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.