Canada Day (July 1st) party

 Oh Canada! We had a wonderful gathering at our house yesterday to celebrate the upcoming Canada Day.  We held it this weekend so as not to clash with next weekend's 4th of July celebrations.  Our friends pulled out all the stops and we had poutine, shrimp broil, maple leaf jello shots, pineapple from their own yard.  And that is not mentioning all the effort they went to in red and white or Canadian shirts etc. We ordered extra large pizzas and made pancakes and canadian bacon and when we were cleaning up there was not a scrap of any food left over, everyone enjoyed it so much and there was just the right amount for everyone.  And then of course there was the moosehead beer, the Labatts and my famous perennial signature party cocktail Falling Water (a refreshing cucumber vodka sprite beverage).  Photos below capture all the FUN perfectly. 

 

St Patrick's Day in Paradise

I had a wonderful day yesterday hosting a little get together celebrating St Patrick's day here in Key West.  I hope the photographs below capture the fun of the afternoon/evening.

Food! An important component of any party.  I don't want to show off but I was pretty happy with the cheeseboard/charcuterie I put together (top left pic).  We also served lots of chips and dips (guac, salsa, blue cheese).  And up in the pic up the right, top of the pic is my famous sweet chilli philli dip - let me know if you want details of it, it's seriously amazing.  Bottom right is the Guinness chocolate cake by the talented Ms Sheila Cullen.  Thanks Sheila!

Look at all that green! Seriously cool outfits and effort made by everyone

There's my work colleagues in the bottom right.  We all threw on a pair of sunglasses for fun for the pic :)

Drinks!

I've no photos of all the great beverages.  Mandy and Roberto bought a hot hot hot jalapeno margarita drink which everyone enjoyed.  Then we had the usual beer, wine etc.  And I made Falling Water cocktails - which is a zingy vodka, cucumber infused refresher.

Pizza!

I don't have a photo of the large pizzas either.  But as my sister Enid says, yeah Amy we know what pizza looks like.

Such a fun celebration. Thank you everyone who brought their fun self to celebrate a little bit of Irish life with me!

Christmas festivities

This weekend was a lot of fun doing some stuff that I do every year around now - it's feeling really nice and Christmassy!

 

On Saturday I helped Enid out at a cocktail party she holds every year.  Below are some pics of the food and drink.

 

Salmon blinis with cream cheese and sweet chilli sauce - or taste explosions as Enid and I call them!

Drinks table

Jameson & Ginger

Gin & Elderflower Tonic

Vodka & Tonic

Prosecco

Beer and Wine

My South African aunt's amazing party food - Cream cheese & sweet chilli sauce with melba toast.  I know!  It doesn't sound much but you would not believe how great this tastes!

 

Devils on horseback

Mini Quiches

Prawn cocktail

Prawn toast

Chicken in filo

Mince pies

Enid, Svetlana, Elsie and myself enjoy the festivities.  We had fun catching up and it was a really lovely night.

 

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Sunday!

 

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to meet Alice for Basket Brigade.  This is our 7th year taking part in this wonderful event which helps 190 families in Dublin at Christmas time.  Enid has done a super blog about it over on Renovating LPA, read it here!

 

Afterwards we went for our traditional Post Basket Brigade Pitt Bros lunch - which was fab as always.  It's always nice to see Alice before the madness of Christmas and New Years.  This year the conversation was mainly centred around our Key West trip and all the wonderful things we did there.

 

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On our way to Pitt Bros I passed a building site, that I swear when I saw it I nearly fell off of my bike!

The controversial ESB buildings are gone!!!

I am still in shock!  After causing so much debate for so long, it's crazy to think that they have been knocked down - literally overnight.  And while I really didn't like them, well certainly not that style in that particular location, I am sad to see one of Dublin's examples of Mid Century Modern architecture gone.

 

The streetscape looks so different with the buildings gone. 

Do you see the building right down the end of the street, marked by the green arrow? That's the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street where yours truly was born!!