More at Ballymaloe

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After breakfast at the Gresham Metropole, we got a much better start off towards Ballymaloe since we now knew the direction we wanted to go. We arrived only about 20 minutes late, at 8:20ish, and we started off with a little b-roll of whatever we could find: chickens, pigs, geese, cows, glass houses (green houses), landscapes, etc. The weather wasn't as nice as yesterday, but the sun was still out here and there. Soon, the cookery students were preparing their dishes for lunch for the day, and we began shooting them as they scurried nervously around the two large kitchens. They each had 3 recipes to prepare plus another task to take care of. The dishes included two different pastas (mushroom and sausage), chocolate and hazelnut tart, scones with raspberry jam and clodded cream (whipped cream), a rhubarb pie dessert, and preparation of the salad and bread. The preparation went on for quite a while, and then lunch was served. Everything was really good, and then when I went with my little bread plate for just a little piece of the tart, one of the students quickly handed me a bigger plate before she proceeded to add to it a large piece of the rhubarb pie, a scone, and all the fixings. I didn't complain, and everything was of course very yummy. We did an interview with Darina Allen, who is an internationally known chef and the head of the Ballymaloe Cookery School (who gave us each signed cookbooks), and we then made our way to the Ballymaloe House, where we'll be spending the next two nights. Along the way though, we stopped in a field of rapeseed to take a few photos and shoot a little bit for the show. The yellow color was amazing with the blue sky. The Ballymaloe House is very nice, with lots of charm. It is apparently one of the most famous B&B type places to stay in Ireland. We checked in, settled into our rooms, and took a look in the gift shop before heading off to the small village of Ballycotton to try to get some good b-roll. It wasn't quite as idyllic as we thought it might be, so we didn't stick around too long, but on the way out of town we stopped at another little hotel and had a proper 4 o'clock tea as we sat overlooking the ocean and a few islands with a lighthouse. After tea we went back to the B&B and during our break I took a little walk around the back of the property where they have some really lovely paths through a wooded area and a bird sanctuary complete with turkeys and swans, neither of which seemed to care for me or wanted their picture taken. We had dinner at 8pm at the B&B, which was a 5 course meal that lasted just under 3 hours. Some of the memorable items were the chicken liver pate, a wonderful potato salad, lamb with several sauces, lobster cakes, potato and leek soup, and caramel ice cream for dessert. It was quite a pricey meal at about $100 per person I believe.

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Photos

my room at Ballymaloe
This is the Roof Room at Ballymaloe, where I slept for 2 nights

The Ballymaloe House
A wonderful and highly sought after B&B about a half hour from Cork, Ireland.

Comments

[Lori]

Expanded Menu
WOW Happy to see you digging a little deeper into the animal kingdom for your meal. The lobster cakes sound yummy. The chocolate and hazelnut tort would be just my kind of thing. Do you remember the Ovens of Britany from when you lived in Madison? They made a Chocolate and walnut tort that I loved. There was one by Tenny Park that your parents went to. You were probably too little to have cared. Remember when Mark wanted Banilla ice cream and got mad cause he got "squirrel" (swirl)