Chef Darian’s Blog

On the Eve of Christmas

One day left at the Castle! It has been an eventful four months and is coming to an end rather quickly. As it turns out, my last day will be Christmas Eve and it will be a 12 hour day. Turkey, ham, stuffing and the works are on call for the lunch and dinner that day. I should mention that when they cook turkeys and hams for a banquet, it isn’t just a few. There are two chefs that prepare and cook upwards of 20 turkeys and hams at a time. They lay them out on long counters and rub down the hams with mustard and the turkeys get seasoned with salt and pepper. Then they are wrapped in foil and placed in giant ovens or steamers. Huge vats of stuffing (I called it dressing and they all laughed) are made with fresh bread crumbs, dried cherries, apricots, celery, onion, carrots and lots of butter. It should be mentioned that every meal during the Christmas holiday ends with a Christmas Pudding (fruit cake type of sweet). Mince pies are also quite popular. I used to eat Mince(d) Meat Pie when I was a kid. I think it is a Yankee thing. Mom used to make the pie filling and let it sit in the frig for a while before making the pies. If you dont know what is in it, it might be best not to know!

I went to a Christmas party last night! Loads of Great Craic! Guinness and dancing were the stars of the night! I like the Guinness but can only end a night with three pints. It causes much grief the next day if I drink much more than that. The party was put on by the banqueting department as a way of thanking everyone for their hard work during the holiday season. Since I never worked in banqueting I was the party crasher! The best kind of party to attend.

One last thing, I promised pictures of the 300,000 Euro Christmas tree from France that adorns O’Connell street. Here it is in the four stages of color. It changes about every 30 seconds. Merry Christmas.

Three Short Weeks

Can you believe that Christmas is only three short weeks away! Wow! And to think when I arrived here way back in August that Christmas so far away. Not any more. With Christmas just a few short weeks away that means that my time here is almost over too. This trip was supposed to be an educational trip….it has been, but not for the things that I had intended, but educational just the same. I will wait till it is over to summarize my trip.

The weather here has changed too. It went from damp and cool to damp and down-right cold! High’s in the 30’s and lows in the 30’s. Oh, did I forget to tell you that it is damp too! Yuck. And the motto in our house is ‘Why waste energy on heat!” But I turn it on at night in my room. It is funny how the Irish don’t seem to mind or even notice too much how the weather is. I guess they are accustomed to the weather reports of “wet and cold”. Back in Texas, the weather forecaster is the bread and butter of the television station. I guess because Texas has so much weather. But here they seem to be an afterthought. As if to say, “in case you are from another planet, it is going to rain today and will be cold.”

On O’Connell street the shoppers are lining up. I had the day off yesterday and the sun just happened to be shining. I decided a trip to the City Center would be great. I could swing by my favorite coffee shop, catch this mornings International Herald Tribune, find a table in the sun and catch up while watching the people. Great Craic! (that means great fun in Irish, pronounced Crack) With the economy in shambles I didn’t think that there would be too much going on….it was insane. There were really a lot of people out on the streets and everyone had a shopping bag. So maybe this retail season won’t be as bad as they let on!

Looking forward to the new year I have to get my own life organized never mind the economy. Being gone from home for so long and being self-employed can be a bit tricky to work out. I have the TV show, All the Right Ingredients, to look forward too. For those of you that don’t know about it; it’s a Houston show starring the Dining Diva, Molly Fowler. Me being the Tonto to her Lone Ranger. You can find out more on her website, www.thediningdiva.com. It is all about making your life easier while in the kitchen and using local (Texas) products. I was also hoping to get my personal chef business up and running. If you know anyone who needs a personal chef………

Well, back to work. I am working with the Cooking Depot on the schedule for next year……that sounds so far away. you can check me out on their website – among some other great local chefs!