Catriona

Chicken Liver, I'd stay away from... The really conservative version is nothing runny or rare. No shellfish. no lamb. No unpasteurised cheeses (although we've found a mature pasteurised Gouda that's surprisingly good and that's safe for pregnant guests). No foie gras. I'd think sea urchin is a no. It depends on her pregnancy how happy she'll be with the idea of food. My sister in law is having a really "sick" pregnancy and has a hard time eating much of anything. The easiest thing might be to ask her. Ruins the surprise, but at least nobody will be worried about anything!

Top o' the morning to you and your friend Anna, then!

Ahh si, always controversial!

At my wedding, we had a basil infusion (think mint tea) after the meal, which was delicious and unusual.

Yes, I've heard Ard Bia is good. Never been there - I usually just power on through Galway to get to the crab sandwiches at Vaughans in Roundstone. I think you're right, there's no relation to anything you could put together for yourself, so value for money is very much a relative concept. I'm clearly an example of one person who would happily fork over €150 for almost a full "work" day of access to one of the best Thai chefs in Ireland. And they're selling out, according to their website (10 per trail, max), so I'm not the only one! Wonder how they'd feel about photos...

Like shellfishfiend... The juices left over when you've eaten all the grilled prawns on your plate... prawn juice... yum.

Loved the photo of Vernazza. I was a fan of that foccaceria too... yum!

Andy - the Galway and Connemara tour? I'm jealous... Corinna - our "tour" starts at 9:30 with breakfast, moves on to a food demo (which may be more or less interactive, I'm not sure), and then a trip to Asia Market and then an Irish food shop (for advice as to how to substitute if the thai ingredients aren't available) then back to Saba for lunch & more cooking, I think... costs €150pp. Which I suppose isn't bad. The Galway and other trips, with all the transport etc involved, are more expensive, but then I suppose they're all inclusive and the best of everything, so they could be a good way of treating oneself. Andy could comment on whether he thought it was good value. Just had our office canteen's version of a thai soup, looking forward to Sunday's.

Found a Dutch Foodblog where one of the comments to the entry on the Masterchef finale refers to them - could you contact the poster or the blogger, maybe?

Have a vague memory of them being on last season's Masterchef Goes Large - yes, something with truffles, think it was one of the last programmes (the finals)... Sorry I can't be any more help other than to confirm the hazy memory! Would the BBC website be able to help, I wonder?

Does anyone know anything about Fabulous Food Trails? It all looks great, if a little expensive. My sister and I are doing their Thai day on Sunday, I'm really curious to see what it'll be like. It's based in Saba, a new Thai place on Clarendon Street - anyone been?

I'm fascinated at what's perceived as "real" Irish food... Have no quibble whatsoever with the Ulster Fry, but things like corned beef and cabbage, for example, really don't exist here - I've never once eaten it. Have, however, eaten bacon and cabbage - which can be delicious if done well. Tiramisu is probably as close to irish food as you get - it's a "favourite" dessert here, yet... nope, not Irish. Kind of like chicken tikka masala being the great British dish... What would you guys call Irish food? (and this is not snobbery, I'm just interested...) Edited to add: Shanachie (ugh, horrible spelling)'s menu is actually quite good! I have never in my life eaten coddle, though, and Boxty only once on a visiting friend's birthday when he really wanted to go to a restaurant that I would class as a theme park... (Gallagher's Boxty House in Temple Bar... shudder at the memory)

YUm! I'm going to make your cantuccini. One of my favourite snacks is cantuccini and vin santo... Do you have a limoncello recipe? I'm kicking myself, as on a visit to a friend's friend's mother (yes, one of those things) in Subbiano (near Arezzo), she first served us liberal helpings of her limoncello (in the middle of a baking hot afternoon) and then provided the recipe, in her old-woman handwriting on a page torn out of a schoolbook. And I can't find it anywhere! I had the leftovers of a bottle in a mineral water bottle in my freezer for years...

Clearly the solution! A revolutionary new idea... I'm going home to pretend my cold roast beef sandwich is from Nerbone. One of the best meals I had in florence was a melon risotto from Osteria Da'Benci, a staple for those trying-to-feel-special-on-a-low-budget student days. My kitchen was almost useless, so I had to eat out more than I would have wanted... Da'Benci also introduced me to carpaccio. It has a lot to answer for. Can we have a larder/fridge photo?

Via Faenza Internet Train! *dances around* I know where you are... Ok, sounding like a stalker. Do you not find that if you get the bread inzuppata it is almost too soft to eat tidily? Perhaps you take it home and eat it in a civilised fashion at your table.. It's making me very very hungry... (it's a great picture, by the way!)

Divina, I was a regular at Internet Train in florence... there's one not far from where you are - my street names in florence are deserting me... so that's where I'm picturing you.

yep, that's pretty stunning, divina!

Wow. Sounds good... Cashel Blue or roquefort for me.

I spent some time in Florence as a student, so will be following this with great interest. Where inrelation to the mercato centrale are you? I have fond memories of my first ever tagliatelle ai noci (it probably wasn't all that great, but still..) at Za-Za...

Had long conversations about trous normande with the (french) inlaws last weekend after the wedding (and not in relation to the wedding meal, which was delicious and light, thankyouverymuch!)... Brother in law was a stranger to the concept, however I had ben introduced to the idea (if not the trou itself) on my first visit to Normandy when I was 10. The True trou (giggle) is calvados...

I dunno, offcentre, my pancreas was trying to make an appearance...

Maybe in the spirit of eGullet they've given me your place. A girl can always hope. Am feeling a little silly: perhaps I should have sent in a long essay about how I'd have a great appreciation for his food etc, instead of saying "please give me a table for 2 at any time during the season, we'll drop everythig and come, just tell us when"... I'm hoping that my minimalist style will have swung it for me.

Oh no, poor Si... I was really hoping for a dublin egullet meetup in those hallowed halls... Maybe in 2008!

Do you mean Lebenkuchen? Love them. My favourites aren't the chocolate covered ones, though - the hazelnut stars with white icing do it for me. Oh yum. Our christmas eve dinner is the highlight for me - roast ham, mashed potatoes and red cabbage. With cumberland sauce. My mother is a god of the kitchen on Christmas eve. (We do german-style christmas, when christmas eve is the high point... tree with real candles, gift-giving late at night, midnight mass for some...)

I have just had houseguests, to whom we turned over our apartment while we went to stay in a hotel (it was for our wedding, we might have gone to a hotel anyway...) The morning they arrived, I did the biggest shop I've done in a long time - everything they would need for lunch and supper the day they arrived (nice light food - smoked salmon for lunch and hake for supper), and for breakfast the next morning. We were going away together the dasy after the wedding, so I only had to prepare for 2 breakfasts, 2 meals and probably a snack after the (lunchtime) wedding. Almost none of it was eaten, and they left everything to spoil in the fridge. Such a waste of good food, and a little stinky after almost a week. Grr.