Conor's Bandon Blog-Conor's Bandon Blog

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Update 19/09/2005: I had left out a few steps on this originally, so I’m re-publishing. I have a recipe for Meatballs with Tomato Sauce which is based mainly on Sophie Grigson’s recipe in her Meat Course Book. That is one of the best Cookbooks of the past few years but sadly is out of print now. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Meat Book is a pretty good alternative for carnivores. My family rave about this meal when I cook it and I have to admit to being partial to it myself.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Monday, September 19, 2005

Quack Quack Quack. Homeopathy doesn't work shocker

The BBC has an article on the most recent study of Homeopathy showing, yet again, that it is no better than placebo. Whilst I consider most alternative therapies to be rubbish being pushed by idiots and charlatans, Homeopathy has managed to inhabit that grey zone where one doesn’t want to completely dismiss it. This was down to a few factors - the fact that it has been around for a long time, the fact that they do seem to get some form of results and finally the desire of those who have followed a formal course of study to be officially recognised and to not allow actual charlatans to calls themselves homeopaths.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Sunday, September 18, 2005

Stormhoek not quite stonking but pretty damned good

My bottle of Stormhoek Sauvignon Blanc 2005 from the gapingvoid freebie arrived by courier this evening. I was going to wait until tomorrow to review but one dead linux server has fast-tracked the opening. It uses a screw-cap which I support 100% for Sauvignons. I am sick to the back teeth of getting ruined bottles of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé with their crappy corks. On opening, a bit of a sniff tells me that it is along the same lines as other South African Sauvignons and not like the Marlborough ones.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Knife Sharpening Fetish

I have a small obsession with getting my knives very sharp. I think it goes back to my uncle Frank who is a carpenter and who showed me how he sharpened his chisels on a wet-stone when I was a very small kid. From that point on, I was always trying to sharpen knives. I think my first attempt was using Frank’s wet-stone on a butter knife. The outcome on that one was very predictable.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Sunday, September 11, 2005

Otto's Creative Catering - One of our top 5 meals of all time

I’m not going to be able to put into proper words how fantastic the meal in OCC in Dunworley was last night. We just can’t stop talking about it. Perfection from start to finish. But first some history: When we moved to Bandon two years ago, I asked around about good restaurants in the area. The general consensus was that none of the ones in Bandon were great but that Otto’s in Dunworley was fantastic.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Sunday, September 11, 2005

Categories vs Tags

I’ve been using Wordpress Categories as sort of generic Technorati tags. When I remember, I add some post-specific actual tags. I haven’t really been that clear on the difference to be honest. Lorelle has a big posting on it. And I’m still confused! Top-tip: Don’t try reading anything technical after spending your lunchtime installing Oracle and testing ETL tools. Maybe I shouldn’t try setting up an automated backup of a subversion repository this afternoon after all.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Friday, September 9, 2005

Yeah, I know it's totally anal but...

I’ve always found the name of “Cafe Mao” offensive. I ate there once - mediocre at best. They are probably as good at cooking food as Mao was at growing it. In my little fantasy world, I’d love to set up a little stall outside of the Cafe and sell Pol Pot Noodles. Wonder how long before someone would complain? As ever, someone else expresses this thought so much better than I can.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Friday, September 9, 2005

Treffen 2005 in Bandon

The Honda Goldwing Owners Club had their annual Treffen in Bandon last weekend. It was a thrill to see so many fabulous bikes from all over Europe around the town. I could make a crack about the fact that the owners all seemed to be overweight middle-aged men, but as I now fall firmly in that category, I shall desist. They did a parade on Saturday afternoon and we caught them on the return leg as they headed back to the camp in the GAA pitch.

Posted by Conor O'Neill on Wednesday, August 31, 2005

My BlogDay Links

In the spirit of BlogDay, a quick selection from my favourite Blogs: Dave Barry - God of comic writing and links to stupid web-sites Venture Chronicles by Jeff Nolan - Nice wide range of mainly business related postings Bibliocook - Food topics from Irish person in New Zealand Ongoing - Tim Bray’s Blog. Mr XML always has something interesting to say. Red Mum - Everything a personal blog should be.