A Year In Redwood

A post earlier in the week by Clare over at An American in Ireland set me thinking.  Clare was commenting on how the food blogging community in Ireland has blossomed over the past 3 years.  There have been so so many achievements by so many.  And how true that is.  However, it also struck me how bad we, Irish, are at praising each other.

We need to learn from our American cousins!

So here is my tribute to the Irish blogging scene.

As I wrote recently this blog was three years old on 14th October and we had a very happy birthday present indeed, nothing could beat winning the Best Lifestyle Blog Award!   Over the last three years I’ve met some lovely people via the blog, twitter and facebook…. some of whom have become what I reckon will be lifelong friends.  There really are some great people involved in the Irish blogging scene.

I volunteered to help collate the nominations in the recent Blog Awards Ireland.  Not too tasking a job really, just putting nominations into a spreadsheet…. but….. when you’re over a third of the way through and something happens to the memory stick and you loose everything you’ve entered!  Well there were rude words and lots of frustrated curses at the computer.   So it was back to the start!

And this is where those lovely blogging people came to my aid!  Thank you to Wendy over at My Chef At Home who had finished her entries so she came to my assistance, and between Wendy and help from my neighbour I got the list finished in time for the deadline.

However, I have to tell you one of the biggest distractions when collating all those blogs was having to have the discipline not to go and have a sneak look see.

Gosh, there are some brilliant blogs!  I want to share with you some great blogs I’ve come across.  Some are new to me and some I’ve been following for a while.  Some bloggers I’ve met, others I am looking forward to meeting someday.

We are a land of dreamers, writers and beautiful imagery…. most definitely a nation of Saints & Scholars!

The view from Cork Screw Hill

For photography that will make you so hungry just looking at the images, it is no wonder they are regularly featured on the big food photography site Foodgawker.  Check out these three ladies… how they produce such amazing photos, considering that they lead busy lives with small children about!

• Anne Marie at Warm Snug & Fat
• Caitriona at Wholesome.ie
• Paula at Paula’s Kitchen Table

Well done ladies…. I envy your patience to style the photographs so beautifully!

This next blog, is just truly stunning photographs of nature.  I am so envious of the photographs.  What beautiful imagery of this lovely country of ours.

• Catherine at Foxglove Lane

For adventures in gardening and a great sharing of knowledge.  I am enjoying the fun, the recipes, and the learning with all these gardeners – some of whom I have never met.

• Ciaran at Bloom and Food
• Dee over at  Greenside Up
• Fiona Grows Food who has an allotment in my old home town, Malahide.

I have been known to have the occasional rant here on this blog, so it is good to know there are others out there who like to rant too!  So here I’ll share with you a lady and gentleman who like to tell it like it is!

• Maggie at Food Born & Bred writes so well about the way our food has, and is, evolving.
• The curmudgeon over at Head Rambles…. who does his best to hide his soft side 🙂

So saving the best til last well done to all these ladies who have achieved so much.  You should all be so proud!

• Colette at Cakes, Bakes and Other Bits… who got not 1 but 2 recipes printed in A Modern Irish Cookbook by Goodalls
• Lily at A Mexican Cook in Ireland who this year has taken a stall at the Honest2Goodness market and is selling Mexican
  food on line! No excuses!
• Lisa over at Nenagh Gal, who has just launched the most amazing on-line Isle Magazine
• Lorna, Irish Farmerette, who despite being one of the busiest people I know, joined forces with two other great ladies and organised the Irish Blog Awards this year!
• Mona (and Ron, aka The Chef) of WiseWords what with running a busy household, study, work and this year launched their book ‘The Chef & I’
• Sharon of FoodFancies who despite all the talk of doom and gloom and recession – has gone for her dream and opened her own cafe

This is just a little snippet of the Irish blog scene.

I could keep going on here forever.  If I’ve missed you out, please don’t be insulted.

However, if you’d like to spread some lurve … why not tell us all about your favourite Irish blogs?

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