Golden yellow cake

A childhood memory of rich yellow fluffy cake, the simplest form without any flavouring and decoration. Actually pretty easy to make, I used cream, as I have to use up, to replace butter and milk. 

flour 180 gm
1tbsp baking powder

egg 2

cane sugar 50 gm
 
honey 50 gm

a pinch of salt

Basically whisk every together and pour into a paper lined baking tin, bake at 170˚C until cooked through, around 35 minutes. 

Roast duck

First attempt this year to have crispy roast duck. The bird is seasoned and skin treated with boiling water, vinegar honey wash and dried in the fridge for 3 days. 

Unfortunately, the coal is far too hot and the skin is burnt before the meat is barely cooked, need to work on it again. 

The meat is super delicious inside. The left behind goes into next day’s lunch of runner bean and savoury herb soup.

Pollock

On the last day of the camper trip, fisherman caught 3 pollocks. Cleaned, salted to brought home to cook. 
The best way to cook this cod family fish is to wrap in baking paper, with olive oil and rice wine, bake at 200˚C for 20 minutes, super juicy meat. 

The left behind is used in a tomato soup the next day.

Green house

Well into late October, plants inside green house are still going well, peppers turning orange, tomatoes turning red, basil flourishing, edamame ready to collect. Indeed with enough day light, a lot can be grown in Ireland over a very long period. 

Ireland west coast Connemara tour 3/3 Inishbofin island 2026年10月20日 最精彩的行山徑

Took the ferry from Cleggan harbour to Inishbofin island, one of many inhabited islands on the west coast, we are ticking them off one by one.

Half an hour ferry to this island with 3 hiking routes, 2-3 hours each. We can only do one and followed recommendation to do the west coast one, after scenery and geology. 

 
Without much expectation, it turns out to be the best hiking route in Ireland! Easy to walk path, mostly on grass and no sharp incline, the view changes in every turn in that 2.5 hours.

From rugged coastal views, to lifeless brown black blanket bog, to immense green field with loads of stones, then some giant stones on the path and lastly cliffs and wild rugged coast again, fascinating. 

 

趁天氣大晴，又到西岸遊玩，乘小輪到小島Inishbofin ，西岸由南至北有多個有人居住的島，以畜牧和漁獲為經濟來源，現在加上旅遊收益。

 

 

 
選擇一段八公里的行山徑，知道有山有海風光，沒有特別期望，走了兩個多小時，山路好走起伏不太大，意外是地勢變化極大。

起初是青草地白綿羊海灣風光，明媚舒服；然後是高地一望無際啡黃色的沼澤地，了無生氣；過一會兒回復青嫩草地，但遍地石頭，沒有任何動態，令人聯想到月球表面；再走一段路，見到巨石擋路，完全不同的石質，突然在這地面出現；然後又回復青草地海灣岩石山崖⋯⋯

八公里路程中，風光變化之大，又處處都獨特，實在美好，覺得是愛爾蘭最精彩的行山徑。

看資料，十八、九世紀因為漁獲豐富，小島人口上升到千五人左右，十九世紀中的大饑荒，餓死和離開過半，然後人口一直下跌，近年因為旅遊業增生，而穩定有百五名全年居住的人民。
 

Ireland west coast Connemara tour 2/3 Omey Island

Nearby is Omey island, a small island off the coast of Clifden, where everyday on low tide, you can walk across flat sand to the island. It is a nice experience to be wandering on such an immense space. On a fine day, the contrast of colours and textures, far away mountains, green trees, deep blue sea, rippling sandy surface … is gorgeous. 

 

Stay the night at Clifden Eco campsite right next to water and a beautiful small sandy beach. 

 

We tried shrimp netting, simply sinking a shrimp net with fish head as bait overnight, indeed got a few shrimps. 

Ireland west coast Connemara tour 1/3 Cleggan harbour

When the sun is out for a few days, we pack the camper and off to the west coast, again, but a different part. So many bays and coastal areas there that deserve a slow thorough visit. 

This time on the first day we stay at Cleggan Harbour, a working harbour. We encountered in the evening and then the morning returning small fishing boats, from emptying their pots for crabs and lobsters. So happy to be able to buy direct from fishermen, they ask for very modest prices compared to market prices. 

Crab claws meat on small ones are sweet and tender, on bigger ones are a bit dry, better to cook with scramble eggs. 

Enjoyable cycling on small lanes along the coast, and walking on empty sandy beaches.

2026年10月15日 海鮮大餐

 

初冬，天陰又常下雨，貝類海產的旺季，我的至愛，算是補償。

約鄰居到來吃飯，說明有蠔、蝦、蛤和魚，問清楚樣樣都吃，又肯動手剝殼等，才安心邀請。

他是一間大藥廠的總管，認識的愛爾蘭人中少數什麼都吃的，尤其是海鮮，如蠔，很少本地人愛吃、肯試吃。又如蝦，他從未吃過要自己剝殼的鮮蝦。都樂於嘗試，且絕不手慢。

工作壓力大，太太亦如是，又常出差，請保姆照顧兩名年幼女兒，陪伴兼接送上學，但並不包括煮食，即是他們仍然要負責三餐。

他坦白說，女兒們的早餐尚且容易安排，午餐在學校吃，晚餐，他常順手取公司飯堂午餐吃剩的食物，打包回家，翻熱求其吃飽就算數。

夫妻倆都事業有成，收入豐厚，女兒是心中寶貝，但愛爾蘭人，沒有美食的傳統，吃得好、吃得健康從來不是重點，嗚呼哀哉！

 

Surf clam light soup

The clam has been purged for a day before being sold, but still clean the shell and soak in salted water to remove last bit of grit. 
In a small pot of boiling water, add a few clams each time, pick them out once opened, repeat until finish. This ensure clams are just cooked, remove any unopened ones, and any possible grit in the soup, keep this broth. 
Sear onion, garlic and carrot, deglace with rice wine, add broth and finely cut potato for thickening the soup, simmer until soft, adjust seasoning. Cut up fresh parsley or coriander. 
Before serving, arrange clams in wide shallow bowls, bring soup to boil, add herbs and pour on to clams.