Half way point - I'll drink to that!

Time to raise a glass of vino to Week 7. 

I am over halfway through the Ballymaloe 12 week certificate course.

I keep putting off writing this post as I literally do not know where to begin updating this and the time is flying by so quickly. I seriously admire the bloggers that I followed before coming to Ballymaloe who were able to juggle their workload here and blog daily. Spill the Beans and French Foodie I am in awe. Also where did you get the wifi connection to blog like this? Like seriously?

Now that I am over halfway I am increasingly aware of the ever so slight anxious feeling I have about facing into 'real life' after Ballymaloe.
Life where there isn't abundant fresh herbs, salad leaves and organic fresh vegetables a plenty.
Life without freshly baked loaves of bread, wholesome soup, generous mains and exquisite puddings on a daily basis.
Life without daily homemade lemonade.
Life without freshly laid eggs from the 600 hens here.
Life without daily fresh scones with cream and homemade raspberry jam.
Life without hanging out my balcony window for a ridiculous amount of time trying to get wifi/phone reception.
Life without daily duties.
Life without filing every night!
Life where I'm not looking forward to starting my Ballymaloe adventure.
Life without Wine Wednesday!!!!!!!!


Darina is actively seeking our immediate employment by continually questioning and nugging us about who has found jobs! No pressure eh?


Anyways back to the update...


We had our School Tour Day which was a lot of fun. We travelled throughout Cork to visit the Mahon Point Food Market, Gubbeen Cheese and Chorizo factory, Ummera Smokehouse and Jameson Distillery. It was a great day and good to get out of the school for a while and visit our producers and sample some delights.
I almost forgot to mention that we all got a free bottle of Jameson Whiskey after our tour and food and whiskey tasting! Jameson were incredible hosts and an example of how the big guys know how to do things right.


We also had our Midterm Herb, Salad and Technique exam on Friday.
I spent most of last week eating herbs left, right and centre and tasting and sketching salad leaves to help me remember them. Not my usual study but such a great way to get us all to know the herbs and salad leaves. I was delighted with myself when I was able to recognise the salad leaves mibuna, mizuna, tatsoi and lollo rosso in my salad at the weekend in Dublin which I was delighted with. I honestly would never really have cared about this before and would have assumed it was a good old bag of rocket leaves! This course continually forces you to really open your eyes to our food around us and I wonder if I will ever really look or think about food the same way again.

Other BIG updates include we have our Ballymaloe Charity Dinner on Week 10 for the public, family and friends and I was ecstatic to discover that I was made Head Chef for the event. I am honoured to take on this big role and so excited to get stuck in and gain some invaluable experience for the future. More updates on this to come!


We had 'Cake Day' where we got to see the competitive side in a lot of people (probably mainly myself). It was a great laugh and the cakes really were incredible!

My Chocolate Spooky Inspired Halloween Cake 

We also had a Big Breakfast Morning where I won the best breakfast from my kitchen only I didn't take a picture as I devoured it so quickly! Typical me.
Pretty delighted to win and hey if all else fails I can make a decent Full Irish Brekkie in the future!


I included a picture of my starter dish that I made last week which was my Ardsallagh Goat's cheese croquettes with rocket leaves, roast peppers and tapenade oil. I was delighted with how it looked and tasted!

I can't even begin to explain the level of detail that is covered in the afternoon lectures.
I really cannot stress enough how you really get your bang for your buck here.

My brain not to mind my folders are continually creating sub dividers and categories for all this new information I am learning on a daily basis. From filleting fish, making fresh pasta, baking bread, curing meat and creating classic timeless desserts every day brings a whole new assortment to the collection.

Furthermore we are learning about wine! I was so ignorant before this to the world of wine. I love that I know so much more now about pairing wine with food, what courses to accompany with and the regions and grape varieties. Wine Wednesday is my favourite day of the week!

An example of a night filing 2 days of notes. Organised chaos. 

Some days I laugh at myself as I come out from my mornings cooking as I look like someone leaving the battlefield both physically and mentally.

With all this new information and learning it is important here that I recognise especially to anyone considering doing the course in the future that sometimes this course can be very overwhelming! I'm 26 (relatively young & energetic) I love food and filing and everything about this course and I can find it really challenging some days.
All that being said there are those special moments during demo in the afternoon that I almost want to pinch myself I'm so happy about being here and how much I love it.
These episodes also often occur when watching Rachel. I'm a big fan of Rachel. That's putting it lightly. She's effortless and no words can begin to explain how great and natural she is at teaching.

Rachel's beautiful profiteroles during demo one afternoon. 

Burger day with Rory - He is such a Pro! 

My homemade fresh noodle pasta. Tasted so good! 

Finally my Almond, coconut and cardamon cake. It's so pretty. I am so delighted with how it turned out.  I had a bit of help from Lughan even though it may look like a Pam inspired Cake! 

Today was one of those days where I am so happy to be here and I am loving every second of this once in a lifetime experience! 

That is as much information as my brain can process tonight. If anyone has any questions about the course or would like to ask me anything drop me a comment below. 

Thanks for reading 

Tracy 

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