Hello all! Hope you are doing well and had a happy Halloween Last time I left you, we were about to have another set of visitors come into town. They made it safely, and we showed them around town. While they took a few days to go over to Galway, I went out with a friend of mine for Halloween! And of course, I had to dress up, and I dressed up as Dorothy! I figured, I’m all the way here from Kansas, and I even have the dog, so why not?! My friend dressed up as a Mexican Sugar Skull, her make-up was AWESOME!
I know, I know, I didn’t braid my hair, but I was having such a good hair day!!!
Also, here in Ireland, they have a Halloween tradition that we don’t have here. On Halloween, they eat something called Barmbrack (now shortened to Brack) . It’s sort of like a fruit cake (see image below). The Halloween Brack traditionally contained various objects baked into the bread and was used as a sort of fortune telling game. In the Barnbrack were: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin (originally a silver sixpence) and a ring. Each item, when received in the slice, was supposed to carry a meaning to the person concerned: the pea, the person would not marry that year; the stick, would have an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; the cloth or rag, would have bad luck or be poor; the coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich; and the ring, would be wed within the year. Other articles added to the brack include a medallion, usually of the Virgin Mary to symbolise going into the priesthood or to the Nuns, although this tradition is not widely continued in the present day.
I tried some, and I wasn’t a big fan… ha ha.
So while I was showing our friends around, we happened to step into a tore Fallon & Byrne. And you’ll never guess the awesome stuff I found!! ALL AMERICAN FOOD!
And… Christmas Decorations are up already in Dublin!!
We’ve also been lighting our fire a lot lately, Keeley wasn’t a big fan of the fire…
And, this week, I’m preparing for my trip back home for Thanksgiving!! I’m so excited to see everyone!!!
As an early Thanksgiving to everyone, here is a new recipe I tried.
Baked Salmon and Lentils
Original Recipe from Gimme some Oven
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil, divided
- 2 salmon filets
- Half a red onion, diced
- 2 cups cooked lentils
- 1/2 tsp.ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. ground corriander
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 Lemon Quartered
Preheat the broiler. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminium foil, then mist with oil or cooking spray.
Place salmon fillets on the baking sheet, and brush each with about a teaspoon of oil. Season liberally with salt and black pepper.
Broil for 4-5 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly (cooking time will depend on the thickness of your salmon).
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium skillet over medium high-heat. Add the diced red onion and sauté for 2 minutes until partially cooked. add the lentils, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and salt, and stir to combine.
Cook for an addition 2 minutes or until the lentils are heated through. Remove from heat and stir in fresh cilantro.
Serve lentils topped with the fresh salmon, sprinkled with the juice from the lemons to taste.
Hope you all enjoy.
And hope to see a few of you soon! 🙂
From Cornfields to Celts 