As many of you who follow my facebook page and the twitter @MexicancookEire account know, the last three months of my life have been a roller-coaster: The day my parents got their tickets to visit me in Ireland, my mother fell suddenly ill in Mexico and for a while it looked like she wasn't going to make it; the days and weeks were filled with worry and anxiety, torn between wanting to be by her side and not wanting to add to the panic that was setting in across the family. She had always been a healthy lady so to see her and hear her so weak and fragile was a terrible thing, a shock to my system. I, like many of us do, felt mam was invincible, mine forever and there for me always. Realization knocked on my door to tell me she won't be there always and all of a sudden, their trip to Ireland was the only thing I could hold onto to keep faith. She will pull through -I would say to my self - she will pull through...

And she did. And they both came. And the last month has been the most wonderful time for me. A chance for her to recover gently and for me to spend time with both my parents without having a hectic holiday schedule: we took gentle drives and even gentler walks, she slept a lot and we chatted quite a bit, we cooked together and we ate some more. We took the chance to show them all the foodie spots we now know and we shared with them some of the amazing friendships we have formed over the past five years. We ate our way through middle Ireland and we had a ball while at it.

Yesterday she and my dad went back home. I was very sad to see them go as it will be at least a year before we can see each other again, but I am so happy to have been able to spend time with them and to, for the first time in my adult life, see them eye to eye and without any reservations or hang ups, without a specific reason to say 'I love you and I'm blessed to have you here'.

They thoroughly enjoyed their visit and I want to take this chance to thank all our friends who welcomed us into their Irish homes and gave us a plate or two of glorious food. To my amazing other half, Alan, for his eternal patience and good spirits and to my lovely niece Daili for moving out and chipping in with loads of chores. I took tons of pictures of all the incredibly good stuff we ate. Here are some highlights. If you are Irish, be proud of what Ireland looks like on a plate; if you're not, hurry up! get a ticket and come eat some seriously good food! Ireland's doors are always open! For the full food journey, check out the facebook album in the blog's page, which has more photos, descriptions of the food and where in Ireland we had it, but I warn you, prepare to drool!