That's right. Everything is green. The pyramids, the houses, the cows even. Everything is green. It's the day of St Patrick, I'm in Ireland and the sun is shinning.

We decided to take a walk high up on the cliff tops overlooking Ballycotton before getting down to some wine revision for our exam on Wednesday. After having our last wine lecture with the wine god that is Colm McCan it got us all into motion. He is a fantastic teacher with such knowledge and passion for wine it's pretty inspiring stuff, not to mention he's a great laugh!

 Nerves are definitely kicking in. Thursday was particularly stressful as we had to hand in our final menu. No changes can be made, if you left an ingredient our of your list you can't go back. With over 200 recipes to decide from it was a pretty tough choice to pick three meals that were cohesive, balanced and showed off our abilities to their best. But, it's handed in now. Nothing to do but practice!

It's all in the hands of the cooking gods now. In the mean time we've had some laughs, a brownie off and recalling some memories. 10 weeks ago we all showed up to this tiny Irish village not knowing who we would meet, the friends we would make or what we would learn. And now, it's almost over. Incredible.

Hope you have had a great weekend celebrating St Paddys and here are some Tips of the Week:

1. Pork is pork until it's cured. Then it's bacon.

2. Egg whites keep covered in the fridge for weeks and make the best meringues.

3. If a recipe calls for self raising flour but you don't have any, just add 1tsp of baking powder

Mid-week madness

It's the middle of week 9 at Ballymaloe . That means that I, we, have 3 more weeks here. Exams are looming. Testers are starting to appear and menus keep changing.

I have about 5 ideas of each course of my final practical that I just cannot decide on. Doesn't really help that we have roughly 30 new recipes a day to add to our repertoire.

But in the meantime we have food, friends and laughter. Mistakes in the kitchen can be just as fun as successes, my best sourdough so far made an appearance (did you see it?!?!) and we met the lovely Madeline from Brown Envelope Seeds who, I might add, is growing 7 different types of Quinoa in West Cork. Now I love quinoa. It's a whole protein not to mention it has 13 amino acids and is considered a super food. So to find someone growing it (successfully) in Ireland is fantastic.

So, here are some Tips of the Week:

1. A mix of cream and egg yolk is called a Liaison. Adding this to sauces will thicken and richen. Never add the Liaison to boiling liquid, always add the boiling liquid to the Liaison.

2. In a burger you generally want 10-15% fat. In Pork this would be the shoulder meat, in Lamb the flank and brisket in Beef.

3. If a recipe calls for fresh yeast but you only have dry. Simply half the amount and go with the dry.

A rainbow kind of day

The sun was beaming out on the Irish countryside here at Ballymaloe Cookery School today and although cold with sun beams sparkling off the mornings frost, it was glorious. I can't quite believe the amount of sunshine Ireland has had while I've been here. Don't get me wrong, under no circumstance am I complaining, I love it. I just didn't expect it!

One thing that added even more sun to my day was the multicoloured Blood Orange Tart I was in charge of making.
Have I mentioned how much I get excited when peeling and segmenting a blood orange? The colour is extremely variable, the deep red is for me not blood but more a deep sunset. It just gets me every time. Simple pleasures and all that I suppose.

The other thing that brought nervousness and excitement was the return of mid term exam results! Let's just say that I am one happy bunny.

I haven't done Tips of the Week in a while (sorry about that) but here this very Monday, they are back…

1. When icing a cake, have a jug of hot water next to you. Between smoothing icing, dip your palette knife in to the water and it will help enormously!

2. When baking, don't open the door of the oven for at least the first ⅔ rds of the cooking time

3. Prawns and lobster have claws, shrimps and cray fish don't.

Wassailing

Pronounced -Wah-say-ling- there are two types. One is the house-visiting type commonly known as carolling. The other is the orchard-visitng type, reciting incantations and singing to the apple trees to promote a good harvest. The second is what we did last night.

It's not known exactly when the practise came into tradition however we know that the word 'wassail' is Old English and more than likely predates the Norman conquest of 1066.

“Wassaile the trees, that they may beare / You many a Plum and many a Peare: / For more or lesse fruits they will bring, / As you do give them Wassailing" is the song that you sing as you dance and weave around the apple trees, banging and clanging anything on hand to ward off the evil spirits. It's really quite fun, especially with a warm cardamon cider in your hand, the stars twinkling down on you and the fire warming you from the outside.

Although you may feel ridiculous doing it, it's exactly the thing I would do if ever I am lucky enough to have apple trees. Imagine every year before the apple growing season starts, gathering your friends for a weekend adventure in the country. Laughing while putting bunting up, kids running between the trunks, a picnic on the ground. A sense of really living and loving the land. Night hits and the stars come out, the fires are lit, last years cider gets warmed up and the excitement for next years crop begins. Magical right?!?

The day was spent at Douglas Farmers Market making crepes. Such good fun and for anyone who is thinking about selling at farmers markets or going. Do. There is such a sense of community. Such as sense of family and living off the land. Go. Enjoy. And eat.

Tips of the week:

1. Juice of citric fruits decreases in intensity very quickly. Always juice last!

2. Roux (mixture of butter and flour) keeps in the fridge for weeks.

3. If you are making Yorkshire Puddings, make sure the tray with a little oil at bottom is hot.