ITALIAN FOODIES

I'm sitting here watching the Ireland v Italy rugby match while writing this post, I can't believe how much time has flown by since the last time we played Italy, the princess was tiny. Those were the days when I had time to make cakes, wash my hair, have a drink;) Due to the fact that most of Bru's family abandon us for the summer to Italy, the babysitting services are a little bit limited. It's so bad that myself and a friend went for a walk today with the 2 bambinos and stopped off at the pub for a couple of long neck Bulmers "al fresco" - we were just trying to help their sales and bring their shares back up;) The princess occupied herself by playing with a Budweiser beer mat - please don't call Social Services:)

There is good news though, the MIL(mother in law) has returned in all her bronzed Italian glory baring gifts and more gifts for the princess, the majority being shoes. This child had a pair of D&G shoes at 2 months - I kid you not, they came in a take-away foil container!! Italians take their shoes very seriously even if it is a 10 month old baby. I brought her for her development check up today and the doctor was more interested in her shoes than her hearing:) She has a bigger wardrobe than me at this stage. I'm still waiting for my gift but somehow I think it's just going to be a lecture on my parenting skills;) I'm finished if she finds out about the little Bulmers episode but knowing how small Limerick is she probably will!!!

I've mentioned before that the majority of the Munster team actually eat in La Cucina quite regularly, we even have a special menu for them. It's great when they eat in as there is a great buzz around the place, Paul O'Connell, John Hayes and Alan Quinlan called in the other day on the way back from the airport after the French match. One minute there was no one in the shop and the next it was full of awe struck ladies. They eat a lot of pasta as part of their diet so our place suits them perfect, I even convinced Paul and John to buy some of my new tapenades - that's how good they are;)

I haven't posted a meat recipe in a while so here is a really tasty method for cooking rack of lamb from Olive magazine.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• rack of lamb
• olive oil - 2 tbsp
• Dijon mustard - 4 tbsp
• garlic - 3 cloves finely chopped
• rosemary - 3 tbsp finely chopped
• flat parsley - 4 tbsp finely chopped

WHAT TO DO:

 - put the racks in a dish flesh side up and make slashes into the flesh with a sharp knife to allow the flavours to penetrate.

 - In a bowl mix together 2 tbsp olive oil, mustard, garlic, rosemary and parsley. Season well and rub the mixture all over the lamb.

 - Cover and marinate for an hour or the whole day if you are super organised. We did the hour, organised doesn't exist in the Italian foodie dictionary!

 - heat the oven to 200 degrees, put the lamb in a roasting tray and cook for 15-25 mins depending on size of the rack and how you like it cooked. We eat ours medium rare.

 - remove from the oven and leave to rest for a few minutes and serve with either parmesan mash or patate arrosto and broccoli.

BUON APPETITO!

P.S. There is a new blog at the other side of the blog world which I'm really enjoying at the moment as Maryann cooks really nice Italian dishes. Check it out www.findingladolcevita.blogspot.com

p.p.s I've been told that people have problems loading the site sometimes, me thinks this my fault as my photos are too big but I don't know how to make them smaller - loser:) so I've cut down the posts to 4 per page. If you want to see older posts just click on archive section on the right. When I grow up I want to learn how to use a computer:)