“Today’s the day” the email in my inbox said.  No, it isn’t Christmas, but it feels like it!  Today is the reveal of the The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!  I’ve been counting sleeps until this day!  It is my first year participating in this global cookie exchange/ fundraising campaign and I jumped in the deep end on this one.  As many of you know, I am a total non-tech person.  A bumbling, stumbling, trying my best to sort it out person.  Hence I like to offer my ABC of YDP to disarm any critics.  It is quite a miracle actually that I have photos and text in one place.  But the kitchen is my home and I was loving baking these gorgeous Mint and Chocolate Chip Cookies to share with these three beautiful ladies, Marsha, Becca, and Laura.

Hubby loved them so much that he asked if he could make a video demonstration for me.  Even though it was frigid and dark outside the day we filmed, these cookies warmed our home and tummies!  And what really warms me is the outstanding work of Linsday and Julie to put together this massive campaign to raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Charity. Please God, this band of baking bloggers’ efforts will make life a bit sweeter for the children helped by this fundraiser.  It has certainly put a sweet note into our Christmas season.  I mean who wouldn’t want to receive three dozen home baked cookies at your door?

I received the most stylishly wrapped and terrifically tasting Rosemary Brown Butter Dark Chocolate Cookies (sprinkled with smoked salt I might add) from the fabulous Victoria. I’m the chocoholic in the family, so you can guess who tucked into them immediately!

 I was also treated to some delish Almond Ricotta Cookies from the amazing Iris, which my Hubby nearly devoured in one fell swoop!  They were an inspiration for me to bake one of Giada DeLaurentis’ recipes for the #WomanCrushWednesday I did for her recently.

Finally I received the lovely Cinnamon Pecan Toffee Thumbprint Cookies by the gorgeous Gill which literally saved my life.  I had been fasting for a medical exam and they arrived just as I was heading out the door to the hospital.  After the procedure the nurses and I had a feast in the recovery room, with a cuppa tea and all!

Thank you so very much, all three of you fantastic bakers!  I am super excited to have met you through this wonderful medium and I look forward to keeping up with your culinary adventures.

Now on to my contribution to it all…the preciously pretty, chocolatey chewy, deliciously dangerous and perky peppermint cookies!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks/8 oz) or 227 g of butter at room temp, if using unsalted butter than add a good pinch of salt to the dry ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar (315 g)
2 eggs  (free-range and organic if possible) at room temp
1/2 tsp peppermint
2 1/2 cups flour (362 g)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup cocoa powder (70g)
2/3 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate (104 g)

For the decoration on top:  A couple of peppermint candy cane sticks bashed up into crumbs (I did it in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin, but you could also do it in a food processor).

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the peppermint extract and the eggs (one at a time) scrapping down the sides of the bowl in between additions.

Sift the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder) and add to the mixer in stages, scrapping in between each addition.

Finally add the chocolate chunks.  You are only trying to get them mixed through, so you don’t need to run the mixer but only for a second or two.

In large spoonfuls, put the dough onto a parchment lined baking tray leaving enough space for them to spread out.  Bake for 10 minutes on the center rack of the oven.  Remove from the oven, leave on the baking tray and place the tray on a cooling rack.

Immediately (the cookies still need to be warm) sprinkle them with the peppermint stick crumbs.  After a few more minutes, carefully transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.  Make sure to completely cool before enjoying so that the candy cane pieces meld into the cookie. Then you get the nice chewiness of the cookie and the lovely crunch of the candy cane all together. Simply divine and oh so moreish!  The recipe makes about 24 cookies.

To get these babies packed up properly, I wrapped them individually in clear cellophane bags,  sealed them with a home stamped sticker, and placed them in a festive box.  I included the cards I had made when we moved from Dublin to London.  So the good Queen herself was on there guarding the lot of them! Oh and I added a candy cane too just for fun!

On the inside of each box lid I put a sticker with the ingredients, because I wanted all three recipients to know that the most important element added to any of my baking is LOVE!

