Celtic Trip (Day 2) - Killarney

We woke up bright and early the second day to explore more of Killarney National Park. We got a quick breakfast at the hotel and set off towards Moll’s Gap (Kenmare in the south, I’ll use the above map to try and give you an idea)


Stopping off at the Muckross Friary, we walked along the lower lake and up to the House. Everything was so green, even this early in the spring.


The lake has a beatuiful view and the sun was just starting to get really bright.

We didn’t go into Muckross House, but it has really nice gardens and surrounding areas.


We walked south along Muckross Lake to the Torc Waterfall and up the Mountain a bit.

By then my feet were getting really sore as I hadn’t expected this to be a hike, so we took a carriage back to the Friary. There were only 3 horses working that day, but our driver said in the summer there are more than 30 that just run the Muckross roads (not including downtown Killarney)

Continuing our drive up the main road towards the Kenmare exit we stopped at Ladies’ View and another viewpoint.

I finally saw some sheep upclose!

And then it just got rediculous. Up until this point we really hadn’t seen too many sheep pastures close to the roads. So I didn’t understand why people were warning me about having to watch out for the fluffy animals. Then we got into the mountains. There are sheep everywhere. Literally just walking up the roads. We were told they were ‘street smart’ so they would get out of the way. But still unnerving.

Gorgeous views in the hills (can you spot Mike in this pic?)




In Kenmare we got some Fish and Chips and a Fish Pie. Both were very yummy and filling. Afterwards we walked around a bit. There weren’t many shops open so we decided to take the bar tenders advice and try to drive down into the Black Valley and through the Gap of Dunloe, since we didn’t have 5 hours to drive the Ring of Kerry.



We got some bad directions and missed the turn twice (also due to the fact there were no signs) Finally, we made it into the valley. This drive was the most fun, single dirt road with tons of twists, so you had to go slow and if you met anyone you basically played chicken to see who would pull over first to allow the other car to pass. I don’t know how tour buses did it. Thankfully we only met 3 or 4 cars.


More loose sheep going up and over the hills and cute thatched roof houses. The view from the top of the Gap of Dunloe was so amazing. These pictures don’t do it justice.

Celtic Trip (Day 1) - Killarney, Ireland

Last year Mike and I travelled to Greece for our vacation. We chose that destination because he has some Greek in him and the prices looked really good for the off-peak time of year we were looking at.
Similarly, I have Irish in my background and for the end of Feb, beginning of March, the prices were fantastic.
We were a little worried about the time of year, because even during the best months it can rain every day or be very overcast. The luck of the Irish must have been with us, because we didn’t experience any rain! (ok, maybe a sprinkle but nothing I would count as rain)
Here’s how our trip went…..

On Feb 26th, a Saturday, we left Minneapolis to land in Dublin (via Atlanta). The flight went fine, albeit I had a kid directly behind me who kicked my seat a lot and I didn’t get any sleep. We landed in Dublin on Sunday morning, local time 6am. The plan was to rent a car and drive 3 hrs south/west to Killarney where we would be staying for 3 days.

I was a little worried about driving on the left hand side of the road…. and I heard sheep were a big problem. The teeny tiny rental car we got was stuffed with our suitcases and we started the drive. I made the first right hand turn fine and navigated the roundabouts (Europe’s way of controlling traffic instead of stop lights) The motorway down was fine. We really didn’t see too many sheep and were beginning to think we had just been fooled. Then our GPS system took us on a stop to Cashel.

“I see an Old Thing!” we cried as we rounded a smaller road and saw the abbey in the distance.

The Rock of Cashel is a castle converted to a chapel in the south of Tipperary Co. It was a very good introduction to the history in Ireland. There were lots of carvings and the high seat on top of the hill gave you a beautiful view of the town (pretty windy and loads of crows though!)

We stopped for brunch at a restaurant called Ryan’s Daughter. They had a wonderful Irish Breakfast, with sausage, beans, eggs, ham, toast, and black and white puddings! Wow, are those puddings good! If you ever have the chance to have them, do. Don’t ask what’s in it. If you don’t like it, then it doesn’t matter what’s it’s made of and if you do like it, then it doesn’t either :)

On the remainder of the trip to Killarney the roads started getting smaller. Only two lanes and on either side there was a rock wall right to the side of the two foot shoulder. I was getting pretty jet lagged at this point, so I honestly don’t remember much except that we were going fast, Mike was a little scared and I didn’t hit anything.

