country life | My Food Odyssey

Dec 10

Sunset near Jerez, Spain | www.myfoododyssey.com

Gone…

But certainly not forgotten. This photo was taken on our epic road trip round Europe last summer. We set out with a plan and a map, but got so sucked in by the beauty of Spain that we ended up spending most of our time there. We were enjoying the road so much we always left it quite late to find somewhere to park for the night. This had its advantages – no one really minds if you park in a forest or supermarket car park for just a few hours after dark. It also meant we saw numerous glorious sunsets, such as this one near the town of Jerez in southern Spain. I had spent a few happy hours earlier in the day sampling sherry at Tio Pepe (to ease the pain of the 22 mosquito bites I got the night before, you understand). This sky was so captivating we pulled over to take photos and ended up staying for the night. The memories from this trip will stay with us for a long time. Read more

Nov 23

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Achievement

Finally – got that damn itch. Read more

Nov 6

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Descent

We’re off on our travels again. The car is packed with sleeping bags, food for the journey and a month’s worth of clothes, books and DVDs. We’re making what is becoming an annual trip to Denmark where we will work for a family that grows Christmas trees and runs a Christmas shop. Arūnas will be working in the fields, cutting and collecting the trees, while I will be working in the shop and hopefully doing some cooking for the family. It’s an intensive month but one we’re very much looking forward to. A change is as good as a rest, as they say. This photo was taken from our bedroom window during last year’s trip. We were both tired from a day’s work and watching the sun’s slow descent over the horizon was very soporific. We both slept well. Read more

Nov 4

Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Soup | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Soup [Recipe]

Now that Halloween is over many shops and farmers’ markets have pumpkins available at reduced cost. Despite our penchant for turning them into jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkins actually make for very good eating. This simple soup, ready in about 30 minutes, uses peanut butter to enhance the flavour and texture of the soup. Pumpkins are a little sweet and contain very little protein. The addition of the peanut butter, rich in protein and good fats, makes this a well-balanced and hearty winter meal. Read more

Nov 1

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Cover Art

We all have one good book in us. Or so they say. I’m convinced I have at least one in me but have yet to figure out what it will be. I don’t read much fiction and can’t imagine myself writing anything in that space. That said, I do have a vivid imagination and would love to write something that brings the reader into a completely new world – something akin to “Alice in Wonderland”. More likely it will be my food memoirs – my passions, my challenges, my philosophies, my journey – told around a lifelong love of food. Read more

Oct 20

Wheat Field, Lithuania | www.myfoododyssey.com

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A bit about writing

“It’s all a bit beige”, Mrs Weaver concluded as she surveyed my plate. “We eat with our eyes”, she said over her shoulder as she walked on to the next student having barely tasted a bite. It was our end-of-term exam and I had been practising each element of this dish for weeks. I had proudly served a crisp vol-au-vent (made from scratch) filled with chunky morsels of monkfish and prawn smothered in a creamy velouté sauce, gently spiced roasted cauliflower and duchess potatoes, impeccably piped and toasted to perfection. Every element looked and tasted as it should but, now that I reviewed it as a whole, I had to agree with Mrs Weaver that the colours were all a bit similar and, well, beige. We eat with our eyes and this dish looked distinctly unappetising, despite the expensive ingredients and the care that had gone into the making. Mrs Weaver had 18 plates to get through and if I wanted her to stop and pay attention to mine I needed to make it beautiful as well as delicious. Lesson learned. Read more

Oct 17

Winter Sunset, Lithuania | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Dreamy

The evenings are getting shorter, there is a distinct chill in the air and golden trees are rapidly giving way to bare branches. After a mild and sunny September winter is suddenly closing in here in Lithuania. Much as I love warmth and sunshine I am very much looking forward to winter. We have a warm and cosy home. We have a wonderful new kitchen where I will make comforting stews and slow roasts. We have a stock of homemade wine and beer which we will sip curled up in our panoramic conservatory, looking out at the dreamy winter landscape. We will read, write, savour, enjoy. We are ready. Bring it on. Read more

Oct 11

Chicken Eye Infection | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Help! My chickens are sick!

My poor girls. They’re just not well. A few weeks back we noticed that one of our grey marans had started to develop a bit of a cough. None of the other birds seemed to be affected so I wasn’t overly worried. Not wanting to rush to the vet with every little sneeze I googled to see if there was a natural remedy I could administer. Read more

Oct 9

31 Comments

House Hunters

We were the talk of the town. Probably still are. I mean, who do we think we are? Adakavas is about the size of a teaspoon and very little out of the ordinary happens here, so when TV cameras roll into town it gets everyone’s attention. It wasn’t enough that we bought a house out from under a poor 94-year-old woman, then tore it down to remodel, but now we were making a TV programme about it – sacrébleu! Read more

Oct 7

Marine Fossil, El Torcal de Antequera (Spain) | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Signs

Signs. That life on earth has existed for a very, very long time. While on tour last summer we visited my cousin in Antequera, Spain. He brought us to see the stunning limestone landscape at El Torcal de Antequera. El Torcal is over 150 million years old and is home to some fascinating records of marine life during the Jurassic period. The chubby little finger belongs to my cousin’s young son – a sign that human life is set to continue for at least one more generation. Read more

Oct 3

Suburban Dublin at Night | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Nighttime

Before we set off on our great adventure around Europe we lived in a top floor apartment in suburban Dublin. Our high vantage point gave us a glorious view. The apartment buildings were set around a courtyard and the fact that you could see into the lives of others in their apartments always reminded me of Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”. Beyond our complex we could see the ruins of an old castle and the glittering city lights, and all with the calming and imposing backdrop of the Dublin Mountains. I loved it. Read more

Oct 1

Zucchini / Courgette Muffins | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Zucchini Bread/Muffins [Recipe]

It’s feast or famine with this self-sufficiency malarkey. For months on end you produce hardly any food at all, then come the end of August you have fruit and veg coming at you from all angles. There are wild mushrooms to be foraged, apples and damsons to be picked and vegetables to be harvested. Read more

Sep 25

White water rafting, Zambezi | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Endurance

There’s nothing like testing a marriage right at the very beginning. These photos of us white water rafting on the Zambezi were taken on our honeymoon. I had recently recovered from a serious back operation and was clinging to the raft for dear life. Arūnas was a little braver, resulting in him being thrown into the rapids on more than one occasion. At one point he grabbed my arm just as I was about to go overboard, saving me from almost certain injury. We endured the rapids and the marriage is still going strong. Read more

Sep 22

Apple & Anise Jelly | www.myfoododyssey.com

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Apple & Anise Jelly [Recipe]

There is something incredibly autumnal about the smell of cooking apples. The sweet, caramel smell is as comforting as the blanket you might throw over your knees now that the evenings are getting a little chilly. It is a smell that immediately transports me back to my youth, when stealing apples from an orchard near our house was an autumn tradition. We had plenty of apple trees at home, but somehow the stolen apples were far more enticing. Read more

Sep 10

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Into the Woods

I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to put to rout all that was not life, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

I first encountered this quote from Henry Thoreau’s Walden in Dead Poets Society, one of my favourite films during my formative years. It struck a chord with me at the time and perhaps planted the seed that has led me to the life I live today. Read more