Happy New Year …. let’s have a wee WiseWords review

Posted by WiseMóna    24 Comments    Posted under: The Snug

Wow. What an amazing year.

I cannot wait to see where 2013 brings us.

The kids are all happy and healthy, thank goodness. My Mum, who is like a 3rd parent to our kids here at ChezWise, is also happy and healthy and keeps a close watch over us. For this, her health and her love, we are truly blessed.

The Chef & I are just like all other couples out there trying to work and raise a family at the same time. We  abide by the rule of loving each other 80% of the time and wanting to kill each other the other 20%.

Life.is.good.

I thought it best to start where I left off last year in late December where I reviewed our year of salads.

Simplicity at its best

But any salad worth its salt needs a decent loaf of bread …

February is the ‘love’ month

February got off to an excellent start as I was asked to give a talk on food blogging at The Foodie Forum which was held at GMIT last year (and is only around the corner so save the date for Tuesday February 5th 2013). I was a bag of nerves at first, as I would not consider myself to have great orating skills, but the crowd at this event were my kind of people. Farmers, fishermen, butchers, bakers, chefs, cooks, bloggers and of course, teachers – every single one of them. I can’t even begin to fathom how the organisers will improve this years event but have it on great authority that it will, of course, be a delicious and educational experience for all.

Kitchen chaos

Then Annie Atkins came to visit and took some amazing shots of our family – kicking the book writing and designing project into serious high gear. The rest of the year is a blur but I am going to force myself to carry on because there are a few more pretty pictures to look at!

Goatsbridge Trout Caviar

In March we were delighted to sample a few jars of Goatsbridge Trout Caviar. Oh-M-Geeeeee was this ever a highlight of our foodie year. What a delicious product.

Our daily eggs

April brought many treats to the table and all homegrown. We have not had to buy eggs for two and a half years now and have cut back to eating most of our own chickens, ducks and turkeys. If you have been thinking about doing this – then the time is now; don’t be shy about rearing your own turkeys – the meat is by far the tastiest of the bunch.

Breaking news – we have six ducklings!

I had to include an extra ‘bird’ shot here. Because they are just too darn cute!

Now, moving on to the madness that was the month of May.

The Chef & I at home with the ducks

To start with, The Sunday Times offered us a weekly column in their new and fabulous Sunday section. We started May 13th 2012 and have been sharing three recipes weekly since then. This has been, thus far, one of the coolest experiences a blogging gal like myself could ever have with one of the highlights being the Christmas party at the Odessa Club. So.much.fun.

Could not wait to get out of her shoes xx

And as May was one of our busiest months …. we had a special day for our Rory Belle.

Book – Launched.

Jeepers. How much could a gal cram into a month?  I will never forget that evening. So so so many friends, family members, teachers, employers and people I had never met in my life, all there to celebrate the birth of a new book. Thank you, each and every one of you. Yes, this was pretty fabulous experience and I feel very fortunate to have achieved the starting and finishing of my first book all in due time and I even earned a distinction for my efforts at college. Job.Well.Done.

There is gobs of feedback and reviews of the book all over the internet but this one is one of my favourites because it includes ‘the chef’ and this one hits the nail on the head too.

On a side note, and kudos to my dear blogging buddy and comrade in arms here in Galway, Anne Marie Carroll was also hired to write a food column for the Galway Advertiser. Blogging, especially food blogging, is starting to pay off for many of us in the Irish Food Blogging scene; So play nice boys and girls.

It is the little things that mean the most …

We spent some time at Lisloughrey Lodge these past few months and our most memorable stay had to be in June. Right after the book launch, they invited us down for a quiet night away from it all. We have never had such a good nights sleep and cannot recommend this place highly enough for a mini-break.

Two of my most favorite people in the whole world. My youngest brother Kenneth and my niece (his godchild) GéGé who admitted she loves her Uncle MORE than her Aunt. ….

July brought a massive amount of mayhem to our house with all the cousins visiting for three long glorious weeks. All but one of my siblings home for summer holidays. We took time to smell all the roses.

Rory Belle (age 9) Jack (age 7)

August saw a flying visit from my friend Simone (who has an excellent blog called Jungle Frog blog). She took a smattering of food and kid photos that we have on file now for our second book ‘The Chef & I …. with kids’. We will get cracking on that in the new year and I will keep y’all updated on how it is going. Truth be told – I miss the book writing. These last few months in college are killing my creativity and stifling me with dense dreary texts and essay writing. But I have started so I will finish. Only 12 weeks of class left to go.

So September rolled in and back to final year of my undergrad in college I went, after having had a year off of regular classes to live the life of a writer and write my book. The easiest way to describe that transition is to look at the photos below.

This is life before I went back to college …. gorgeous, vibrant, happy, tasty, exciting.

And this is what life is like ‘in college’ …. and just as an FYI – this is real canteen food.

Are we still stuck in the seventies here or what?

Ok – I might be over dramatising it a wee bit … but my goodness I am so ready to be done with college.

12 more weeks. 12 more weeks. 12 more weeks.

October how I loved you because you gave me the best gift of all ….

My mum, Catherine, myself and the Chef.

A night out with my Mum AND the Chef …. and a few gorgeous prizes to take home with me. The whole experience of winning the Blog Awards in Ireland is still very surreal to me. I will admit, that my reaction to cower and hide and feel like I had not earned it has now passed and I am working even harder on a new blogging plan for 2013. Stay tuned!

November brought rain … study and exam stress into our WiseWorld. But there were a few days where we caught glimpses of sun and I always managed to capture it with the camera. This (above) is a scallop star. Puff pastry with a scalloped inside and a mustard dressing on a bed of rocket. Every home should have one.

A chef that is.

December brought colour back into my life … lots of foodie family fun. I have let go of the study stress for now and will face it on January 7th when I get back in to college for final semester. I.love.saying.that.

‘Final’ semester.

Aside from the Foodie Forum (February 5th at GMIT) I will also be participating in the Waterford Writers festival (March 21st to 24th 2013) and have also been invited to present a paper at a Gastronomy Symposium at GMIT 9th May 2013. You have no idea how much this terrifies me …. I am writing and presenting my paper on ‘Food & Social Media’.

Me in the mirror

So … there you have it. A well balanced wrap up of the year. The next few months are going to be INSANELY busy for the Chef & I, but hey, nothing we can’t handle.

I cannot thank y’all enough for all the love and support you have shown me here at WiseWords throughout the year. Blogtopia can be a lonely place and sometimes filled with a lot of crazies….so it is hard to stand your ground and just march to the beat of your own drum.

So, thank YOU … for reading WiseWords.

WiseMóna

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From The Kitchen