Try Something New- Taste the Difference on a Luxury Cooking Vacation

Cooking has never been my forte. To be honest I'm about as non-domestic as they come. I can just about make a stir-fry (throw stuff in a pan and fry, how hard can it be?) and with a bit of help I can maybe make a simple pasta dish but anything else is beyond me. I have often thought of taking cooking classes but always seem to have something else to do but if those classes were in say the South of France for instance then I may well be tempted.

Cooking holidays are fast becoming the trendiest holiday around. Celebrity chefs like Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver have made cooking cool and where better to do it than at some exotic location with fabulous surroundings.

Cooking holidays are offered at various locations including France, Italy and Spain. The accommodation on the holidays is always something special. Guests stay at chateaux, hotels, farmhouses, restaurants and beachside villas.

Talented chefs teach the classes and groups are kept small so learners can get all the help they need.

But make no mistake, cooking holidays are not confined to the kitchen. Days are varied and include tours of local wineries, excursions to historic towns to learn more about local cuisine ingredients and trips to gorgeously quaint markets where you can pick up fresh produce.

And when cooking is not on the agenda you get to explore your surroundings and enjoy everything you normally would on a holiday; night outs, restaurants, visiting cultural sites.

If you're as awful in the kitchen as me and you fancy improving your culinary skills in an exotic location then a cooking holiday might be just what you're looking for.

Weekend Getaway and Bacchanalian Feast With Friends in Ireland

Imagine a progressive bacchanalian feast of traditional cuisine and festive merriment. The setting was Dublin, Ireland and the weekend was coming to a close. It was our last night on our impromptu weekend getaway.

On that night the four of us in my group of weekend explorers could not decide on where we wanted to eat dinner. That was when we hatched our idea, a delicious and perhaps slightly hedonistic solution.

"Let's restaurant hop!" one of us suggested.

In a cooperative spirit of eager anticipation, we selected a different restaurant for each course of our dinner. Our inspiration was a take-off from an entertaining idea that had been popular back at home before we had shipped off for our semester in London, England. Glossy American gourmet-type books and magazines had been showcasing intriguing feature stories on how their readers could create progressive dinner parties.

Succinctly put, that last night in Dublin could best be described as 'progressive dinner meets pub-hopping without the stout.' We were drunk, but not on intoxicating and forbidden ale, but rather on the great joy of traveling with friends and experiencing life's serendipitous and unforgettable moments.

Among the foods that we sampled that evening was one of the rustic entrees that Ireland is famous for.

"You must sample me Irish Stew!" the lad with the slurred Gaelic dialect told us. "Ai let me bring you out a sample. 'Tis the best in all of Ireland." The waiter promised before scuttling off to the kitchen.

Within minutes our Irish waiter returned to our linen covered table with a warm from the oven fragrant loaf of Irish soda bread, and shortly thereafter with four small steamy bowls of rich and earthy Irish lamb stew that we all later confirmed as simply divine.

An authentic Irish stew is made with large chunks of vegetables. However, in my version of the recipe, the chunks are prepared a tad bit smaller so that each person's portion of the stew can easily be ladled into individual round crusty loaves of homemade bread. These shepherd style loaves when hollowed out, brushed with flavor spiked garlic and herb melted butter and filled with mouthwatering lamb stew create a most delightful smile-popping presentation.

Add a crisp green salad, a basket of Irish soda bread, an impressive dessert, a carafe of Irish coffee, some fun Irish folk ballads and perhaps a small wrapped token of friendship at each place setting for a gracious Irish themed get together perfect for a St. Patrick's Celebration with friends in the comfort of your own home. Before you know it, your dinner companions will be singing ballads of joy and appreciation for blessing them with a wonderful and memorable moment in time.

My recipe for Old Fashioned Irish Stew is posted at www.letsentertain.blogspot.com

(c) 2007 Kathi Dameron, Kathi Dameron and Associates

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