Ice Cream Ireland

A few weeks ago, I heard Daniel Cassidy on the Last Word with Matt Cooper. It was a lively interview, and Cassidy’s premise - that many American slang words originate from the Irish language - was an intriguing one.

I ordered the book, and it’s arrived. It’s more scholarly that I would have expected from the interview (turns out that Cassidy is a professor and founder of the New College of California), and the historical as well as etymological background is well-drawn. What’s really astonishing is that so few words in English dictionaries are credited to Irish (most of Cassidy’s English words are listed “origin unknown,” and when you think about the huge diaspora, it’s a certainty that the Irish would have contributed words to English.

Some examples from the book:

• Baloney - Béal ónna, meaning silly, foolish talk
• Boss - Bás, meaning boss, best, very good
• Brag - Bréag, meaning a lie, exaggeration, deception
• Cop - Ceap, meaning a protector or chief. The verb “ceap” has meanings including to catch or intercept.
• Daddy - Daidí
• Gab - Gab, a chattering mouth
• Goon - Guan
• Hick - Aitheach, meaning a peasant, a churl
• Jazz - Teas, meaning heat, passion, excitement
• Lucre - Luach óir, meaning reward of gold
• Shack - Teach, meaning house
• Shanty - Seantigh, meaning old house
• Slob - Slab, meaning mud or a dirty or slovenly person
• Smashing - ’s maith sin, meaning “it is good”
• So long - Slán

There are many more, and I highly suggest the book. At the very least it’s bound to lead to some interesting conversations!

Technorati tags: book, Irish, slang, word, Daniel Cassidy

Things are getting quite crazy here in the world of ice cream as we really enter the height of high season! Bad weather or not, we’re busy! Mind you, it seems that here in Dingle we’ve been spared the worst of the weather that has hit the East Coast of Ireland and the UK. We’ve had our sunny days!

Most of my time is spent keeping things going and trying to give our customers attention, but I’ve also managed to finish our new website (photo above). One thing I love about technology these days is that it has become much more democratic. There are so many tools out there that it’s not necessary to hire a webmaster or farm it out. So this time, we did it ourselves. Our site might not be perfect, but I’m happy with it, and it wasn’t even all that time-consuming… Ruth at Urru was asking about it, so here’s a link for the software we used. It cost a whopping $49…

Yesterday, my brother and I made a mad dash up the country for a meeting with our distributor, and on the way back we stopped for a quick snack at La Cucina in Castletroy, Limerick. Lorraine wasn’t there, but we met her mother, and this little place has a great vibe and a steady stream of visibly happy customers. There are all sorts of Italian goodies on the walls to take home as well. We didn’t have time to sample the coffee or tempting display of sweet things, but the pizza and pasta certainly helped us make it home safe to Kerry. Thanks, Lorraine!

Technorati tags: website, software, italian, food, Limerick

We here in the world of ice cream have done our little bit for the much-publicised McManus-Foley wedding by sending up 300 litres of ice cream. We were contracted by Masterchefs Hospitality, who are doing the food and wanted green pea and mint ice cream (above) as well as a bloody mary ice cream. I hope the family and guests enjoy it!

Technorati tags: green pea, mint, bloody mary, ice cream, McManus, wedding

I must apologise to everyone who tried to access this site over the last days. I’ve been so busy in the shop that I didn’t realise that I had run out of bandwidth due to the extra traffic generated by the Irish Blog Awards. I had paid for extra bandwidth earlier in the month, but it clearly wasn’t enough. By the time I checked the site and my email on Friday evening, the folks at Blacknight, who host this site had headed away for the weekend, and there was nothing I could do… So sorry!

It’s an odd thing when you have a huge spike in traffic that is a “once off,” and I’d be interested to know how other bloggers handle it. The salesman at Blacknight with whom I corresponded when I bought the extra bandwidth was unwilling to cut me any slack (even in return for me singing their praises on the blog) and was interested only in trying to sell a more expensive package, which would be generally three or four times the bandwidth I need in a normal month. I was down for almost three days. Ouch! Once again, apologies…

Technorati Tags: Blog, traffic, bandwidth, Blacknight

Check out this for a great addition to the Irish food blogging scene:

Italian Foodies - They have an Italian restaurant in Limerick called “La Piccola Italia,” a deli called ”La Cucina,” and they post about Italian food, including recipes…

 Anyone who has been in our shops knows how much we love our music. I wanted to freshen up the world category, which has more than 3,000 songs (on an Ipod) but has been a bit over-loaded with North African music after my trip to Morocco, so I bought a few albums. My favourite of the lot is Salsa Celtica’s “El Camino.” This Scottish band has a beguiling blend of salsa with a blast of celtic fiddle. Some of it went into our Irish category. The mix of Cuban and Celtic might sound lame, but it really works and the album is well worth checking out…

PS. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Technorati tags: salsa, celtica, music, world

Sky News covered a story yesterday that’s been going around the media: ice cream can help women conceive. The study, done by Harvard School of Public Health nurses, involved 18,555 women, aged 24 to 42, with no history of infertility.

(My mother, shown pregnant with my brother Sean above, was not part of the study, but certainly favoured her ice cream!)

Researcher Dr Jorge Chavarro said those wishing to get pregnant “should consider changing low-fat dairy foods for high-fat dairy foods; for instance, by swapping skimmed milk for whole milk and eating ice cream, not low fat yoghurt.”

