Last October I had the opportunity to partake in Imen McDonnell's Lens & Larder Retreat. The magnificent Ballynahinch Castle & it's surrounding area was the location for our retreat. An ideal spot, as at every turn there was the opportunity to capture a perfectly beautiful photo. I've been meaning to share a few of those pics, but with cookery classes, columns & Christmas, I'm only now getting the chance to pop them on here for you to see. 

A retreat based around food styling & photography was the brainchild of the wonderfully talented Imen McDonnell. By her side were Cliodhna Prendergast of Breaking Eggs and her husband, Patrick O'Flaherty, the manager of the castle, and together they created the perfect food lovers retreat. Our teachers were Beth Kirby, of Local Milk fame, and Susan Spungen, who happens to be one of Hollywood's top food stylists. I learnt much from these ladies and thoroughly enjoyed simply being a part of their company for the few days. From mushroom foraging to candlelit dinners in the castle, we were truly spoilt. 

Susan demonstrating how to cook and style a galette. These delicious galettes were packed with mushrooms we had just foraged from the near-by woods.   

The Old School House, Inishlacken - our shoot location for day two of the retreat. 

Susan and Cliodhna preparing the lobsters for their photoshoot. 

Beth setting up one of our scenes for photographing. 

There were so many opportunities to photograph something pretty, but I loved the simplicity of the old stone walls of the school house, they made for a wonderful backdrop. 

Imen has indicated that there may be another retreat planned for the near future, so keep an eye on her blog for updates. Even three months on, I'm still mulling over all that I learnt on the retreat, naturally from Susan and Beth, who were ever generous with their teachings, but also through the conversations I had with my fellow Lens & Larder participants who each, in their own right, are inspiring creatives.  

As spring is approaching I'm eagerly awaiting what it has in store for me. I'm starting to get truly excited about my book, Apron Strings. It is now at the design stage and is being carefully handled by a very lovely designer. For me to even think that somebody is working on my writing and my photography, to bring it together as a book, is a wonderful feeling. I have had no column deadlines for the  past week so I've been, yet again, reading through the recipes and text. I'm pretty happy with it and am very much looking forward to my loyal readers, my family and friends reading it and giving me their feedback. I have one final photograph to take for the book, which may turn out to be my front cover. I had many different photographs which I thought would work well as a cover pic, but the designer asked for one more option. So tomorrow morning I'm going to get my hair done, slap on plenty of rouge and hopefully get the perfect photo. My hubbie will be the resident photographer for the day and I'm also hoping to have the children involved in some way. With any bit of luck there will be some sunshine peeping through the kitchen window, which always helps to make any photo look better.

I love sharing some pictures on Instagram so if any of you are over that way do let me know. 

On another note, and rather surprising to myself, I am actually sticking to my new year's healthy eating plan. Apart from loosing a much needed 7lbs, I'm feeling so much better in myself. I have more energy and my dreaded headaches, of which I get every other day, have certainly been decreased. I'm simply cutting out junk and eating lots of fruit and vegetables, as well as juicing each day. My free-range, organic eggs are also, as ever, a staple part of my diet. The time of day where I still find myself in need of some treats is when the kids have settled for the night. I would love to hear any tips or recipes you may have for me that work well for the munchies.

For lunch on a cold winter's day there is nothing as nice as a bowl of steaming hot soup but I find that generally I will make a pot of soup whatever the weather. I'm an avid lover of many types of soups as there is no easier way of including a few of my  children's 5 a day fruit/vegetable portions in one  meal. One of their favourites is Leek and Potato but while visiting Cork we had a delicious dinner at Ballymaloe House and the soup we were served was Potato and Fresh Herb Soup. I knew the children would love it and since we have plenty of spuds in the garden and lots of fresh herbs this is one dish that could  be rustled up very easily. 
During the Summer Holidays I had lots of helpers in the kitchen and garden so for this soup Jack was my assistant. He liked it so much that he actually posted the recipe on his own blog iJack O D before I had the chance to put it on here!!

Since starting this blog I have become so interested in photography, with food being at the center of my interest. I am constantly in search of food props and bowls, plates etc that might make my food look more enticing. These serches often lead me to local auctions with my Dad. However sometimes there are pieces sitting in my press for years that have awaiting their photographic début and this is the case with what I have photographed here today. 
This soup tureen, bowl and plate are part of a dinner service that belonged to my father's mother. I love having pieces on display or on my dresser that can tell a story. I never met either of my Dad's parents, as both of them died when he was a child, but yet I know so much about them. Even-tough my father is almost 81 he has a wonderful memory and can recall stories of events that happened many years ago as if it were yesterday. He is actually the last of his generation of the Robins family to be alive which I find so sad. So it is ever important that he shares his reminiscing with us. Over the past few years he has put pen to paper and scribbled down some of these stories and memories, which I feel is a fabulous idea and something that every family should take the time to do. How amazing to read a story when you already know and love the main characters.


Potato & Fresh Herb Soup

This recipe is adapted from Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course cookbook

Ingredients

50g (2oz) butter

425g (15oz) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm (⅓in) cubes

110g (4oz) onions, cut into 1cm (⅓in) cubes

2 tbsp of a combination of Parsley, Thyme, Sage and Chives, finely chopped

900ml (1½ pints) Chicken or Vegetable stock

125ml (4fl oz) Cream or Milk

1 tsp salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Method

1. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When it foams add the onions and potatoes, and toss in the butter until well coated.
2. Sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover with butter wrapper or paper lid and the lid of the saucepan. Sweat over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes
3. Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil. When the vegetables are soft but not coloured, and the freshly chopped herbs and stock, and continue to cook until the vegetables are soft.
4. Purée the soup in a blender or food processor. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add the cream or milk. Garnish with a few finely chopped herbs, a little cream and serve.

Donal setting up a shot for his Grasshopper Pies.

On Saturday I had great day at The Irish Food Bloggers Association Food Styling/Photography workshop. On hand to deliver plenty of advice were Sharon Hearn-Smith and Donal Skehan. Both really nice people with a shared passion for food and how to make each dish simply beautiful when shot on camera. Sharon is responsible for so many of the impressively styled dishes in magazines, cookbook, T.V. ads, films and many more. She also showcases some of her photos and recipes on her website Blueberry Pie and her blogs Friendly Cottage and Sharon Hearne-Smith. Donal writes the most amazing food blog - The Good Mood Food Blog and he seems to be appearing everywhere these days!!! I picked up really useful tips on setting up my photos for the blog and plenty of inside secrets on how the professionals get their food photographs to look so tempting. I'm looking forward to putting all their advice into practice.

Sharon brought these adorable Blueberry Pies for us to enjoy with coffee.

Sharon giving us an insight into the ad she styled for Cully & Sully.