Kieran 
Here’s the second in the series! I think for the next one I should ask some pertinent questions such as “What’s your position on ice cream?” If anyone has any ideas for ice cream, chocolate or coffee related questions for the candidates, let me know…
In case anyone was wondering, here’s the fact file:
Technorati tags: candidate, Irish election, Jackie Healy Rae, Kerry, ice cream
Maman Poulet writing on Irishelection.com a little while ago, put the idea into my head that I might get a photo of Jackie Healey Rae with an ice cream.
I’ve been thinking it isn’t a bad idea at all. In fact, my brother and I had always talked about a “Caught with Ice Cream” series, where we might stick our ice cream into the hands of various people and take the photo.
If we were to start with candidates in this tight election year, how many would pose?
Today I received a tip that Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach, would be in Killarney. Why not? I grabbed the camera.
Deirdre, from our Killarney shop, kindly assisted by scooping and passing the cone to Bertie so that I could snap the shot.
Although there was a big crowd around him, we got through, and the Taoiseach was gracious. I didn’t get as many photos as I had hoped since I was muscled out of it by members of the legitimate press who couldn’t resist the ice cream photo opportunity. Still, it was a good start.
Now, who is next?
Technorati tags: Killarney, Irish election, Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach, ice cream
We have long wanted to improve the chocolate squares we serve with coffees in our shops, and I’m sure our customers will be delighted to know that we’ve reached agreement with Valrhona to serve their little chocolates in our packaging.
We have a choice in terms of which chocolate we use, so feedback please!!!
n
As summer is coming on, we wanted to make a floral ice cream. I’ve also wanted to make ice cream with Manuka honey for a long time. This strong flavoured New Zealand honey comes from a plant used by the Maori for medicinal purposes. We decided to combine it with essence of orange blossom, and the result was delicious!
Murphys Manuka Honey and Orange Blossom Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 Cup (237ml) Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
1 1/8 Cups (266ml) Cream
1 1/8 Cups (266ml) Milk
1/2 Cup (118gm) Manuka Honey
1 Teaspoon Orange blossom water
Yield: 6 Servings
1. Mix the sugar and egg yolks and beat until thick and pale yellow.
2. Bring the milk to a simmer.
3. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
4. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat. Stir until the custard thickens slightly (around 70C). Use a thermometer, as at 75C the eggs will scramble!
5. Stir in the honey.
6. Allow the custard to cool.
7. Add the orange blossom water.
8. Whip the cream.
9. Gently fold in the custard.
10. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals.
Notes: 1. We used a natural French orange blossom water (aroma). You might well need to adjust the volume depending on the flavouring you find.
2. I like a strong honey flavour. If you want something more subtle and floral, use half the given amount of honey.
3. The discerning horticulturist will know that those are apple blossoms in the photo. Sorry for that, but orange trees are in short supply in these parts!
4. I haven’t yet made this recipe for home use, so I would love any feedback if you try it!
Technorati tags: manuka honey, orange, blossom, ice cream, recipe, Irish
I must be lacking the male gene associated with the love of roaring car engines, for my least favourite time of year in Killarney is during the Rally of the Lakes. It’s a weekend I associate with noise, traffic, fights on the streets at night, and hundreds of boy racers creeping along in thundering custom cars and drinking cans of lager in the parking lots. It’s the kind of scene that scares away most of our regular customers, who try to put as much distance between themselves and the town as possible.
Driving to Killarney today to visit our shop there, the traffic was indeed horrendous, and to make things worse, rally cars tore up the middle of the road sending normal motorists veering out of the way to avoid them. It was not a pleasant experience…
On a positive note, after I did my business in the shop, I headed to Tesco to try to find ripe avocados (a difficult task in Kerry) and noticed that they are selling home ice cream makers for 19.99. Not a bad price at all! So if you were ever tempted to try some of the ice cream recipes on this site, it might be a cheap way to get started!
Technorati tags: Killarney, rally, lakes, Tesco, ice cream machine
Anyone listening to RTE Radio tomorrow morning at 10:00am will hear a feature on us on The Business…
PS. You can find the archive of the show here.
Technorati tags: the business, radio, RTE
 Pat, our coffee salesman brought us some of his better beans this week for our tasting pleasure. Included was a bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain, Yauco Selecto from Puerto Rico, and Mysore from India.
We’ve been toying around with the idea of offering an upscale cup of coffee for connoisseurs, or maybe offer a selection of several. It can get extrememly pricy for these beans, but it might a great treat for a coffee lover.
All of the coffees are more subtle than our current Organic Fairtrade bean. Our favourite so far was the Yauco Selecto – nice balance and not bitter in the slightest…
Technorati tags: Blue Mountain, Yauco Selecto, bean, coffee, organic, Ireland
I’m sorry I haven’t posted over the last few days, but Eircom broadband has been down in Dingle (and Shannon and Limerick, it seems). We can’t seem to get word on when the problem will be fixed. What a shock to go back to the snail’s pace of dial up! Arrgggh!
A bit of good news, meanwhile, is that the refurbishment of Main Street in Killarney is pretty much complete. It looks quite well, and it is great for our shop, which has been surviving in a construction zone. We’re in the process of applying for outside seats, which should make all the difference!
Technorati tags: Dingle, Killarney, Kerry, Main Street, broadband, shopping
