We Love Cooking!:
TIME

A quick run down of a few of the best food related sites I visited this week:

Ever seen the movie "Waitress"? If you haven't seen it, you have to check it out, it's especially appealing for foodies, as the lead actress concocts her own pie recipes naming them with quirky title's such as "I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie" and "Baby Screamin’ Its Head Off In The Middle of the Night & Ruinin’ My Life Pie"- Recipes here!

Donna Hay, one of my ultimate food heroes has a fab recipe section on her website featuring some of what I would consider the best food photography out there. Check it out!

Evil evil evil desserts...

I keep forgetting to bookmark this site but it's a pleasure to have to catch up on- Nigel Slater in the Guardian

Speaking of Nigel fancy winning a copy of his new book?

Via @BrettMirl an interesting piece about Bento lunch boxes on the New York Times site!

Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes- Now these look so delicious- Definitely on my to-do list!

Music to cook by:

Hi guys,

Just a quick note to say I have been so busy with the band that I haven't had a chance to stick up any new recipes this week, but the hard work has paid off as I am so proud to announce that we just went number 1 in Ireland!

Thanks so much for all the support!

Cheers,

Donal

Ps. New post coming on Monday!

Just to let you know, The Good Mood Food Blog is now on Facebook! Following in the footsteps of my bloggie friend Lorraine and her restaurant/blog facebook page I thought it was high time I added this blog to another social network! If you're on Facebook make sure to add yourself as a fan!

Also I have added two recent press pieces to the "About Me" section, which feature a bit about the book and the blog.

Over and out!

Happy Easter everyone! Do you dig my chicks? They're just hatched, so if the one in the back looks like it hit the beers last night, give him a break!

Unfortunately my planned posts didn't exactly happen this week, I've been travelling quite a bit so trying to find time and a good internet connection ultimately worked against me. But I do have these cheery colourful Easter cupcakes for you today.

Simple Fondant Technique

This is more of a technique post so if you're looking for a basic cupcake recipe click here.

You will need:
A large rolling pin.
A fine sieve.
Icing sugar.
Ready to roll icing.
A variety of food colouring.
Butter cream frosting.

1. Slice a chunk of the ready to roll icing, which can easily be found in most supermarkets, and add a drop of food colouring.
2. Using your hands knead the colouring into the icing until you get a nice even colour.
3. Repeat until you have a variety of coloured icing.
4. Sieve a little icing sugar over a work surface and the rolling pin.
5. Roll out the icing to about 1/4cm in thickness.
6. Using a glass or cookie cutter about the same size as the surface of the cupcakes, make circular cutouts from the icing.
7. Spread an even layer of butter cream frosting over the top of the cupcakes.
8. Place a circle of the icing in your hand, turn the cupcake upside down and place on the center of the icing.
9. Turn the cupcake up the right way and using your fingers gently smooth the icing all the way around, until you have a nice even surface.
10. To get rid of any excess icing sugar and to achieve and nice even finish on the icing brush with a little water.

Just a quick note to say that after being lazy for a long time, I have finally updated the recipe archive with all the latest recipes and I have have a lovely fancy logo to link to my twitter. Enjoy! :)

We're finally into the last week of shows for Peter Pan in the Tivoli theatre. Our last night is Sunday so make sure to check it out before it's too late! Here's a few pics from the show, and yes I am wearing tights!

Hello!

I had planned all sorts of recipes this week but with rehearsals the plan has basically gone in the bin! However the lovely Lorraine from Italian Foodies has tagged me and asked me to share 7 things you may not know about me. So here goes!

1. I was studying for a degree in Media Arts after school, but dropped out to join a boy band! I think my parents nearly had a heart attack!
2. I generally eat a healthy diet, but I have a major weakness for Bacon flavored crisps, and lots of crispy Bacon!
   
3. I'm addicted to American TV shows, Dexter, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Nip/Tuck, Arrested Development, Prison Break, Samantha Who, you name it, I've seen it!
4. I am violently compulsive when it comes to my music collection, I have everything labeled alphabetically, by year, artist, genre, and even mood!
5. I am obsessed with Asian cuisine, I can read books upon books upon books about it! One of my biggest dreams is to finally visit and eat my way across the continent!
6. I'm a huge believer in positive thinking. In the right head space you do anything!
7. I read cookbooks in the toilet and I don't care!!!

1. The lovely Kay and her Kayotic Kitchen!
2. Culinary Cory!
   
3. Darius T Williams!
   
4. Polly Pierce!
5. Deborah!
   
6. Eating Club Vancouver!
7. Jo!

Yes it's me! I'm back blogging after a unplanned little break- which tends to be the norm for most bloggers from time to time. Sofie and I spent the long weekend in Gothenberg, Sweden where we stayed at her lovely mom, Ebba's house. It was a such an enjoyable little break and with a solid 29 degrees from Monday to Friday, it was definitely the kick start to my summer.

To my friends and family, I'm not exactly known as the most outdoors type person, and Sofie was even shocked when I changed a tyre over the weekend, but lately I think I'm developing a bit of a love affair with nature. After to moving to the apartment last year, which is situated right beside a main road, I have a constant and real urge to just be out in the silence of a park, to walk on a beach, or even to go for a quick walk around the cliffs. Needless to say I was really impressed when Sofie introduced me to the two lakes behind the house. They were straight out of the story books I used to read as a kid, complete with Jetty and Ducks and Reeds.

The water was way to warm not to get in, and even though the sun had just set I hopped in for a quick dip. There is something about the water in lakes that always seem to give me an eery, ominous feeling, but being caught in the moment meant I was oblivious to any potential late night, lake creature attacks!

Following what has become one our little Swedish summer traditions, we bought 2 kilo of prawns and 1 kilo of shrimp, which you can buy over the counter cooked from the local "Fisk" shops. It's the perfect sort of food that you can eat masses of, but keeps you occupied enough, to ensure that you can continue eating without feeling full! Does that make sense? Well bottom line, you can eat as much as you want, as messily as you like! Sounds like the perfect combination to me. We ate our way through the two bags with a little help from Sofie's dad who took us on a quick boat trip through the archipelago of Sweden's west coast.

Well Monday came all too quick for me and not even a phone call to the boss could guarantee me a longer stay. So after one last dip in the lake it was back on the one o'clock Ryanair flight to Dublin.

One of my most favorite things to do after enjoying a great meal out, is to recreate it from memory! Normally it doesn't exactly go to plan, but this one really worked out and it's now a classic here in the mood food kitchen. I have a terrible habit when I eat in a restaurant that when I find my favorite dish, I tend to stick to it and order the dish over and over again! I know variety is the spice of life and all that but when it tastes so good I'd feel like I was missing out if I didn't order it.

This is an adaptation of a classic dish on the menu at the Wagamama chain of eateries, I think the original recipe includes shrimp, chicken and squid but this is more of a vegetarian version. The eggs added add the end of recipe gives a great texture to the noodles!

Mood Food Yaki Soba

1. 4oz of Ramen Noodles
2. 1/2 Cup of Oyster Sauce
3. 1/3 Cup of Water
   
4. 1 Tablespoon of Salt
5. 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
6. 1/2 Head of Broccoli Finely chopped
7. 1 cup of finely chopped Chinese Cabbage
8. 5 Baby Corn finely sliced
   
9. 1 Small Onion sliced into half moons
10. 5 Spring Onions finely sliced length ways
11. 2 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped
12. 1 Red Pepper finely chopped
13. 2 Eggs lightly beaten

Serve in a big bowl and enjoy! You can garnish the dish with thinly sliced pickled ginger but that's optional.