I always knew that ice cream could make you happy and relaxed, and that it’s a great addition to a romantic evening in, but this is good news indeed! I look forward to meeting some Murphys Ice Cream babies (if there aren’t some out there already)!

Technorati tags: study, fertility, Harvard, ice cream

 We’re into Lent (a Teutonic word meaning simply “Springtime”), but it certainly doesn’t seem to have made any difference to our customers in the Dingle shop, where we had a huge day today, serving out lots of chocolate, coffee, ice cream, etc.

Of course, I don’t have any problem with that, since fasting traditionally meant giving up meat, and we have none on offer. I wrote about sweets and Lent last year (here), and I don’t think I’ll add more except to say that there cannot be any doubt in my mind about hot chocolate being perfectly ok during any fast, since the Vatican made a pronouncement in 1662, allowing it (more here). 

What I will do is add my second annual list of things to give up for Lent:

1. Crab Cappuccinos (or any such appetisers or in between courses)
2. Any “Super-sized” food item
3. Drinking at home in a rural area (Irish country pubs need the business, and we might as well keep our taxi drivers happy too)
4. Being in such a hurry
5. Fake chai (chai is not a syrup!)
6. Eating in the car (excluding snacks)
7. Non-ripe supermarket fruit, especially those white, tasteless strawberries
8. Any cake that goes by the name of “Gateau,” unless you happen to be in France
9. Tipping for terrible service
10. Diet minerals or anything labeled “low fat” that has high calories and dubious sugar substitutes

Technorati tags: ice cream, Lent, chocolate, Ireland, Irish

 Here at Ice Cream Ireland, we’re fans of Valentine’s Day, which is coming up fast. Love is always a good thing to celebrate, and loved ones can always use the extra attention. Besides, any tradition that involves eating chocolates is a tradition I can happily get behind. 

So what is Valentine’s Day anyway? A bit of history:

The Romans Know How to Party

Valentine’s Day is probably based upon the Roman holiday of Lupercalia, a fesitival celebrating the Goddess Juno Februa. The name probably comes from Lupus (wolf in Latin) in honour of the wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus, who are credited with founding the city. It is said that one of the traditions including men randomly picking love poems (written by women) from an urn, and thereby selecting their partner for the duration of the festival. 

The Church Has a Better Idea 

In 496, Pope Gelasius I declared the 14th of February a feast day in honour of St. Valentine. Which Valentine is a bit of a mystery, as there were at least three St. Valentines, at least two two of whom are thought to have been martyred on February 14th (possibly the most important of the three was a Gnostic Christian in Alexandria, who wrote and preached about love). 

One of the most prevelant stories about St. Valentines is that he was imprisoned and martyred for perfoming Christian weddings after they were banned by Emperor Claudius II. Another story is that the daughter of his jailor fell in love with him after he miraculously restored her sight, and when Valentine was being led off to his martyrdom he left her a little note, naturally ending “…from your Valentine.” 

St. Valentine: An Irish Angle

The relics of one of the St. Valentines (Valentine of Rome) were given by the Holy See in 1836 to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, where they are stored. 

Or Is the Day Norwegian? 

In Norway, this time of year is dedicated to the god Vali, son of Odin, and called “Lios-beri��? or light bringing. Vali was worshipped as an archer and said to be the awakener of tender thoughts and the patron of lovers. 

Chaucer makes it literary

In 1382, Chaucer made the first literary romantic reference to Valentine’s Day in his “Parlement of Foules.” He wrote, “For this was on seynt Volantynys day, Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese [chose] his make [mate].”

Romance? Has to be the French 

The earliest surviving Valentine’s is a poem by Charles, the Duke of Orleans, to his wife, written while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415. 

Who Made It About Chocolate? 

The first Valentine’s chocolates were marketed in a heart-shaped box by Richard Cadbury in 1861. Solid chocolate as we know it was a recent invention at the time! 

Top 5 Romantic Tips from Ice Cream Ireland

1. Spice Things Up: Make the Aztec Hot Chocolate. Both chocolate and chilli peppers are generally thought to be aphrodisiacs. 

2. Go Over the Top: Champagne Sorbet will always get a bit of attention. Serve it with fresh fruit or chocolates.

3. Get in the Spirit: Be creative in serving up some ice cream with alcohol such as the black and white cocktail, though that one might need a bit of colour!

4. Feeling Saucy? Make some chocolate sauce. Use it to dunk fresh strawberries. Of course there are other uses for chocolate sauce, but that is none of my business!

5. Chat them up: Take time for a romantic chat over a cup of coffee. Naturally, bring out the chocolates. For an extra bit of sweetness with your coffee, try an affogato.

Technorati tags: Valentine, Saint, chocolate, day, romance, ice cream  

 Today, Ice Cream Ireland turns one. Yes, it’s been a full year since I started this blog while on vacation in Morocco in February 2006! Thanks to almost 20,000 of you who have checked out the site, and especially those of you who have found your way to Murphys Ice Cream.

There have been several high points to my first year of blogging including:

1. It seems that they like me in Philadelphia, where it seems I’ve been chosen with 10 other sites to make up their “Best of the Web 2007 (Food).” Much appreciated indeed!
2. Appearing in the Irish Times technology section together with other Irish bloggers.
3. The links and feedback from so many of you. Thanks again!

I’ve put together a little poll to help me with my focus over the next year, and here it is:

Now it’s time to eat my ice cream!

Technorati tags: blog, blogging, Kerry, ice cream, recipe