 

I am normally super picky about people tasting my baked goods straight from the oven fresh. So you can imagine the stress I felt that they would arrive not only in one piece but also edible!  All of the ladies let me know when they received them and in fact they were grand! Thank goodness there are enough food bloggers on this side of the Atlantic to have a cookie swap, I can’t even imagine the concern I’d have about them making the journey to the U.S. from the U.K.!

I really enjoyed this process from start to nearly finish.  It isn’t quite complete yet, as I am looking forward to seeing the final roundup of recipes from all the bloggers which will be posted by this weekend.  It is these types of things that urge me on to overcome my ineptness with social media and technology.  I’m still learning, but hope that when I participate next year, I’ll have all the bells and whistles on my site.  Until then, thanks again to everyone involved.  And lots of love to my amazing daughter-in law Koko for telling me about this event.  She’s been doing it for a few years and now I see why she gets so excited about it!

Here’s wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.  I hope it isn’t too cold where you are, but if it is, fire up the oven and make these cookies!

Candy Cane Love and Kisses,

YDP

 

Monday was probably one of the most fun days of my life.  I had the Mancrush Monday with my all time fav Marty Whelan and baked some special mustache cookies.  Then I was like a little kid decorating them in all different designs.  He was so very kind and actually surprised me by reading out my email and recipe, whilst I was in the middle of doing the snapchat tutorial!  Here is the link to his radio program.  Just click on that day (Monday the 7th of Dec).  if you want to hear his utter astonishment at being chosen as a #mancrush  (you just have fast forward about 1 hour and 40 mins into his program).  But his programs are so good, I think you will enjoy a listen of the whole show!  So then, get this, he even posted before and after photos of the cookies and a link to my blog on his website.  Wowza!  Forget crush, I love this man!

Yikes!  Now I felt the pressure to get them packed up safely so they wouldn’t arrive a crumbled mess.  Then they might look like whiskers instead of an actual mustache!  However, it was a race against time as I wanted to get the dozen mustaches posted out to him as soon as possible!  If you know me, you know I prefer to have people enjoy my baked treats fresh out of the oven.  So as it is, I knew it will be a few days before he received them.  So I opted to decorate them with water icing and sprinkles instead of royal icing due to time constraints.  Concerned at how they would look when they arrived I decide to come up with a back up plan.  I packed up another dozen mustache cookies, but plain undecorated ones.  And I included a “decorate it yourself” kit with tubes of colored icing, sprinkles and icing sugar in a tub along with a wooden stick and instructions of how to mix it with water.

 Because I got a massive amount of new snapchat followers as I’ve mentioned, due to his radio announcement and some other followers giving shout outs, I decided to do a give away of the rest of the cookies.  I posted a written notice on snapchat, since the bloody video aspect was on the fritz Tuesday.  I was amazed and overwhelmed at the response!  So many fabulous requests and  I wish I could have given away cookies to all the folks who entered.  But the lady who won was literally over the moon with excitement.  So I mailed that lot as well, bubble wrapped and all.

The folks in the post office have started calling me the “cookie lady” because every time I show up there, that is what I am sending.  I’ve done cookie give aways before now.  Last week I sent off some of the Lemon Ricotta Cookies I made on the #womancrushwednesday to a lovely winner.   And I did another cookie giveaway after my Tuesday Treat field trip to Biscuiteers where I made some pretty elaborate cookies with royal icing, and took those in to post to the winners.  I’ve promised the staff at the post office I’ll bring some in for them before Christmas arrives.  Otherwise they have threatened to rip open one of my packages.

Yet, I am still in the cookie mode.  Next Wednesday the 16th will be the big reveal of the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap where I get to share photos and the recipe of the cookies I made and sent, and also show pics of the ones I received.  As well, the bloggers I sent my cookies to will be posting photos of them.  So hopefully those arrived in one piece.  And I have an important person I will be seeing this weekend and I wanted to bake cookies for them as well.  The only good thing in this situation is that they will be hand delivered, so no worry about cookies crumbling!

So time to break out the mixer…oh that’s right, I never put it away.  Always there at the ready!  Ah I have to give props to my sturdy Kitchen Aid mixer!!!  By the way, I actually have two.  One, which is still in America, and the other one I bought when we moved to Ireland.  I couldn’t bring the American one because of the different electric plug!  Big splurge to have not only one but two, but for someone who bakes as often as I do, it is a necessity!

