The first day of the Heron Gallery Cafe was officially a success. People trickled in all day long and thoroughly enjoyed the food...most of which, I am proud to say, were my recipes. Spicy lentil and spinach soup, creamy potato leek soup, quinoa tabbouleh, carrot & beetroot salad w/honey ginger dressing, pasta and bean pesto salad, organic greens, homemade falafel w/ tzatziki dressing, Irish cheeses w/brown soda bread, Irish cheddar and spinach scones, fruit scones, lemon almond polenta cake, rich chocolate cake, apple crumble w/ whipped cream, oatmeal raisin cookies, peanut butter cookies, raspberry oat squares, espressos, tea, elderflower tonic, and hot lemon ginger tea. I know I forgot a few things but that is basically our menu to start. Almost everything is either from the garden or local producers and most things are organic. Good food made with lots of love. Today I had the pleasure to meet a really nice couple from Northern Ireland who came for lunch and had my oatmeal raisin cookies (my own recipe) for dessert. They fell in love with them and told me I should start a mail order cookie business. They even came back in the afternoon for more and gave me their contact info just in case I ever came up to visit the area. The Irish are so friendly! So, overall, a successful start.
Since I last wrote, I was basically doing a lot of shopping, prepping, baking and cooking. The cafe owner and I made a special trip to Lisheen Organics to pick up some fresh greens, and passed by Jeremy Irons island castle along the way. The farm was so cool! You walked into the poly tunnels and were immediately greeted with beautiful blossoming broad beans, stalks of asparagus popping up, vibrant green parsley, myriad colors of salad greens, rainbow chard, beet greens, herbs, and the last few baby carrots. We literally hand picked the things we wanted. What a good feeling to be harvesting what you will be eating for dinner. Next day we headed to the Bantry market early in the morning for more fresh fruits and veggies, homemade bread from local bakers, gourmet olives/sun dried tomatoes/lavender/feta from Toby (talked story with him because he lived in Massachusetts for awhile), handmade falafel, and locally made Gubbeen cheeses and organic eggs. AAhhhhh.... such good food! As we were driving around to these different places I was able to enjoy more of this picturesque landscape. Simply breathtaking.
Today finally ended with a nice chat with my new hippy Irish friend who is going to give me bodran lessons (Irish drum); cake with this awesome local woman who has a French wwoofer and American wwwoofer, with whom I will be checking out Irish set dancing and music on Monday night; a dinner visit by previous wwoofers who are a young French couple bicycling around Ireland; and listening to Samba music with the owner, Klauss, who plays samba percussion. What a mix of wonderfulness. Again, I can not express how grateful I am for all these things to be happening in my life. Keeping an open mind and an open heart really does make a huge difference... along with being positive, happy, and thankful... and just letting go.
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