Tuesday, December 20, 2016

A Hygge office in 2017? Award-winner recipe & Ryanair Xmas ad....





A Hygge office for 2017?
The Danish concept of Hygge has really only hit Ireland in a big way this year but its connotations of cosiness, warmth and home comforts resonates particularly well with us in the depth of Winter!  This article in The Guardian is all about Hygge for the office and talks about ‘acoustically-secured cocoons’, adding plants, soothing orange lighting, turning off your phone and building home-like spaces within the office.  It’s not just about the physical environment though, the article says that it’s all about being with others and being forthcoming, friendly and accepting of our colleagues rather than being judgmental.  The author guards against having the office interior ‘too feminine’ and that there must be space for ‘some masculine energy’ too. 
(Image - Knight Frank)

Ryanair captures the Irish homecoming
We’ve seen a raft of Christmas ads to date from lavish to others made on a smaller budget.  I do hope that Dunnes Stores’ new year resolution is to produce a new Christmas TV commercial for 2017, I’ve always hated that ad, I’m not sure why except the way he looks at the woman (mother/wife – think it’s the former) at the end is with barely concealed disdain!  Anyway, Ryanair have produced a great one which perfectly captures the experiences of those returning home for Christmas….enjoy!

Christmas Seafood Medley – award winner’s recipe
George Stephens is the BIM Young Fishmonger of the Year 2016 and was on Ireland am (TV3) recently showing how to prepare his delicious Seafood Medley as a Christmas starter.  See video clip below and here’s the recipe:
24 prawns (available from your fishmonger)
: 1 Ripe Avocado cut into cubes
: 1 Baby gem lettuce head cut into slices
: 8 Cherry tomatoes cut in half
: Quarter of a red onion finely sliced
: Quarter of a honey dew melon cut into bite size chunks
: 4 Slices of Irish smoked salmon finely sliced
: 1tbs of rapeseed oil and 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar mixed together
For the seafood sauce:
: 8 tbs of mayonnaise
: 3 tbs of tomato ketchup
: 1 teaspoon of tabasco
: 1 teaspoon of Worchester sauce
: Juice of quarter of a lemon
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Drop the raw prawns in and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Take the prawns out of the pot and place in a bowl of ice cold water for 3 mins until there cold. Place prawns on kitchen paper and dry them off so there is no water left on them.
3. For the seafood sauce, mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, tabasco, Worchester and lemon juice together to create the seafood sauce.
4. In a bowl mix the lettuce and red onion together with the rapeseed oil and vinegar .In a separate bowl mix the prawns, avocado, melon and the seafood sauce together.
5. Arrange the lettuce on the plate first. Now scoop the prawns, melon and avocado neatly in the middle of the lettuce, sprinkle the smoked salmon on top and finish it off with the cherry tomatoes and a slice of lemon.
6. Serve with a slice of brown bread and a glass of vino sol.


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