Ballymaloe Day 13: It’s oh so quiet…

My mind wandered back into its awake state and I gave a little stretch. Both eyes flew open and I was marvelling at the lie-in I thought I had just had.

Looking at my watch, it turned out that I actually hadn’t slept-in at all.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at 7.40am I hopped out of bed and wandered down the corridor to our communal kitchen. I’m in a lovely building called the Coach House which is styled like a country cottage and nestled in the heart of the cookery school.

There wasn’t a sound to be heard, and while I busied myself with a cup of green tea, I heard the doves fluttering around the courtyard and a cockerel belting its heart out.

After a while, one of my housemates emerged (she’d been out blackberry picking!), and began working on a fruit compote and syrup.

Eagar to not waste the day, we cleaned up, recycled and went down to feed the hens (who knew that they were a fan of ramen noodles?!).

Mission complete we rustled up some sausages and tucked into a lunch well-deserved while watching copious amount of Friends (We were on a break!)

(The resident dog came to visit!)

The day began to slip away and with feelings that I’d never sort myself out, I took an hour out while it was quiet to expertly file my forest of notes and recipes – if you ever do the course here in Ballymaloe, you’ll definitely know how I feel right now!

Week 6 will see us having two exams: our technique, where will have to demonstrate skills in front of examiners for example, jointing a chicken or sharpening our knives, and a herb and salad exam where we’ll have to identify and write recipes for various greens.

It’s strange, I feel so out of the loop here in the Ballymaloe bubble – it’s odd to think of all the other stuff that’s going on – I expect more cabin fever to settle in, in a few weeks.

That being said: with no major plans for tomorrow, I’m looking forward to having another day to kick-back and relax, with a sprinkle of studying in between.

Here are some of my favourite food blogs:

• Donal Skehan’s Food Blog
• Ethna Cooks Everything
• Fiona’s Japanese Cooking
• I can has cook?
• Like Mam Used to Bake
• Nessa’s Family Kitchen
• The Ravenous Couple
• The Rebel Kitchen
• The Silver Chicken
• Wholesome Ireland