#FirstDate #FirstDates #FirstDatesIRL #Dating #Kilkenny #Dublin #CountyMayo #Riverdance #Lasagne #Recipe #LEGO
September is my birthday month. And this past September, I was able to spend my birthday with somebody I care about for the first time in five years!
We started off the month by taking a spin up to Dublin to watch Riverdance. It was the 25th Anniversary Show. Obviously Riverdance was a sensation around the world, but the original show came about during an important time for Irish people. Along with Riverdance, the Celtic Tiger started in the mid-90’s. The Celtic Tiger was a period of incredible economic growth for Ireland. And culturally, Ireland was starting to come into it’s own. Riverdance premiered as an interval at the 1994 Eurovision contest which Ireland hosted. From 1992 to 1996, Ireland won 4 out of the 5 contests! Throw in the moderate success of the National Football Team, and Ireland was riding a wave of euphoria that they had never experienced before.
I was experiencing a bit of my own euphoria with Jeanne. 😍
We went to Mayo to celebrate my birthday. After a nice drive across the country, we checked into our AirBnB in Ballinrobe. Dinner was at the best place in town – Flannery’s. The next day, we had lunch in Westport.
Then we went to visit some of my family in a small village near Croagh Patrick. They have some view there!
Then we went to celebrate my cousin’s birthday. He and his husband are fixing up a little cottage near Mayo Abbey. Jeanne and I enjoyed a drink before heading back to Ballinrobe.
Such a good weekend: multiple birthday celebrations, food, fun and family. And it was all the better to spend it with Jeanne – the best birthday present I could ask for.
Near the end of the month, we went camping in Billy again. This time it was Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny. It’s a lovely town on the River Barrow. They have a great spot for campervans, and I would visit again.
I learned another slow cooker recipe in September – Lasagna!
Ingredients:
- 500 gram package of Linda McCartney Vegemince
- 500 gram jar of lasagna sauce
- 200 gram package of plant based shredded cheese
- 500 gram tub of plant based yogurt
- 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes
- 15 uncooked lasagna noodles
Directions
- Combine the Vegemince and lasagna sauce in a bowl.
- Mix the shredded cheese, yogurt and yeast flakes into a separate bowl.
- Spoon one quarter of the mince mixture into the slow cooker. Top with 5 noodles broken into pieces to fit. Spread with half of the cheese mixture. Cover that one quarter of the mince mixture. Top with 5 noodles broken into pieces again. Cover with one quarter of the mince mixture and the remainder of the cheese mixture. Top with the last 5 noodles broken to fit. The last layer is the remainder of the mince mix.
- Cover and cook on Low heat for 4 to 6 hours.
This serves at least 4.
