Ireland day 0871. Friday 16 February 2024- Scallops *

Ireland day 0871. Friday 16 February 2024- Scallops

Today’s summary	Went to the gym in the morning then drove to Howth in the afternoon to get some scallops from one of the many fishmongers shops there. Val made scallops in Vermouth for dinner – delicious
Today’s weather	Mostly dry and bright and quite mild. Moderate westerly wind. Appx 10c

Today’s overview location (The red mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The red line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

I must say I’m quite liking both of us being off work a bit more. It’s a lot less stressful and means a bit less rushing around.

So we had a fairly easy day today. We listened to a podcast over breakfast and tea in bed, then I went to the gym and Val went running. After a very healthy lunch of salad and sundried tomatoes, we jumped into the Trusty Yaris (Val drove) and went down to Howth to try and get some scallops for dinner. Yesterday, Val had tried all the shops in Malahide, as well as Tesco Swords, without luck so we thought we might do better at the harbour in Howth, where there is an abundance of fresh fish shops and restaurants.

We didn’t find any at the first shop (Wrights) that we went to, but we struck lucky at the second (Beshoffs). But there were at least another two or three fishmongers we could have tried further down the pier, if we hadn’t been successful at Beshoffs. They weren’t cheap, but life’s too short not to enjoy the occasional luxury.

Whilst we were there, we had a quick walk around the pier – although the air temperature was quite mild, the wind out there was brisk so it felt cold and we didn’t hang around. Just long enough to check out the ferry timetable to Ireland’s Eye, and also the inquisitive seals in the harbour on the lookout for easy pickings.

Once back in the flat, I did my Spanish homework (a very complicated YouTube video about Peru) and Val set about making the scallops into an absolutely delicious meal. She got the recipe from Delia Smith (aka St Delia)’s book “How to Cheat at Cooking” (thanks, Alice!) and alongside the scallops themselves, the menu featured a rich Emmenthal and vermouth sauce with mushrooms, onions and salad. Superb. I hope we can have it again soon. At least now we know where to get all the ingredients!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The whole of Howth western pier is lined with fishmongers and fish restaurants. The harbour is very popular – with people and with seals (for obvious reasons)	Eventually we got scallops here. The first place we tried (Wrights) didn’t have any

One of the numerous trawlers moored up in the harbour today	Here are a couple more. They look a bit battered, actually

Harbour resident giving us a knowing look	We took a quick walk to the end of the pier to check out the Ireland’s Eye boat trips. They start again sometime after St Patrick’s Day weekend (17 March)

St Delia’s “How to cheat at cooking” with the scallops recipe. I had to include a photo of the book rather than the dinner itself as it was so delicious we had eaten it before I had time to photograph it. The only thing missing was scallop shells to serve it in – so we had to make do with plates. Shells apparently are only available in the summer