Arcadia Ireland

I think its fair to say that we could all use a little cheer in our lives these days! For me, one of the things that brings immense happiness is food! I just love reading recipe books, buying new foods that I haven’t bought before (most recently, meat free sausages!) and giving new dishes a go. During lockdown I think that many people have become culinary experts because of the amount of time we have been spending in our homes. Many people have said that one of the things they love most about working from home is being able to cook and eat their own foods throughout the day. I can relate to that.

With that in mind, I decided that one of Ireland’s virtual events this Semester should involve food. Usually, big celebrations in Ireland involve delicious foods with drinks and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception! This week leading up to the 17^th March is usually when many festivals happen around Ireland to mark the holiday. Last year’s parades and festivals were sadly cancelled and this year it will be the same so last Thursday I injected even more Irishness into my home and made a good traditional Irish beef stew. Many families would have eaten this on the Irish holiday and the tradition still runs in my house! 

The truth is, it gave me a chance to cook one of my favourite traditional Irish dishes and in the process, it hopefully encouraged our student and staff community to try the recipe too. I used a Donal Skehan recipe. He is a trendy young Irish celebrity chef in Ireland and one can never go too far wrong when following his tips!

Anyone interested in checking out some free virtual events this week week, why not click on St Patricks Day - this is Ireland. Everyone’s invited! Enjoy a host of vibrant St Patrick’s Day events  from the 15-17th March. 

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy St Patrick's day.