In the mood: Spiced apple juice, mulled wine and canapes will put shoppers in the mood to part with their cash at a Christmas fair at Good Things Café and Cookery School in Durrus, Co Cork next Sunday, December 2nd (11am-4pm).
Cakes, puddings, local crafts, cookery books, and gifts for gourmets will be on sale. If it seems a bit far to travel for a shopping trip, make a weekend of it by booking in for Carmel Somers's Alternative Christmas cookery class at the cafe, which takes place on Saturday (€120 including morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and supper with a glass of wine). See www.thegoodthingscafe.com. Marie-Claire Digby
Chocolate habit
Worship in the Benedictine order emphasises faith and harmony, which may help explain how Glenstal Abbey came to produce Dessert and Liqueur Chocolate Truffles, a new selection of which is designed to "unite the tradition of monastic liqueurs with the modern chocolatier's skills". Seven monastic liqueurs from throughout Europe are used to flavour the dark, white and milk chocolate truffles. These include the well-known Bénédictine liqueur; Chartreuse, made from a secret formula; a mandarin-flavoured liqueur from the ancient monastic island of Lérins; and Glenstal's own, made from lemon verbena and other plants and herbs grown at Glenstal Abbey. Additional truffles derived from favourite desserts are included in the 12-chocolate box. As the monks say, the chocolates "are a delicious reminder that, in origin, monastic liqueurs were intended to be drunk in small quantities as an aid to digestion". Available from O'Briens Wine, Beer & Spirits, Mitchells Wine Shops, Donnybrook Fair, Mortons, and McCabes Wine Shop, all in Dublin; Ardkeen Quality Foodstore, Waterford; Gibneys Wine Shop, Malahide; Hollands Fine Wines, Bray; Kylemore Abbey, Connemara; McCambridges, Galway; Avoca Handweavers, branches nationwide, or online at www.glenstal.org at a special promotional price of €8.95 per box (plus post and packaging). A seven-chocolate pack is also available for €4.95. Joe Breen.
10 years on
Georgina Campbell's Ireland - The Guide 2008, recently published in its 10th edition, has grown to a great big doorstopper of a thing. But it will still, just about, fit in a glove compartment. County by county listings of the best places to eat, drink and sleep are based on the personal experiences of the author and her panel of inspectors. Ireland - The Guide 2008 costs €20 from bookshops, or from www.ireland-guide.com (with free post and packaging). Regular updates are posted on the website, and individual chapters - useful for single trips - can be purchased as PDF downloads. Marie-Claire Digby
Homespun brilliance
The Real Food Real People Cook Book is a nice gift idea from Clodagh McKenna, who has teamed up with SuperValu to produce a charity cook book filled with recipes submitted by SuperValu customers. There is an emphasis here on those recipes which have been lurking in Irish families for generations - so instead of a book filled with trendy recipes that you will never use, we have the tried and tested homespun brilliance of, for example, Barbara Flood's bread and butter pudding; Grandma Lindsley's gingerbread; Joan Cahill's chickpea and nut loaf; Marcella Costello's crab soufflé and John Handly's Daddy's marinade sauce. Available from SuperValu stores nationwide, costing €14.95, the book itself is substantial (at nearly 200 pages) and includes photos of the people who submitted their recipes. Proceeds go to local charities. Michael Kelly
O'Brien's have a small number of wines in its annual pre-Christmas fine wine sale from next Wednesday to Saturday, December 2nd. Among the bargains is the delightful early-maturing Rizzari Villa Amarone 2001 (down from €39.95 to €29.95); a ripe and succulent Pomerol. Ch Moulinet 2000 (down from €33 to €25); Moulin du Duhart 2004 (down from €24.99 to €19.99), the excellent second wine of the Paulillac fourth growth Ch Duhart-Milon; and Pierre Andre's elegant well balanced 2005 Meursault (down from €35 to €25)