So on to these amazing cookies I have baking today.  They are a Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie with a Maple Glaze and the recipe is from Chowhound!  I know I’ve shared a lot of pumpkin recipes with you already, but if you’re not a pumpkin fan, this might be the recipe to help you see the light.  They are chewy, flavorful and dare I say healthy?  Okay, they have butter and sugar, but the pumpkin and oats make this one a better choice than say a package of Jammie Dodgers!  And the oats help reduce cholesterol and the pumpkin helps aid in weight loss so it pretty much balances it all out! Tee hee!

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats (not instant nor steal cut)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée (not pie filling; about 1 3/4 cups)
For the glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk (not nonfat), plus more as needed
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions:

For the cookies:
1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange the racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.
3. Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until lightened in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
4. Add the egg and vanilla, return the mixer to medium speed, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the reserved flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add half of the pumpkin and mix until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and pumpkin.
6. Drop 8 dough rounds per baking sheet by the scant 1/4 cup, staggering them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.. Place the remaining dough in the refrigerator.
7. Place both sheets in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back and continue baking until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and around the edges, about 12 minutes more.
8. Place the baking sheets on wire racks and let the cookies cool on the sheets for 3 minutes. Using a flat spatula, transfer the cookies to the wire racks to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool to room temperature and then repeat with the remaining dough (you can use the same parchment paper). When all of the cookies are baked, set the pieces of parchment paper aside.
For the glaze:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until evenly combined. (You may need to add more milk by the 1/2 teaspoon if the glaze is too thick to drizzle.)
2. Place all of the cooled cookies on the reserved parchment sheets. Dip a fork into the glaze and drizzle it over the cookies in a zigzag pattern. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the glaze has set, about 20 minutes.

If you noticed the photo of the ingredients you might have seen that the two stars of the show are representing my Yankee Doodle Paddy moniker.  Libby’s Pure Pumpkin Puree is the number one seller in America.  And thankfully I can find it over on this side of the world (ahem, at a much higher price but worth it).  The Flahavan’s Organic Porridge Oats are also available in a local supermarket and it is the number one selling oatmeal in Ireland!   So this cookie could end up being a YDP signature snack!  Hmm, looks like from the photo I already tucked into one there.  But all in the name of quality control!  LOL!

Did you know that the phrase, “That’s how the cookie crumbles” has absolutely no concrete origin?  Sure, it can be translated into a few common idioms such as “that’s life” etc.  But there is no unified opinion on when it came into use and who first said it.  So many phrases we use in everyday vernacular can be traced to different forms of literature such as the Bible, Shakespeare etc.  But I tell you one thing, with all my cookies being shipped here there and everywhere, I’m coming up with a new version of the phrase.  On this day anyway, it’s gonna be “that’s how the cookie hopefully won’t crumble!”  Fingers crossed, I just want Marty Whelan, the winner of the give away, and the three foodie bloggers to all share photos of cookies, not crumbles!

Love from the biggest cookie monster of them all,

YDP

 

You need this Woman Crush Wednesday today.  I can just feel it!  The cold and wet weather is getting to you and the busy shopping malls with stressed out people have left you drained. But that is about to change.  Because today is your tonic!  Today we are crushing on one of the lovely ladies of the culinary world, and it happens to be the amazing Irish chef Clodagh McKenna!  Between her beautiful smile and her amazing Spiced Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup recipe you will be warmed up in a flash!  If you’re so inclined you can follow along on snapchat (username: blissbakery) and join in the lovefest!  The video story only lasts 24 hours, but the crush on Clodagh will last long beyond that!

Last week we were on the west coast of America for our #WCW and as we skip back across the Atlantic to my soul home, I felt it was time I let you in on a little secret.  I’ve met Clodagh on several occasions and she is one of the nicest people in the world.  Then again, maybe it isn’t such a secret.  If you’ve followed her at all on social media or on television (she has hosted numerous programs about Irish food) you’ve probably felt her essence.  Her openness and massive heart shine through.  I suppose what I find most incredible about her is her generosity and philanthropy.  She is involved in numerous charities even with her busy schedule of chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, cookery teacher and television star.

