Moran's Oyster Cottage

It is amazing how much advice you get when you travel to Ireland. There were no end of friends and acquaintances recommending hotels, restaurants and pubs. Now, Jeff and I are not so foolish that we ignored the recommendations we got.

Apparently, County Galway is the place for oysters (yeah, you would think being on the Atlantic coast?) and about 10 miles south of Galway City is Moran’s Oyster Cottage a 200-year-old thatched cottage set on the Kilcolgan River. Moran’s holds an annual oyster festival and has a reputation as the place to go for the best oysters in Ireland. The place is stuffed with celebrity photos (Pierce Brosnan included!) Oysters reign supreme here!

Not caring for oysters myself, I really didn’t care but Jeff did! So off to The Weir in Kilcolgan did we go! Moran’s lived up to its reputation and I haven’t seen Jeff looking so self-satisfied since the last time he was at Sharky’s eating grouper! I had the soup and a nice crab sandwich! Yes, if you go to County Galway, take my advice and find Moran’s!

The Merry Wives of Windsor

I had a rare treat on Wednesday. Polli, Loretta, Anna and I attended a production of the Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre on the banks of the Thames Theatre.

We had great seats thanks to Polli in this open air theatre and the rain held off for a few hours.



Christopher Benjamin played an excellent and witty Falstaff and was backed up by a wonderful cast including Serena Evans and Sarah Woodward as the merry wives!

National S'more Day

Today is National S'Mores Day in the USA. If you ever went camping as child or especially if you were a Girl Scout (as I was!) you are very familiar with S’mores! A s'more is a traditional campfire treat consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a slab of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker. They were first mentioned in the Girl Scout Handbook in 1927, which stated they were inspired by Loretta Scott Crew's campfire treats. S'more appears to be a contraction of the phrase, "some more". Some people believe that the name originated from people who were so busy eating that they did not have time to speak in complete sentences, or that their mouths were very full.
How do to make one? A marshmallow is skewered on the end of a long stick and held just above the campfire until its outer surface starts to brown, char, or even catch fire (depending on how you like it!). Once hot, the inside of the marshmallow becomes soft. The marshmallow is quickly pinched off its stick with the waiting graham crackers, one of which has a piece of chocolate on it (usually a Hersey chocolate bar). Ideally, the heat from the roasted marshmallow partially melts the chocolate into a gooey mess. Making s'mores is so popular that supermarkets often carry graham crackers, marshmallows, and huge chocolate bars in the same shelf section during the summer months. Now get out there and celebrate!