Garden Party

Recently the annual garden party took place in its usual setting of An Grianán and what a fab day it was for it! The setting was beautiful and even more so in the sun, the food was delicious, the pig on a spit was a grate touch, I felt extremely pampered having cakes along with strawberries and cream being brought to me in the garden while I watched the entertainment of the fashion show, the Irish dancers and the Hickeys make and model competition in which the fascinators showed incredible creative talent. The day was rounded off with a stroll through the new and improved wall garden, a live band and, singing in the bar. Can’t wait till next year!

 

 The Setting

The Stalls

The Food

The Raffle & Lucky Dip

 

The

Entertainment

What were you favourite parts of the day?

For more information contact ICA head office at office@ica.ie  or An Grainán at admin@an-grianan.ie

Frittata

While in college and living away from home my mother gave me a gift of the ICA Cookbook.  I must say that my favourite recipes are the strawberry sablé and the roast chicken with onion and thyme stuffing.  On a recent stay in An Grainán I took the Cookbook with me and decided to give the courgette and feta frittata a try.

What I needed:

6 eggs

2 tablespoons of cream or milk. I chose milk

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of oil

1 small onion. I added in half red and half white

1 courgette

100g of feta cheese. I chose goats cheese for extra flavour

1 hand full of mint

I thought that I had all the ingredients but then realised I had forgotten to pick up the mint, and so a trip to An Grianán Garden Center was necessary. This was great as I now had the mint for my recipe and the extra bonus of a plant for my garden to be used for future meals and drinks.

Here's how i got on

Well what can I say about this, it was delicioso! The recipe itself is also incredibly versatile and can be made to suit meat lovers and vegetarians. The possibilities for flavour combinations are endless. This dish is simple to make and is perfect for a lazy lunch or dinner.

What Ingredients would you add if cooking a frittata? Comment and share :D

This cookbook is available in most bookshops 

For more information email ICA head office at office@ica.ie or An Grainán at admin@an-grianan.ie

Tissue Art

On my last trip to An Grianán, I saw people walking around with some beautiful photo frames. To my surprise, these very professional looking photo frames were made with tissues and PVA glue! They had also made a canvas picture and a candle using tissue. Having seen how effective tissue and PVA can be, I signed myself up for the next class.

In the first half of the class we made a canvas picture and a frame. We were given a selection of tissue paper, a blank canvas and frame, PVA glue, water and some paint brushes.  In the second half of the class we were given a white candle, our choice of tissue and a heat gun.

Here is how I got on

Canvas process 

Photo frame process

Candle process

 

This class was amazing. It’s easy; it’s effective and having bought some materials myself after the class, cost effective. Its the perfect addition to a bedside locker or coffee table.

Give it a go yourself :)

For more information on this workshop email An Grianán at admin@an-grianan.ie