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As some of you know, I was plagued the last couple of months with a very bad dose of the flu that became a very serious chest infection. On doctor's orders, I did very little and rested a lot. There was just so much day time telly one can watch and my energy levels were quite low to do much else; Alan took care of the shop, his work and myself. I felt quite guilty, but there wasn't much I could do about it other than taking my medicine and rest. When I finally got better, there was a pile of things to do, a huge amount of events to go to and I had little or no time to do much else. Today was the first chance I had to do some writing. So here is what we did for this year's Day of the Dead celebrations!
Our friends, Jim and Maria Kennedy, from Altantic Sea Kayaking invited us to celebrate the Day of the Dead with them in Skibbereen, in West Cork. It's no secret that we both love that part of the country, so without hesitation, we said yes! As it turns out, a group of folks down in Schull celebrate this Ancient Mexican tradition too, which has been inscribed by UNESCO in their list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2008.
The Day of the Dead is quite a complex feast and its origins go back as far as the recorded history of the country goes. The feast as we know it now, is the result of a sort of mash up between an ancient indigineous Mexican tradition, the catholic Feast of All Saints and the liturgical celebration of the Faithful Dead. The ancient Mexicans believed that death was an awakening; they believed that we merely exist in penance, in this dream-like world of ours, and it is in death that we awake and start living.
What started as a difficult day, ended up with very exciting news! My little blog has made it to the finals of the Blog Awards Ireland 2013 for Best Food/Drink Blog! In all honesty, I wasn't expecting that at all! I thought I would do well in the technical end of things, such as design and mobile compatability and although I was thrilled with being nominated and shortlisted for Best Food/Drink Blog, I never really thought I had a hope in hell with so many great food blogs out there! When I found out that I had made it to the finals, I was first surprised, then excited and now just plain terrified and super nervous!
I blog what I want to eat or what I am eating at the time. My photos are always real, never edited beyond the aul autofix and cropping bottons. There is always an impatient, hungry tummy behind the lense (either mine, Alan's or Daili's) waiting for the right shot to be taken before the plate can be snatched and the food can be eaten. Food is never altered, it is after all my dinner, so we never add anything unedible to it; what's more, I never waste food in the name of the blog. Sure this, more often than not, means that we might have to eat mole pie four times in one week, but I hear no one complaining as it is all for the sake of research.
