When the words ‘cheap cocktails’ are uttered, I’m sure most of us have some terrible memory of some rancid ‘hold your nose’ concoction served to us at an indecent hour and state.
Well, not all cheap cocktails have to be muck; punch is the ideal way to treat your guests to a delicious cocktail without it [...]

It has been a great summer so far for growing and the strawberries haven’t let me down. They taste unbelievably flavoursome and are the stawberriest strawberries I’ve ever tasted.
This is the first year I have grown the fruit and I had no idea that there would be such a bevy of them. In fact, there [...]

How much should it cost for a few swigs of fruit juice?
Last week at Dundrum, I craved something healthy to see me through the tedious torture of a day’s shopping in this oddly alluring hellhole. I got a perfectly fine smoothie, full of kiwis and various healthy fruits. But as I queued, I was nearly [...]

Last weekend, Jean, Rercy and I joined a group of lovely friends on a beautiful riverside picnic - particular kudos to Lou for her impeccable quiche - and had a most enjoyable day. I brought along some bottles of Crabbie’s alcoholic ginger beer, for which I was raised on everyone’s shoulders and declared a hero.
Eh, [...]

Big thanks to our pal Lar Veale of sourgrapes.ie, who has provided us with this guest post about a good wine for only €5 from Aldi.  I’m always on the lookout for the finest cheapest booze, so this tip is very welcome indeed.
Bushland Reserve Shiraz - wine for a fiver from Aldi
A €5 wine [...]

I religiously consult the ‘Going up - Going down’ section of the Sunday Times style magazine to keep abreast of what’s hip and what’s not. Naturally I don’t follow any of their advice but reading their checklist of what to wear, eat, listen to, buy and avoid is titillating stuff.
If I did follow their recommendations [...]

For years, I’ve heard people banging on about the merits of loose-leaf tea versus tea bags and I thought to myself - surely there’s better things to talk about.
It turns out there isn’t! Loose tea is so much better than bagged and I want to tell the world - I can’t believe it’s taken me [...]

Cocktail offers have suckered me twice now. Last year, I was at a friend’s birthday and we all piled into Alfie’s on South William Street for the €5 cocktail deal. After ordering a round, we found that the alcohol content was pretty puny. One person went to complain to the barman and was met with [...]

Water shortages are continuing to disrupt people’s daily lives. All throughout Ireland, but especially in Dublin, our clapped out water infrastructure has finally wheezed a sigh of relief and kicked the bucket.
On holidays in Croatia a few years ago, a friend’s father gave us his gorgeous island home while he went on holidays. Not before [...]

Our favourite wine blogger Lar Veale has started a new weekly column in the Sunday Tribune - check it out for great recommendations for affordable wines. He also suggests food pairings: handy!
Lar blogs about wine at SourGrapes.ie