The town of Killarney is much bigger than I had pictured. Lots of tall squished looking buildings. We had originally booked at the Arbutus Hotel, but due to a death in the family, we were re-booked to the Killarney Royal Hotel. It was very nice, the staff helpful and a great location.

Driving in we saw a big rain cloud passing our destination. We parked the car with a light drizzle drifting down. By the time we checked the parking the clouds had past and bright sun came out. In the car park we got stuck a bit because some angry local couldn’t get the parking meter to work. He started pounding on it and yelling to get his change back out. One of the funniest things ever.

The town sits next to Killarney National Park, which is 26,000 acres of land and water. So after we got settled in the hotel we put on some walking shoes and checked it out.

There are tons of beautiful streams, fields, lakes, and trails in the area. All accessible from the down town area.

We walked out towards Ross Castle and passed some deer which were looking a little haggard from the winter. I seriously thought this one guy (with the single horn) was going to charge me.

We made it out of the woods just fine and saw the castle. Very pretty with the setting sun.

Walking back, the green mossy woods were still and silent. Later that night we got some pub food and of course, beers. Pictures to follow later…. Still getting through the 400ish photos on the 3 cameras we had :)

Edit: some extra photos from the meal of Fish Pie and Steak Stew:

Out in downtown Killarney

Making caramels and hard candies has been something I was never good at. Until we got a candy thermometer. It makes it much easier to watch the temp and get the perfect consistency.

I tried it with these caramels and they turned out so yummy! I love the combination of the sugar and the salt. I used pink peppercorns, lemon flavored sea salt, and Himalayan pink salt.

Pink peppercorns have an almost citrus flavor, you need a bit more of it to taste than the salt. My personal fav is the himalayan rock salt.

Salt and Pepper Caramels

1 C. butter

2 1/4 C. brown sugar

2 C. cream

1 C. light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

rock salt or crushed pepper (2 tbsp of each)

Line an 8x8 baking pan with buttered tin foil so the edges hang over. In a heavy sauce pan, melt butter, add sugar, cream, and syrup. Mix well.

Stir mixture over heat until it is a boil. Lower heat to medium. With a candy thermometer boil mixture at a steady rate until the heat reads 248 degrees (about 40-50 minutes)

Remove pan from heat. Stir in vanilla. Quickly pour caramels into pan. Cool and cut into squares (place in refrigerator to speed up cooling and make for easier cutting, after it comes to room temp)

Press squares into rock salt or crushed pepper until the tops are coated. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Store up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Makes 64 small squares or 30 large.

Dolmades

I used the Grape Leaves!

Back in July, on my parents farm, we harvested (prolly the last growth) of grape leaves from my mom's vines. While this was a little late in the season for the picking, they still looked really nice and I was very excited to have them in the winter to use with the large amounts of hamburger we tend to have in our freezer.

I rinsed the leaves in plenty of water to remove any salt from the canning (very gently!) I'd say 80% turned out with no rips or tears. The larger leaves work the best, so next year we'll have to make sure to pick the big ones!


To make dolmades you simply mix ground beef (or lamp or pork or a mixture!) with uncooked rice and spices. Wrap the mixture in the grape leaves, like you would an egg roll or burrito, it's about a table spoon per large leaf, don't overfill.

Then placing any ripped leaves on the bottom of a dutch oven, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and place the wraps on top. Cover with about an inch of water, and then cover again with a bowl or large plate. You want the rice to cook and the beef to steam, but not in to large of an area, ideally with some weight on them. This worked for me with the dutch oven and a glass plate, but you could also use a small sauce pan with a tight lid I would think.

After about 30 minutes the water will have evaporated and the dolmades will be cooked.

I didn't add enough spices to the meat mixture, so make sure you make it very flavorful, with oregano, mint, dill or another green herb. Lots of things could be used as a spice.

The leaves were so tender and just fell apart with a fork. Can't wait to try these again!