Galway and the Misty Cliffs - Day 3

Saturday, July 12 -- Ireland, Day 3.  Picking up from our travel journal:

"We slept even better on Friday night and rose and showered before the children in order to get on the road to Galway in a timely manner. We stopped at Tesco again in order to pick up some of the breakfast sandwiches the man at the deli had told us about the day before--basically a baguette with sausage, hash browns and black pudding (heavy with sesame seeds) and butter and ketchup.  Filled our tummies, but still a bit unusual to our taste.  

"We drove first to the Cliffs of Moher, seeing some really beautiful scenery on the way. 

 "Entrance[to the Cliffs] was 6 Euros per adult, and sadly it was drizzling and foggy and we caught maybe one glimpse of the cliffs and sea as the fog cleared momentarily.  Being a Saturday, it was quite busy with tourists nonetheless, and our two water girls were happy on our walk.  

[This is the clearest it got . . . we could just make out a cliff.]

[The very good trail was set down into the earth with a rock wall protecting pedestrians from the cliffs.]

[We read later that this tower was constructed as a visitor center in the 1970s.  It was closed and clearly undergoing maintenance, but the new center was built into the side of the hill in 2007.]

[Where the trail ended, a herd path continued onto some farmland, with instructions to enter at your own risk.]

"We spent a fair amount of time in the visitor center afterward learning about the history of the cliffs and interacting with their technology. 

"We snacked on our Tesco treats for lunch in the car on the way to Galway.  Saw some really beautiful scenery, but it was a long drive for the girls, and of course they wouldn't sleep in the car.  We arrived at the Abbey View Bed and Breakfast and had some tea after we moved in, then decided to walk around Glencoe Abbey and its golf course across the street for a bit.  Returned, met the lady of the house, and she was happy to adjust our room from two twin beds to a "king" plus pack n play after she directed us to the town centre for dinner.

[A train-car-turned-restaurant behind the abbey.]

"We drove to Galway to park at the cathedral as she [our hostess] directed, losing our way only a little, and the kids were maddeningly finally sleeping just as we parked!  We took them out anyway and Ruth slept for a while in the back pack while we walked along a sweet little canal path into the town centre.  

[lovely swans!]

[Galway town centre]

 "John and Gemma became enraptured with a street performer juggling chainsaws and lying on beds of nails...he controlled his crowd well, undoubtedly manipulating others to give him lots of $$ by giving Gemma 5 Euros and another little girl 10.  We finally made our way to an Italian restaurant on a side street where we wrangled the kids while we had a delicious 10 Euro special apiece--garlic pizza bread and spaghetti bolognese for John and salad and shepherd's pie for me.  

[This street performer extricated himself from a straight jacket while on a very high unicycle!]

"Walked back and paid for keeping the kids out so late as they were difficult to put down, but Gemma certainly enjoyed sleeping in the big bed next to daddy and mommy.  :) (She did not so much enjoy having to apologize to our hostess for breaking a terra cotta cat.)"

We gave our hostess a nice tip, feeling badly about that cat.  She was just charming, though--her house was an ordinary family home with lavish gardens and worn-out furniture.  (We shared the hall bathroom, as well.)  I wish we had taken a picture of the crisp linens and lavender on each pillow which greeted us when we first entered the room.  It was our smallest room of the trip, but comfortable and we certainly enjoyed the experience.

Slow Cooker Honey Baked Chicken

Are you ready for some falling-off the bone sweet/savory comfort food for fall? That photo is kind of ugly...It was very tasty yesterday, though! Here's a little food-break from the Ireland adventures. 

Everyone probably already knows about this dish. Mom used to make it, and another church friend gave me the recipe in my bridal shower cookbook. I've seen it called Honey Curry Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken and Honey Baked Chicken, which is most familiar to me. I love it because it's very fast (no chopping of vegetables necessary!), easy to leave it to bake and quite delicious.

It's been one of my favorite dishes to make for company on Sunday afternoons. Usually I leave it in the oven on time-bake and start my rice cooker before we leave for church, because it switches to "warm" automatically when the rice is cooked. At least three times, though, I've made some mistake in programming the oven and come home to raw chicken. Yikes. Since it takes an hour to bake, that's lots of time for cheese and crackers and small talk while everyone waits for their food! Then recently when I was scrubbing the oven knobs, I did something funky to the little clock knob and I just don't trust it anymore. So, yesterday I decided to try putting it in the crock pot for just us. I'm never looking back! Here's how I did it.

Notes on ingredients: the recipe originally called for butter, but I tried substituting coconut oil this time and loved it. Also, the cuts of chicken can be flexible (you can even do a whole chicken, cut in pieces). I halve the recipe for our little family.

Slow-Cooker Honey Baked Chicken

6-10 chicken thighs with skin removed

1 stick butter or 1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup honey or brown sugar

1/4 cup mustard

1 teaspoon curry powder

Turn slow cooker on high and measure all ingredients except chicken into it. Go do something else for 5-10 minutes while the butter/oil melts. ;) When it has melted, whisk the sauce together. Drop in chicken pieces, turning once to coat. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours (or probably on low for 8-10 hrs, but I haven't tested this!). Serve over rice.

K is for Killarney - Day 2

John wrote the trip journal for Friday, so I'll let him take it away!

"We got a decent "night"s sleep at the Travelodge in Limerick; I woke around 7:30 to the sight of Gemma standing beside me; we let Ruth and Gretchen sleep until 9am to catch up. After getting our suitcase in order, we headed over to the supermarket across the road and picked up some breakfast foods - Corn cereal, bars, and bananas, etc- and headed out in the direction of Killarney in County Kerry.

[Interesting doorknobs in the middle of doors . . . we saw this a lot!]

"We drove along mostly rural roads [N23 for most of the way] the way throgh several small towns, stopping occasionally to give the girls a break. We drove briefly around the Adare Manor House outside Limerick . . . 

[We actually turned into the Adare Manor somewhat by accident, and asked the man at the gate if we could just do a circle in the driveway and come out.  He was so very friendly, replying something like "Certainly!  But would you like to drive through to view the house, as well?"  At first I thought this lovely building must have been it, until we got to the photo below!]

"[We stopped] at greater length looking around a small castle [Desmond Hall]. 

[This castle was smaller and more in ruins than King John's Castle, but we caught the latter half of the brief guided tour and the children enjoyed running around what was open for exploration.]

[I took Gemma to use the restroom in the visitor's center and chatted with the man at the desk a bit.  So very friendly!  He directed us around the other side of the fortress to look for ducks in the wee river.]

"We made our way down through Abbeyfeale, Castleisland, and Farranfore, finally arriving at Killarney around 1pm. We found a parking spot at a shopping area near the National Park and bought our lunch at O'Briens on Beech St. We got it take-away and walked over to the park, where we found a rather large playground, to the great delight of the girls. 

[I had to wonder what was meant by "Kate and Pippa Jeans." ;)]

[Plaques at the entrance to the park.]

[We also stopped and poked our heads into the cathedral.]

"After eating up our lunch and playing for quite a while, we started the journey home. After a [relatively] easy drive home, we stopped by the supermarket again and picked up some uber-cheap cookies and treats, and some chicken from the deli [also heavily discounted,being late in the day] and took it back to our room. The girls went to bed at about 10pm,... still not quite in sync with the time, but we're getting there.