What Renie ate...in Dublin!

So, I had promised to visit a good friend of mine in Dublin before I started uni...second year was over and I figured I should stick to what I said and booked myself a 'rail and sail' ticket (basically training to Holyhead and then getting the ferry to Dublin Port...but railing and sailing sounds so much cooler).


I learned a few things on the short journey to Dublin:


1. I am unable to count train carriages and this can have serious consequences e.g. the train separating and you being on the wrong bit


2. I am bad on ferries. By 'bad' I mean I have to sprawl over a whole table and wail to myself in order to stop myself from emptying the contents of my stomach everywhere. 


3. Playing House of the Dead II (which by the way, is totally old skool) does not make my being sea sick any better. It makes things worse. Much worse. 


4. Being out of the city is totally ok. Wales is nice. Sheep are nice. Castles and scary empty bays with real shipwrecks are very cool.

Luckily I got there in one piece and had a fabulous couple of days and even made it back without injuring myself or anyone else, victory pour moi! Anyway, onto the interesting bits...


Burgers at Bobo's 

The interior

Bobo's Cheeseburger and Rosemary Salt Fries

...And now for the close up!

According to Time Out, Bobo's do the best burgers in the whole of Dublin. They tell no lies. They use fresh, locally sourced beef and make them into possibly the yummiest burgers I've ever had (I may be speaking too soon though as I'm going to #Meateasy on Monday, heh!). The rosemary salt fries were pretty excellent too. Now every time I have fries, I want rosemary...Bobo's what have you done to me?! 

Cake and Coffee at Keogh's 

This was the ultimate pick me up after I got into the city! My friend took me to an adorable café near the tourism office (which by the way, is in a super nice building) and after a latte and a huge slab of chocolate cake served with a ginormous cloud of thick, cocoa dusted cream, I was back on my feet and ready to take on the world/crash, sit around and eat even more.

This photo makes me paw hungrily at the screen and want cake

The Farm

We figured that we should have a big, blow out dinner before I left and we were all in the mood for some place nice. The only problem was that we hadn't booked, it was a Friday night and Renie is a little bit picky. I vetoed a couple of places, including Dunne & Crescenzi - (the menu was boring) but then we stumbled across The Farm, which is all cutesy and organic and the menu and reasonable prices = major wins!

Also they had outdoor seats with blankets and little pictures of farm animals tiled on the walls - macabre but also adorable! My initial plan was to go all out and have three courses. I managed two. This either suggests that I have a tiny, pathetic appetite or that the portions were huge. We all know the former isn't true, so here are the photos to prove the latter. 

We had...potato and leek soup, which was delicious and fresh, cottage pie and the real star of the show was the roast organic loin of pork which was marinated in garlic and stuffed with butternut squash, sage and onion. They served it on a mini mountain of creamy herbed mashed potato.  

Crazy good milkshakes at Shakes

I'm kinda familiar with milkshake bars now because they have been EVERYWHERE since forever. That doesn't stop me from getting horrendously excited whenever I see one, especially when a) it's all cutesy inside and b) the proprietor is super nice.

I'm usually a Reece's Pieces kinda girl but then I saw the VIP shakes...I ended up with 'Monkey Business,' which consisted of my fav - Nutella, vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, fresh banana which was all topped with whipped cream and a Flake. I'm pretty sure I'd gone over my RDA of fat/sugar but it was definitely worth it. 

 So...that's what I ate, there will be more in part II! :D

Nutella + Banana Cake & Dark Chocolate + Orange Cookies ♥

My all time favourite activity is baking, purely because there is nothing more therapeutic and satisfying than creating your own delicious treats from scratch – something you could never get with store bought goods. There’s nothing better than whipping up a delicious batch of chocolate and orange cookies or super simple cakes and sharing the warm fuzziness of baked goods with friends and family. Here are some incredibly easy recipes to get you in the mood for baking!

Nutella Banana Cake:

2 ripe bananas (perfect opportunity to use up any overripe stuff)
170g caster sugar
170g self raising flour
170g butter
3 large eggs
A few drops of vanilla essence
2 large tablespoons of Nutella
5 Toblerone triangles broken into small chunks

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius/gas mark 3

2. Mash bananas and mix with other ingredients until well combined

3. Pour into a lined loaf tin

4. Bake for an hour

5. Tip out when cool and enjoy!

Dark chocolate and Orange Cookies:

125g dark chocolate (use a good quality Fairtrade chocolate)
125g white chocolate (use a good quality Fairtrade chocolate)
150g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp bi-carb
125g butter, cut into cubes and softened
75g light brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 egg
Zest of 1 orange
Optional: A few drops of orange flavouring

1.   Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3 and line a large baking sheet. Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave in 30 second blasts or over a pan of barely simmering water until melted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool

2. Place the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, orange flavouring and salt into a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the cooled melted chocolate and beat to combine.

3. Beat in the orange zest and egg, followed by the flour mixture. Once combined stir in the chocolate chunks

4. Roll the dough into small or large balls, depending on what size you want your cookies, and place on the baking tray. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of a cookie comes out clean

5. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool

Happy Baking!!!