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| I made myself a dinner of sauteed garlic butter calamari and hake. My vegetables were on a separate plate. |
Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland “
“Ireland has won the Eurovision Song Contest more than any other country
– a record seven times (1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996). It was
also the first country to win the contest three times in a row.”
When we envisioned spending three months in Ireland, we imagined we’d be dining out at least once a week, spending time at the bar meeting new people.
But, the reality of this area is that driving on these narrow winding roads is foolhardy and dangerous.
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| Whenever John, the fish guy, had fresh scallops available, we’d purchase two 12-packs. |
Many local drivers whip through the bends and curves of the local roads at high speeds, making driving particularly risky after having a few drinks at the pub. Early on, we decided it didn’t make sense for us to take risks.
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| Scallops we cooked, sauteed in butter, garlic, and olive oil. Delicious! |
No, there aren’t many, if any, police cars on the road patrolling for drivers after they’ve had a few drinks, but equally, animals are wandering in the streets, particularly sheep. Avoiding them and the fast-moving cars and trucks on the narrow roads didn’t leave us feeling enthused to venture out for dinner very often.
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| Chicken dinner at Tigh Mheaic, a great pub, and restaurant in Carna, dined out with friends Lisa and Barry. |
Add the fact that the cost for dining out at no less than Euro 89.35, US $100, for the two of us with a few drinks, taxes, and tips, made dining out nonsensical for us. Subsequently, we only dined out an average of once a month during our three months in Connemara.
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| Scallops, potatoes, blood pudding, and salad at Tigh Mheaic. |
After having lost vast sums of money due to non-refundable cancellations on prepaid bookings after my recent heart surgery, we’ve had to be extra careful on purchases of all types.
Instead, we chose to focus on the best possible ingredients for cooking our meals, including a regular influx of fresh fish and seafood which has been more readily available in Ireland than anywhere we’ve lived in the past almost seven years.
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| Smoked salmon salad at Glinsce House, located five minutes from our house. |
Our meals have been easy to prepare and spectacular. I can’t imagine eating scallops again when I now know what “real” scallops look and taste like. Also, the grilled calamari has been such a treat and will be hard to duplicate.
As I prepared today’s post discussing it with Tom, we decided to head out this afternoon to O’Flaherty’s for one last order of fish and chips for him and some uncooked calamari rings for me to sautee and add to tonight’s plate of salmon, cooked spinach, cabbage, and broccoli.
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| My breakfast included scrambled eggs with onion and cheese, smoked salmon, and tuna pate from the Connemara Smokehouse. |
Often readers write to us requesting recipes and meal suggestions. The ease of my low carb, starch-free, grain-free and sugar-free way of eating only requires a well seasoned and prepared source of protein along with a few low carb vegetables, cooked/and or raw.
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| Tom’s fish and chips from John’s takeaway restaurant at the far end of Carna, O’ Flaherty’s Seafood. |
In most cases, I can cook my meals and Tom’s in less than 15 minutes. Often, lately, he’s taken over preparing his meals, especially since he was cooking for me for so many months.
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| Tom’s massive portion of deep-fried hake from O’Flaherty’s Takeaway. |
The majority of the time spent in the kitchen is the cleaning and prepping of the vegetables and an occasional salad. We’ve recently taken a break from side salads after discovering fewer preservatives are used on lettuce in Ireland, including organic lettuce that doesn’t keep very long. Surely, sometime in the future, we’ll reintroduce them to our meals.
Today, a little more packing is on the agenda. Yesterday, we bleached and washed all of our white clothing, which we often do before packing. We’ll be in good shape when we’re ready to leave at 10:00 am on Thursday.
Have a pleasant Sunday!
Photo from one year ago today, August 4, 2018:
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| Impalas (male is shown here) and warthogs seem to get along well. For more photos, please click here. |