Journey through the Wicklow Mountains... ahem...hills

As you can see it was a gorgeous day for a trip through the Wicklow Mountains. Hard to believe that all this amazing beauty is only 15 minute drive outside of Dublin. This is where all the water for Guinness comes from!

 

Taking pictures of the heather. Had to make a special stop for it, very important to get photos of this.

Stunning, the views are unbelievable. It's a gorgeous drive, and if anyone other than my adorable husband is driving I can imagine it would be relaxing.... To me the Wicklow Mountains seem more like hills, I know that this is mainly because of my Swiss heritage, It makes me a little teeny bit biased as to what is a mountain opposed to a hill... (hope I haven't offended too many Dubliners with my opinions) Regardless it's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen and would recommend everyone to come and see it for themselves. You know when you hear words like bog, peat, bracken, grouse, heather....for years, and you read about them in lots of stories like Sherlock Holmes for example... but having grown up in Hawaii I just didn't have any point of reference for all of that,  seeing it for yourself is fantastic!

My hood

Portobello is an adorable suburb in the south of Dublin, with pubs, flower shops, and parks right on my doorstep. The Lennox Cafe, only a stones throw away, does an amazing brunch. I have so enjoyed living here and thought I would share a few pictures of my new hood.

Kissing summer goodbye?

Is the summer really over? I think Ireland experienced a good three weeks of warm sunny weather, I was loving it. lately I see adverts for fall all over the place. I want to hold on to the summer for just a bit longer... We put the heating on this morning, I feel like a bit of a wimp, but it's 10 degrees in the morning here. Brrrrr..... That's cold for my spoiled Hawaiian skin.

Here is a lovely picture I took a few weeks ago when I was experimenting with mocktails as I like to call them (Fizzy yummy drinks sans alcohol.) This one is made with sparking water, lemon, some basil leaves, and a splash of Lorina French Berry. Delish!

If it's sunny where you live enjoy it for me okay!!!

I asked some locals tonight if I was a wimp for putting the heating on and they said, no they had also put their heating on!

The great cookie debate

Cakey or crunchy.......
Everyone seems to have a preference on how they like their chocolate chip cookies. For years I was so boring and only made the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag... Raise your hands if you're with me. I didn't really realize that you can make your cookie any way you want it. I just kind of figured mine were always going to be flat and kinda crispy. Holy moly was I seriously wrong, to my fantastic delight I found this recipe for cakey chocolate chip cookies from this great blog called Every last cookie. This girl is baking her way through the Martha Stewart Cookies cook book! Here is the fab recipe that I tried, and true to form, I got delicious cakey chocolate chip cookies!

Cakey Chocolate Chip CookiesMakes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.