Though I am now living in London, I used to live in Dublin and worked near one of her restaurants.  I would stop in from time to time and then one day I finally introduced myself to her.  We are both Ballymaloe Cookery School graduates and when I realized that she was going to be speaking at the Ballymaloe Lit Fest (which I was also attending), I decided to take off my shy hat and say hello.  She put me at ease right away, and said she would be delighted to see me down in Cork that May of 2014.  I wasn’t able to attend her particular cooking demo (sold out) but she was so kind when we bumped into each other down there as we chatted away about the wonderful foodie weekend.  Whenever I saw her out and about in Dublin or in her restaurant she was absolutely divine, making me feel like I was the only one in the room.  One time in particular when I was treating a co-worker to lunch  Clodagh herself served us our food, sat down in the booth and visited for a bit.

The reason I point out her super special personality is simple.  There are loads of chefs, male and female, in this world who are all making great food.  But when you have someone like Clodagh who not only makes great food and but also makes you (the patron) feel great too, why then you understand her success.  Her career trajectory is literally flying !  She is now creating the menu for Aer Lingus (the Irish airline) and has been well received in America, having been featured on many television programs there.  My fav was the Guinness Cake she made on Rachel Ray’s popular show.  The sky really is the limit for Clodagh.  Her food is fresh, tasty, seasonal and sustainable.  In fact, I decided to do a recipe that covers all aspects of those adjectives!  And what better time to make it than now, with all the cold weather we have been having.  Knowing Clodagh, if you make this and send her a pic on Instagram, she will likely give you a thumbs up.  For she is, at the heart, a fantabulous person who is out there promoting passion for cooking!

INGREDIENTS
20g butter
1kg butternut squash,
skinned, deseeded and cut
into 2.5cm pieces
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g onions, chopped
700ml hot vegetable stock
300ml coconut milk
sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper

METHOD
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan,add the squash, spices, garlic and onions and season with salt and pepper.
Cover and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.
Stir in the stock and coconut milk and bring the soup to the boil. When the squash is tender the soup is ready to be blended using a food-processor or hand blender. Serve hot.

If you’ve read The ABCs of YDP you’ll see why I apologize for my lack of food styling photography.  Hence the pic at the top of this page comes from Clodagh’s website.  But I am all about the taste, and this soup hits it out of the park!  Super delish!  There are three things I love about this soup. One is that is is so quick and easy, two it is super economical,  and three is that it is adaptable.  If  you don’t like coconut, leave it out and replace with more broth.  If you are feeling like you need a bit of “sumpin, sumpin” you can add chorizo (which Clodagh suggests).  This recipe is also gluten free, dairy free (if you use oil instead of butter) and vegetarian!  Whoop whoop!  It ticks all the nutritional boxes!  For those of you not aware, butternut squash is like the superfood of super foods!  So between the spices and the butternut squash, this soup will help ward off all those nasty Winter bugs going around!

Clodagh and I were meant to have a conversation about a well known food university in Italy that she attended.  We never had the chance as Hubby’s and my move to London happened so quickly.  I never even had a chance to say goodbye.  But all of the staff at her restaurant knew me and I said my goodbyes to them.  They too were always fantastic when I went in and I think their warmth was kindled by her spirit.  Like the saying, “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”  She walks the walk and talks the talk.  And best of all she is honest about the hard times too.  In a recent article she reveals that there have been struggles.  Often people in the limelight make the rest of us feel like they have everything just so.  And that isn’t the case in reality.  But Clodagh, as I said already, is an open person.  I think I need to add brave to the list of kudos as well.

Thanks Clodagh for being such an inspiration, foodie wise and otherwise.  You are an amazing lady through and through.  I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye in person, but just know I am still basking in your glorious glow over on this side of the Irish Sea.

