process. In fact, that is what prompted me to start this blog. My experience previously was restricted to our company blog at advertising.ie.
For a time, all went along well. Eldest daughter (ED) enthused about her latest post and numbers of hits and so forth. I offered fatherly encouragement to her endeavor. Meanwhile, I quietly worked away cooking, photographing, writing and posting in my free time. All was well in our little blogosphere and in our home. Or was it? Continue reading
“Meat, meat, meat! Is that all you can blog about. What about the vegetarians out there in Internet land? Surely there is more to life than meat? Why can’t you do something for them too?”
Having read Silvana de Soissons’ excellent post on how to write a food blog, it got me thinking. I am not a long time blogging and I know that I have a long way to go. However, in the past 5 months, there are 5 things I have learned not to do when food blogging. Here’s my top 5 don’ts AND a special bonus tip:
1. Don’t start something you aren’t going to finish.
The telltale signs are headlines like “My new life starts here” or “What I am eating now”. I know the majority are fueled by well-intentioned new-year positivity and the “new lifer” will probably revert to the old life, just as they do most years. Best to do the work, and blog about it after you have achieved something. Trust me, we can wait.
2. Don’t do a daily online diary.
While it is good to write things down, it is not good for the rest of us to read about “Day 32 – My couscous-vegan-nut-diet goals achieved”. Again, if you do something worthwhile, let us know after the fact. We can wait.
3. Don’t start a post with “Sorry I haven’t been blogging for a while (followed by a lame excuse)”.
This opening implies some very introspective musing. Think of your readers and what might interest them. It is the only way to get them to think of you, if that is what you want. Most of us weren’t waiting anyway. If we were, we would have posted something like:
“I wonder what could be wrong, (insert your name nere) hasn’t posted in ages.”
4. Don’t use obscene language
I know it’s oh so funny to use the F word. God knows, I have been known to use profanity and bad language myself. However if you can’t communicate in print without expressions such as “F*** Yeah! that pizza was sick” or “F***ing awesome cheese sandwich, Dude!”, you probably are trying to master the wrong medium. F*** Yeah, Bro!
5. Don’t make rude noises
Never, ever start or end a post with that awful expression ‘Om Nom Nom’. Eat with your mouth closed. Don’t eat while reading my blog. You’ll get crumbs in your keyboard.
6. YES! A Special Bonus Tip – 6 for the price of 5
Yes! Six. A nice photo of nice vegetables representing the number 6.
Don’t do lists. I am fed up of seeing “Top 10 this”, “Top 7 that”, “15 things every blogger didn’t know they should know”, “3 things to do before you get out of bed.”etc., etc… The only top 5 list to which you should pay attention is this one.
Having said all this, I could start a post like this:
“Om Nom Nom. Day 325 – Sorry I haven’t been posting in ages, I have been filling my diary with my new top three diet plans. The good news is I have achieved my mung bean, tofu and egg-plant diet goals. F***ing awesome Mo Fo, fo sho!”
Or, perhaps not….
Sharing the joy of creating and keeping good company.
A pair of eternally curious eyes, a camera and my taste buds ! Life is marvellous !
Cooking with pasion for fun!
Asado Adventures
Never be afraid to try new things. It is the spice of life.
Make me smile!
Recipes for cakes, breads, sweets and savouries, with some food-related travel tales too! © 2011 - 2013
Indian-inspired Food for the Global Palate
notes from a creative kitchen
Everybody into the kitchen
Two Men, Two Pits and a Blog
by Miranti Borvornsin, the recipe and menu developer (specialize in Thai foods and Asian fusion) and custom confectionery designer for special events
Great food, real life
