Kasha Connolly, Creative Director at Hazel Mountain Chocolate, shares her ideal foodie weekend with Ciara McQuillan
Baker and chocolatier Kasha Connolly, Creative Director at Hazel Mountain Chocolate, shares her ideal foodie weekend, her favourite restaurants and where she loves to shop …– a cooking and travel show celebrating local flavours and global stories told from Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way – I’ve become more intentional about how I spend my weekends.
They’re now about family time and self-care; it’s my chance to escape from the buzz of filming and work. The ideal weekend for me is all about slow mornings and food. It starts with a sweet and savoury breakfast in one, crème fraiche banana pancakes and Polish-style scrambled eggs with shallots and smoked sausage, with a platter of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes or peppers. I love when breakfast stretches lazily into lunchtime, ideally enjoyed in cosy loungewear. A late lunch or early dinner at Ballynahinch Castle, followed by a forest walk, makes the perfect escape. I love getting my fresh vegetables and fish at the local farmers’ market in Kinvara. I usually squeeze in a quick visit toMy weekend winds down with a movie on the projector, surrounded by snacks like pickled herring, smoked meats and dreamy vegan cashew cream cheese fromOn a Friday night, I head to The Universal in Galway. This spot channels that intimate New York vibe – cosy, fresh, made-to-order dishes and a good wine list that includes a stellar Spanish Albariño. The atmosphere is distinctly different; it transports you right out of Galway. My go-to dish there is lemon sole with brown butter and hazelnuts; a simple yet multi-layered dish that complements this gorgeous fish. My ideal Saturday is all about finding a balance between creating and relaxing. With my new show keeping me busy, I’ve started improvising more in the kitchen at home. But when I get a chance to go out, I love visiting Moran’s on the Weir in Kilcolgan for late lunch. It’s got this wonderfully cosy vibe and serves some nice seafood.For breakfast, my dream spread would be inspired by Nordic Polish traditions that include fresh sourdough brown rolls, smoky cured meats and some pickled herring. I have yet to find the spot for that type of breakfast!in Dublin is always a standout for its wide variety of Irish and international produce. Their selection of speciality vegetables, like unique mushrooms you’d struggle to find elsewhere, is a real treasure. I enjoy visiting places like this because they often offer something unexpected, something you don’t see in every other shop, likein Maynooth for its interesting varieties of seasonal produce, like Lobo apples, which are my personal favourite. And I’m always drawn to their herbal teas. There’s something so special about finding a unique offering; recently, I’ve started stocking Swedish Moomin tea, which features interesting ingredients like bilberries and chokeberries., who provides such high-quality chicken. I think what draws me to these places and products is their distinctiveness, something a little out of the ordinary that makes the shopping or experience more special.As the chill of winter sets in, my most indulgent combination is chai rum with ginger beer, both stocked at the online, creating a cosy, festive cocktail that feels like a hug in a glass. I often add crushed sugar with cinnamon to it. Now, I take it to the next level with my 42% Cuban cacao milk chocolate. With its unique caramel and banana notes, it doesn’t just complement the drink, it transforms the experience. It’s irresistibly seasonal.A no-bake mince pie cheesecake like no other! Shaped into a charming little triangle using buttery petit beurre biscuits, it’s a uniquely delightful twist on a classic mince pie, which also looks adorable.The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
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