Love from the self appointed president of your infatuation nation,

YDP

P.S. If you are looking for a Christmas gift for any foodies in your life, Clodagh has a line of gorgeous aprons.  They even come in a chic boutique looking wrapping!  I have one on my Santa list 🙂 Click here for a peek…

That’s right, that is the title of this post. “Holy Mary Mother of God” there I said it.  I’m sure you have heard people make this exclamation before.  Or maybe the other one that is in popular use, “Jesus, Mary and Joesph!” I bet there was a lot of that flying around today, as the social media world was literally paralyzed.  Why?  Because of all things Snapchat was on the fritz.  Not all of snapchat’s abilities (you could still send a photo) were crippled the whole day. But the video aspect was completely down.  Like, all day long!  As I write this, it is still down with no explanation, even after numerous messages to customer support.  The topic was trending on twitter:  #snapchatdown.  While some were going through withdrawals, I experienced  frustration myself, which is actually ludicrous.  I am the most non tech person you’d ever meet.  It’s true, it wasn’t that long ago my son had to give me an emergency tutorial over the phone of how to send an email with an attachment!  So here’s me now, doing a blog, instagram, twitter and SNAPCHAT!  And then I get a head wreck when snapchat doesn’t work?!  I mean I had important things to say on there today!

The truth is that yesterday was a massive day in my little snapchat land. After the super fun Mancrush Monday for Marty Whelan, between his on air reading of my email and fellow snap chatters giving me a shout out, I had a phenomenal amount of new subscribers (not sure that is even how you say it).  So of course today when I went on to do a video about a free give away I’m hosting, it wasn’t working.  I just assumed it was me and my inability to navigate the thing.  Come to find out there is a system error, glitch whatever you want to call it.  The “could not send, please try again” notice that kept appearing was not my friend today!  So, I hope it is up and running tomorrow is all I can say, or else you will see a grown woman cry!  Cuz tomorrow is Woman Crush Wednesday my fav day of the week!

But then, as I do when I get a little worked up, I had a think and decided to regroup.  It’s not the end of the world, right?!  So I went to midday mass, which as fate would have it is a feast day in the Catholic Church for Our Lady.  That’s right, the Holy Mary Mother of God one!  I also discovered that a short recorded interview (click here) that I did a while ago about Mary, was posted online today, on this feast day.  So I thought, well, maybe I could do a Tuesday Crush day on The Blessed Virgin Mary!  Seriously, I’m not trying to be sacrilegious here.

I mean, the whole time we lived in Ireland, I remember how empty the churches would often be on Sunday mass, apart from any days dedicated to Mary.  Those were always packed!  As well, one of the few Marian Shrines in the world is located in the West of Ireland in Knock, Co. Mayo.  I’ve been several times myself.  It is actually located half way between my relations on my Grandpa’s side in Galway, and the others on my Grandma’s side in Sligo.  I do think the Irish have a fondness for Mary.  It could be because it is a wonderful family oriented culture that is centered around the Irish Mammy.  And we know that the most popular Irish girls’ name is in fact Mary!

Outside of Catholicism, a devotion (we don’t call it a worship) to the Virgin Mary is unheard of really.  But I think it is a lovely aspect of the church.  Especially if you listen to my interview you’ll see that for many people, especially those that have had no mothers, abusive, or neglectful mothers like I did, Our Lady offers a maternal hope and comfort.

In Ireland on many street corners and in housing estates, you see Mary statues.  I don’t see them in America, except maybe inside a Catholic church.  And they aren’t anywhere around in the U.K either, except funny enough, there is one outside our little parish church here in London.  I thought it looked so pretty one evening I had to take a picture.  I remember my husband saying, you’re not going to put that on your snapchat are you?  I hadn’t planned on it.  But I think what he meant was maybe some who watch my snaps might be offended.  It is so funny, but coming from America, we have been very sensitized not to offend anyone, to be politically correct at all times.  Don’t discuss politics, religion or money in mixed company we are taught.  Yet, I could tell you about some of the things I have seen on snapchat and you just might think they lie smack dab in the “offensive” column.  But a picture of Mary?  Maybe, it might offend some.

I am not posting this story today to offend anyone in any way.  If you’ve been reading along with me thus far you know all I want to do is spread love.  That is my purpose in life.  I happen to be blessed with a talent and passion for food and use my chef skills to pour love into my cooking.  But I am also a very authentic person.  I am who I am.  And you are who you are.  I would never attempt to put my beliefs on anyone.  But when people discover the atrocities I survived in my life, they wonder how did I do it.  And it is simple, my faith.  For some people they need to hear that.  Otherwise they walk around thinking I had a magic wand and poof!

