Irish food suggestions

If you want to know what to eat around here, please read this. :)

1. Bacon. It is an explosion of goodness! You have never tasted bacon until you've had Irish bacon. I had my first tasty morsels at a B&B in Bantry, and let me tell you that both myself and my companion couldn't agree more that this was the best piggy we've ever had.

2. Bailey's Haagen Dazs ice cream is scrumptious. Smooth, silky, and best of all, Bailey's flavored. I haven't looked at the label yet, but I'm wondering if I could get drunk off this tub of ice cream...

3. Irish breakfast. I guess all you need to do is revert back to my little convo on bacon. It consists of eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and tomatoes. I don't like mushrooms, and putting that aside, this breakfast is still very enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone in passing or staying here for long periods of time.

4. Mark and Spencer's pastries. I just bought a caramel eclair and a round doughnut that has pink frosting and sprinkles. The best part is that this isn't just pink frosting, but actually raspberry flavored! Cap that sweet tooth with tasty doughnuts.

5. Cadbury hot chocolate is your friend. Now I've grown rather tired of Cadbury chocolates, mostly because I'm so used to munching on Hershey's, and simply because it's very, very rich. However, I noticed at a restaurant in Bantry, that they served me hot chocolate using Cadbury cocoa mix, and I have to say, it was very good.

NOTE: Do not, I repeat do not buy a Cadbury Crunchie bar. I don't even know what's used to make it honeycomb like in the center, but it doesn't taste so great. It doesn't hurt to try it, but don't spend lots of money on it until you do.

6. Sausages ahoy! They are juicy, flavorful and down right amazing. There's a place inside the English Market that sells them on a hot bun. Now I'm sure other parts of Europe have even tastier pork, but it doesn't take much to love the ones in Ireland.

7. Chocolate croissants are the best thing ever. Yes, it is a French creation, and yes, the label on the packaging does say "Cuisine de France", but let's face it- you don't get this stuff in the States, and if you come across it while in the local convince store, do not hesitate to buy some! Also, the Mark and Spencer's bakery has their own version of this tasty treat in a four pack for 2.30 euro.

8. Honey glazed ham is superb. Now I'm not talking about the lunch meat, because it's just the same as in the States. They make it here with a slightly crunchy/flake like texture and sweet, sweet, honey. Oh so good!

9. Paisley, buttered mashed potatoes. You will find this instant meal in the Tesco "ready to go" isle at the front of the store. I was surprised at how yummy they were, considering it was sealed up in plastic, resembling the lame tasting TV dinners we so often indulge ourselves in.

10. Tacos with refried beans. Again, not Irish at all, but if you love Mexican food and have that special craving, I highly recommend not just going with meat and tomatoes as I normally have been doing. The taco shells usually taste stale (I have no clue why), but by adding that extra filling, it can turn out rather nicely.

11. Sparkling grape and apple juice is oh so delicious! Just saying. :)

Somethings to take very careful note of:

-Milk expires before the expiration date! Sniff, look, and take precautions. I just took out a jug that expired yesterday, and let's just say the content inside wasn't liquid anymore. The jug before that didn't smell right on the day it expired as well.

-Butter/sour cream/cream cheese lids are horrible. They don't snap back on unfortunately, leaving your goods to expire way before they're supposed too. Yesterday I had to throw out half a thing of cream cheese because it was already molding due to the lid not staying on. Buy some plastic bags to put the containers in if you want your spreads to last.

-Buy bread by the half. Put bread in the fridge! I have some bagels that expired five days ago, but they're still good because I put them in the fridge. If you keep them in dry places, they will start to mold the day it expires!

-Most things with sauces will be bland. Make sure to purchase lots of salt and pepper, or your mac n' cheese, and chicken alfredo will be very disappointing. Spaghetti should be good, however.