Clodagh McKenna - Fresh From The Sea

We are absolutely delighted at Gifts and Vouchers to welcome Clodagh McKenna, one of Ireland's most famous Chefs, food writers and TV personalities. Clodagh McKenna trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School and went on to work as a chef in Ballymaloe House for three years. She was also editor of the Slow Food Ireland Guide to Producers and started the national Slow Food Ireland Weekend. She has her own weekly column for the Irish Examiner, a monthly column for RSVP magazine and is editor of LOVE Food online. She lectures at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Colorno, Italy. Her previous book The Irish Farmers' Market Cookbook is a bestseller. Clodagh has presented two RTE series of Fresh from the Farmers' Market and her third series Fresh From the Sea is starting tonight 30th June 09 on RTE 1 at 7pm.

We are delighted to have her book Fresh from The Sea on sale here at Gifts and Vouchers. And Clodagh has also excitingly given us a special offer of her book combined with one of her own uniquely designed Aprons for a special price of €49.50. These would make a wonderful gift for any lady in the kitchen. These Aprons reflect Clodagh's sense of style and come beautifully packaged in a gift presentation box. Stylish from kitchen to table!

Enjoy our clips from Clodagh which we are delighted to have on the blog! I know I will be straight into the kitchen after watching them. And we will have more from her over the months ahead.

fresh from the sea kerry episode from David Hare on Vimeo.

Sian x

Ireland AM Appearance

Gifts and Vouchers was featured this morning on Ireland AM on their slot talking about starting a new business in the recession. This is a fantastic slot they run during which they talk to businesses around Ireland which have launched despite the doom and gloom in Ireland.

It was great fun, even though I was very nervous and the staff at TV3 were lovely. Sinead and Mark were so nice and immediately put us at our ease. Also, it was a pleasure to be alongside such wonderful businesses as Niall Lambe from Future Positive and Kate Moran from Mummy Maps.

Traffic on the day went through the roof and at the weekend was probably running at roughly 4 times what it normally would be. It is still going at double the volume it would normally be and I am getting loads of enquiries for new Businesses joining the site. Which was my main aim. We are just about to launch a new site to run alongside the site to further promote the businesses on Gifts and Vouchers and we are very excited. It really showed to us that television is definitely a very powerful medium!

And here is the clip if you didn’t catch us! Gifts and Vouchers on TV3’s Ireland:AM

Thanks again to all at TV3

Sian

Look and Taste

Checkout a great Blog by Chef Niall Harbison and his team at Look and Taste. You will find great demo's giving you ideas for tasty meals. You can also purchase their cool IPhone Look and Taste Application directly from their Blog which enables you to download menus directly from your IPhone. It is a blog filled with delights for every foodie!! And they always have great competitions running on the blog from Le Creuset sets to Weekends Away.

Helen from The Kitchen Dresser recommends any of their Kitchenware to any people who like to dabble in the kitchen. They have everything from the serious Chefs to the person who just loves a pizza!

I am getting hungry at the thought of it!

New domain extensions

Interesting article by Paul Sandle which means that businesses next year should be able to use their own name in place of domain extensions such as .com, .org, or .net. This could potentially help small businesses as they often find that their first choice in domain name is already taken. They will also be able to target specific geographical locations such as .dublin, .cork. The article can be found at http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE5576DM20090609

Sian.

Tuesday Push - FineTuna

This weeeks Tuesday Push is FineTuna, a product of SpoiltChild Design . FineTuna allows you to upload an image or take a browser screenshot, add comments or markers to your image and send it on to your designer or developer by email.Easy to use for all sorts of projects like web design, icon design and sending family photos. If you want to Fine Tune an image give Finetuna a try today! Congrats Alan and Mary and welcome to Bettystown!! Looking forward to lunch some day!

Sian x

Fathers Day Gifts

The history of Father's Day dates back to 1909, in Spokane, Washington. Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother's Day sermon, at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church. The lecture inspired her to have a special day dedicated to her father, William Jackson Smart, who had brought her up and her siblings, single-handedly, after their mother died. Sonora could realize the greatness of her father and wanted to let him know how deeply she was touched by his sacrifices, courage, selflessness and love. To pay a tribute to her great dad, Sonora held the first Father's Day celebration on 19th of June 1910, on the birthday of her father. She was the first to solicit the idea of having an official Father's Day observance. However, unlike Mother's Day, which was readily accepted, Father's Day was received with mockery and hilarity. Though the day was gaining attention, it was mostly for the wrong reasons. Jokes, satire, parody and derision were all that the day was commemorated for. In 1913, a bill in accordance with making the day official was introduced.

And that was how Fathers Day came about! This year it falls on Sunday the 21st June. So put that note in your diary. And don't let yourself get caught out. You will find plenty of ideas online from the many local businesses around Ireland from a round of golf at the recent Irish Open course in Baltray or Clay Pigeon shooting at Courtlough Shooting Grounds to gifts like a Car Messaging System or a crate of fine Wine. A few suggestions from us. But you can contact us at sales@giftsandvouchers.ie if you need any help. But most importantly spend some time with them. That is the greatest gift.

Sian x