This past summer I stayed with my daughter and her family as she was about to give birth to her second child.  I adore my four year old granddaughter and we were inseparable while I was there.  When I would put her to bed at night she wanted to say prayers together.  I would say the “Hail Mary” prayer as it is one of the ones I like to say.  Then one night when my daughter was putting her to bed Harper said, “Mommy, aren’t we gonna pray to Mary” and my daughter said, “We don’t pray to Mary.”  Though my daughter was christened as a Catholic, she attends a Christian church.  And why I bring this up is that I am delighted she has faith in her life.  But it is her own relationship with God not mine.  I don’t judge it.  How she chooses to raise her daughter as well is her choice.   And there are no hard feelings.  My daughter nor I are offended by any of this.  Yet, we as human beings in this world, become offended by others’ religions or even a mention of their church family.  However, we are numb to people discussing their bedroom habits with whomever or whatever to strangers?

So, bottom line is, chill out folks!  Snapchat will be working again.  And I am still the same person I was before.  With my bad singing, bad dancing and great recipes on offer.  I just want to have fun and spread some love.  Only I may have a slightly different take on the whole phrase, “Holy Mary Mother of God”.

With Christmas just 17 sleeps away, I want to share a little “funny” with you.  My son said to me one day when he was about 5 years old, “Hey mom, guess what? I know what Jesus’ last name is.” I said, “Really, what is it Hun?” Then enthusiastically he said, “It’s CHRISTMAS, cuz his mom’s name is Merry CHRISTMAS!”

I love you guys, and thank you for letting me be me!  No offense!

YDP

P.S. If you do fancy a listen to my short interview (it’s about 2 mins) click on the link and scroll down a bit where you will see “Today’s Something About Mary” and there is a little arrow you click on to hear it. Or else, you can read a short written synopsis there as it has my name “Karen” by it.

Today is the first time, and most likely last, that I will be posting a Mancrush Monday. Though I’ve been doing the super popular Woman Crush Wednesdays giving props to my female foodie infatuations, I have no inclination of doing one for the men in the culinary world.  No offense, it is just that they get enough attention as it is.  Besides, I am so in love with my Hubby that I literally don’t notice other men in general so there wasn’t a need to talk about any other males, be it in the food business or otherwise.  However, today, we are making an exception.  Because quite literally I have always had and always will have a massive crush on my man Marty Whelan.  I’m not talking about the romantic or frivolous type of crush, but a genuine admiration and respectful kind of crush.  And truth be told,  my Hubby feels the same way.  Even after moving from Dublin to London, we still listen to Marty’s program everyday.  Along with his great musical selections, he effortlessly brings sunshine into the world through his humor and wit.  And he is by far the most accessible media personality out there.  He takes time to read out birthday messages, tweets from fans, and email comments from listeners across the globe (yep we aren’t the only ones who stream his show live).

For those of you not familiar with Marty, HELLO people!  Where have you been?  He is a national treasure in Ireland.  His morning radio program on RTE is the jolly jolt one needs for the cold and rainy Irish mornings.  He combines a wonderful musical selection of classical, jazz and popular standards and interjects his wealth of knowledge about each.  His 7-10 am five day a week slot is coveted in the ratings and it isn’t any wonder.  This man is an institution!  Not only a radio personality, he also hosts the popular television show Winning Streak.  And our dear friend is also a best selling author.  His book, That’s Life was recently short listed as one of the best books of 2015 in the Irish Book Awards. If you too want to live stream in the morning you can click here.  Sometimes, Hubby and I even listen back in the evening while we are eating dinner.

Okay, so how do we do a crush on Marty?  For our #womancrushwednesdays (which we have showered love on the fabulous Irish chefs Susan Jane White, Rachel Allen and Trish Deseine among others)  we take a recipe by our honoree and recreate it for snapchat (username: blissbakery) as well as post on instagram, twitter and indeed this blog.  Since Marty is a radio and television personality we have a dilemma.  But I do know Marty loves his food and is very enthusiastic when he hosts the great Irish chef Neven Maguire every Friday. Furthermore, I want to make something in the kitchen that I can send him in the post. A little Christmas pressie.  A small token of thanks for all the goodness he brings to the lives of others.  So what is Marty most known for besides his great talent?  Why that classic mustache!  Yes folks!  I have it!  I will make mustache cookies!  Step by step!  With some musical accompaniment of course. Take it away Mart!

