Welcome!

In April 2014, I will finally get my chance to go to the country I've dreamed about since I was a little girl: Ireland. Growing up, I was introduced to the heritage of the Celtic people; the music, pictures, my dad even bought a dulcimer. I only have a minuscule amount of Irish heritage, I've loved this place since I can remember. There is something haunting, something....inspiring and...fairytale-like about the place. And now I finally get to go.

A little bit about me. I'm 24, recently moved out on my own, and am trying to learn how to cook. I'm a decent baker, but as far as cooking, I'm definitely a novice. So this may be a very interesting journey.

I recently saw the movie "Julie and Julia" featuring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. If you haven't seen it, let me give a short synopsis. Julie is living in modern day New York at a dead end job. She loves cooking, so she embarks on a journey to recreate all the recipes of her idol, Julia Child, author of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". During her journey, she decides to write a blog documenting her journey. This inspired me to do something similar.

When the wonderful world of "Borders Bookstore" closed its doors, I purchased the book "Celtic Folklore Cooking" by Joanne Asala based on my love for good food and the Celtic culture. This book has a lot of actual information on the Celtic people, as well as ancient (and I really do mean ancient) recipes from the land itself.

By mimicking the work of Julie in the movie, I hope to learn much more about the Celtic culture through cooking from this book. Over the course of the next fifteen months, assuming I have all the necessary resources and funds, I will be cooking from this cookbook and documenting what I've learned, what I've cooked, and how much I've discovered about the Emerald Isle.

If you have information, stories, bits of history or folklore on Ireland....Please share them!!! I'm trying to learn as much as I can before my trip. I'd love to hear what all of you have to say!