Getting Ready for Savour Kilkenny: Making Carrot and Walnut Muffins

Dear Avid Nicholas Mosse Fan:
This bank holiday weekend, Kilkenny is going to be bustling with all people coming to Savour Kilkenny, so I thought in honour of that I'd put this Carrot and Walnut Muffin recipe up on our blog. I found the recipe in the November 2011 issue of UK County Living magazine in Tessa Webb's column Grow & Cook (recipe is on page 152). This past weekend I made 24 tiny muffins (as those were the only sized cases I had). Tested by my daughter, husband and neighbours -they are almost all gone. So that's good!

The recipe is really simple.

Carrot and Walnut Muffins
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 12

Ingredients:
250g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice (note: I did not have this on hand so I used ground ginger and cinammon and found it needed more that 1 teaspoon- you can adjust to your liking)
160g dark brown muscavado sugar
50g walnuts, chopped
2 medium eggs, beaten
160ml sunflower oil
125g carrots, grated (only about 1 large carrot)
2 very ripe bananas, mashed.

1. Heat the oven to 200C (180 C fan oven) gas mark 6. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cases.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar, breaking down any lumps, followed by the nuts.
3. Make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs and the oil. Quickly stir to combine, then add the carrot and banana and mix together again.
4. Divide the mixture between muffin cases and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

They have a lovely autumn flavour to them. In the next batch I'm going to make bigger and might try by adding in some fresh ginger to give it a little extra punch.

Let me know if you end up making them yourself and don't forget we always love to see photos not only of your Nicholas Mosse collections but also of your cooking adventures.

You can email me directly at lisamcgee@nicholasmosse.com.

Lisa

Mixing our Patterns here at Nicholas Mosse

Dear Avid Nicholas Mosse Fan:

Each time I go into our Irish country shop, I come away with some new idea. The other day I spent some time putting together different combinations of our patterns.

Above is a Clematis serving plate which I paired with a Forget Me Not lunch plate.

Then for fun I topped it off with a tiny heart plate in Old Rose. Can you imagine setting a table for family and friends with this cheerful combination?

Then I turned to our two patterns Apple and Red Tulip that have a lot of red in them.

They look so sweet paired together.

And here I took the Wild Flower Meadow serving plate and paired it will a Red Tulip side plate.

Very striking- I can see this set on a table with a white linen cloth - keep the rest of the table very simple and make the plates the stars.

You can find all of these online at Nicholas Mosse or at our Irish country shop here in Bennettsbridge. If there is anything not on the site that you'd like, feel free to email me.

I've always been one who loves colour and patterns anyway, so why not enjoy all the patterns we have here at Nicholas Mosse and mix them up together?

We always love to hear from our fans - so do be sure to email me at lisamcgee@nicholasmosse.com - send me photos of your tables and meals and dishes served up in Nicholas Mosse. And with your permission, we'll share them here or on our Facebook page.

We are also on Twitter @NicholasMosse

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Lisa

Nicholas Mosse Pottery Talks about Some of Our Favourite Pieces

Dear Avid Nicholas Mosse Fan:
Here at Nicholas Mosse we think a lot about food because, of course, we are in the business of creating beautiful pieces so you can serve meals to your family and friends appealing way. We know many of you love to cook at home and especially in these "penny-pinching " times- cooking at home has become somewhat of a necessity.

We were recently doing a photo shoot here in the old mill to update the many images missing off our website. Photographer Eddie Cleary and I spent two days on the 4th floor photographing. Being still relatively new to the company, it was a brilliant way for me to really get to know the product line. In the shot above, Eddie and I gathered all the bigger pieces we have for the kitchen. Whether you are steaming your vegetables, serving a big cake, keeping salt nearby, dressing salads or storing flour and sugar- Nicholas Mosse has all the pieces you'll need.

Our steamers which came out last year are a wonderful gift for someone moving into to a new home or apartment and especially great for a person who likes to cook healthy meals.

One of my favourite pieces is the 11" Cake Plate with the edge. (seen above in our Forget Me Not Pattern) It is the perfect display piece in the centre of a table. I can't wait to put my daughter's birthday cake onto one this year.
Do you have some favourite shapes? We've heard from many of you on our Facebook page about your favourite patterns but we'd like to know what shapes you use the most? Is it the day to day pieces such as mugs and plates or do you love pulling out some of the larger statement pieces?

Let us know!
Happy Autumn to you all. The wind is wild in Bennettsbridge today and their is a crispness in the air.
Lisa

Nicholas Mosse: A Look Inside Our Irish Country Shop before Christmas Arrives

Dear Avid Nicholas Mosse Fan:

I just wanted to thank Carol for doing such a great job with our blog for so many months. Considering the amount of other things she juggles for us here, she is to be commended.

I can't believe October has arrived so quickly. Before too long our Irish Country Shop will filled with Christmas goodies so I thought I'd take the opportunity to show you some images inside before all the seasonal magic arrives.

It's a perfect autumn day here in Bennettsbridge with warm breezes and sunshine and on my return from lunch I spotted a wild otter swimming alongside our little island here on the River Nore. He (or she) looked quite content and I'm sorry not to get a photograph for you - all in good in time.
I've learned you have to be very patient with the wildlife around here.

Our small cake stands look just perfect displayed on this striking red stand in the shop. They make wonderful gifts for bakers or people who do a lot of entertaining.

On the wall you can see the whole range of the mugs in our Landscape pattern accompanied by a butter dish.

Just in case you were not aware, we don't just sell Nicholas Mosse here in the shop. The window display at the front has a wonderful assortment of olive wood pieces and colourful glassware along with woven mats for the table.

The big bamboo bowls are ideal for serving salads.

Things are busy here at Nicholas Mosse HQ this week- behind the scenes our Christmas elves are hard at work and we are photographing new products which we will reveal to you all soon. There's never a dull moment on the banks of the River Nore.

And while it went quietly unnoticed here on the blog - September marked our 35th year in business which is very exciting and we are in the process of putting together events, organizing tours, and generating publicity to celebrate another historic milestone.

By the way, if you haven't found us on Facebook yet, please head over and LIKE us and if you are on Twitter you can follow us @NicholasMosse. Plus, we are working away on a new look for our website which we expect to be launched in early 2012.

We love hearing from our fans so be sure to leave us a message here, on Facebook or Tweet us!

Happy Autumn everyone.

Lisa