Marty’s Mustache Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups (310 g) plain flour

¼ tsp salt

3/4 cup ( 172 g) salted butter, softened

3/4 cup caster sugar (160g)

1 egg

1 tps vanilla extract

sprinkles and other decorations

1. Preheat oven to 170 C/325F/Gas mark 3. In a medium bowl combine flour, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and the sugar until creamy, light and fluffy, about 3 mins. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating until well incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture. Beat on low to combine but do not overmix.

3. Gather the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap (cling film). Refrigerate for one hour until firm.

3. On a floured surface, roll out dough to a ¼ in thickness. With mustache cookie cutters, cut dough and place on a parchment lined baking tray. Bake for 13-15 mins, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer with a spatula to a cool flat surface.

4. Decorate the cookies with icing and sprinkles and enjoy while listening to Marty in the Morn!

Hubby and I became acquainted with Marty even before we got hooked on his morning radio program. Marty is a commentator for the infamous EuroVision Song Contest.  While we didn’t know a thing about it before we moved to Ireland, you can’t help but get swept up in the kitsch of it all.  And the fact that Ireland has won it more than any other country (seven times) helps with the hoopla around the big event in May.  However, it is Marty’s sharp tongue in cheek quips during the show that literally have us glued to the tele.  He says what we are all thinking!  For sheer entertainment, I could just listen to his commentary and skip the often bizarre performances and ludicrous voting blocks.

While living in Dublin and working for a gourmet fresh food company I would listen to Marty  in the morning while setting up the shop each day.  I would often send Marty emails/texts/cards and indeed treats over to his office at RTE.  And he would kindly read out a thing or two and make mention of the freshly baked goodie that arrived.  But one time, which had me endeared to him for life,  I sent him a copy of my daughter’s CD.  She teaches music to children and made a CD with kids’ songs.  One song in particular on it has a symbolic significance:  The Rainbow Connection.  Since she lives in America, I would often think that all the rainbows in Ireland are a metaphoric link to her since we are living so far apart and dearly miss each other . The song highlights that.  I had no idea he would do this, but Marty played the song on the air one day.  I was not only shocked but in tears of joy.  And that my folks is the essence of Marty Whelan.  As great as his accomplishments are and the notoriety he has achieved,  he is really a man of the people. He engages, connects, encourages and uplifts all of us who follow him.

A wonderful husband, father and ambassador for Ireland itself, I can’t think of a better man to take the humble honor of one and only Mancrush Monday than the incredible Marty Whelan. I do hope someday to meet him in person. I feel somehow as though I have, even though I have never even so much as spoken to him on the phone.  But maybe when we do eventually move back to Dublin, perchance we will meet.  And it will likely be one of those moments when you meet someone and you feel like you’ve known them your whole life.  As I suspect any of you might feel if you met him.  He just has that gift of making people feel so comfortable and at ease and welcomed.

One thing besides a love of music that Marty and I share, is the fact that we were both photographed by the amazingly talented Barry McCall.  Mine wasn’t for a book cover as was Marty’s, but nevertheless, it is a funny coincidence indeed.  It was back in 2011 for myself, ah but feels like yesterday!

 

God love you Marty. Thank you for being not only our Mancrush Monday, but Mancrush everyday. You’ve helped this Yankee Doodle Paddy survive a move away from her Soul Land by bringing me a bit of the Emerald Isle each day.  Wishing you and your beautiful family a most wonderful Christmas time and all the best in the New Year!

Mustache Love,

YDP

aka Karen, the American lady

ps. Marty I also wanted to share this photo from 2012 out in Los Angeles. I took Barry McCall and Tony Fenton (God rest his soul) to meet my dear friend Quincy Jones.  How precious this is to me now that Tony has left us.  It is just a reminder that we need to keep spreading the LOVE. So thank you for always doing that!