Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Jose Murhinho Quits shock Chelsea

Chelsea manages quits


Mourinho's position was the subject of continual scrutiny last season
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has sensationally left Stamford Bridge, according to BBC Radio 5live football correspondent Jonathan Legard.

The news comes just 24 hours after the disappointing Champions League draw against Rosenborg.

Legard understands that Mourinho has texted senior players, including skipper John Terry, with the news of his departure from Stamford Bridge.

There has been no official word so far from the Premier League club.

Link to iFoods.tv

Mourinho joined Chelsea in the summer of 2004 and led them to the Premiership title in each of his first two seasons in charge.

Last season they finished runners-up to Manchester United but won both the FA Cup and Carling Cup, a trophy they had also collected in 2005.

His achievements also saw him voted as Premiership manager of the year in 2005 and 2006.

However the Champions League trophy eluded the club and this season's campaign started with Tuesday's shock 1-1 result against the Norwegians in front of a crowd of just 24,973.

It was their third successive game without a win following a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa and a goalless draw with Blackburn in the Premier League.

Those results have left Chelsea fifth in the table - two points behind leaders Arsenal and with a visit to Manchester United to come on Sunday.

Mourinho signed a five-year contract in 2005 and quashed speculation in January that he would leave Stamford Bridge in the summer by saying he was happy to see out his deal if he received "real support" from the club.

For more great content

Monday, September 10, 2007

iFoods video recipes are now free

Well folks a lot has been happening here at iFoods since our launch 3 weeks ago and as promised we have some very exciting news. We are very happy to announce that we have agreed sponsorship with a company and what makes it so exciting for you website visitors is that everything on iFoods will now be free to view! Yes FREE. No more having to subscribe for some videos, it means that every single time you feel like cooking you will have the choice of a hundred recipes and unlike cookbooks or some other sites it will all be free! This was always our intention and now that we have the right partner to help us with this we are extremely happy and so glad that you can all benefit from it! This comes into effect on the 10th of September and we hope you’ll all be there cooking the unlocked recipes! Enjoy!

Friday, September 07, 2007

Check out these great new iFoods videos

Here is another one of the new professionally produced videos that we are now showing at www.ifoods.tv


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Monday, August 27, 2007

iFoods goes live

After a lot of hard work we are happy to announce that the cooking videos that started here 6 months ago as a hobby as now turned into my full time job!
www.ifoods.tv

Check them out and let us know what you think.
Free iFoods cooking videos

Free iFoods cooking videos

Friday, August 24, 2007

Castro might actually be alive!

Perez Hilton went with a worldwide scoop that Fidel Castro is Dead and it now seems he is back tracking! Although he may actually be dead how would a fat celebrity blogger know about it before Reuters, AP etc

Read below to see him exposed as a Liar



According to Channel 10 News in Miami:

Rumors circulating from Miami to North Carolina and calls coming in to Local 10 said an announcement would be coming from Cuba by the end of Friday that Fidel Castro is dead. While Local 10 doesn’t usually report on rumors, the magnitude of how far reaching this was couldn’t be ignored.

What may start as a whisper, quickly grows into a chorus of thousands.



The rumors have circulated for years. Usually every couple of months they’d start, but in the past week, the rumors have been in overdrive.

Local 10 called its contacts at the White House. Spokespeople there said they were aware of “no change in Cuba.” A spokesperson of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said “it’s all rumor and that Castro is fine.”

An ABC news source in Cuba said all is quiet in Havana and as far as he knows, no announcement is pending.

In fact, the president of the Cuban National Assembly Ricardo Alarcon is reported to be on the beach in Varadero and would presumably be in Havana if a major announcement was imminent.

Local 10’s assignment desk also contacted police departments , which said they are monitoring the situation and taking it very seriously. Miami police said they are in contact with the FBI “hourly.”

Castro might actually be alive!



According to Channel 10 News in Miami:

Rumors circulating from Miami to North Carolina and calls coming in to Local 10 said an announcement would be coming from Cuba by the end of Friday that Fidel Castro is dead. While Local 10 doesn’t usually report on rumors, the magnitude of how far reaching this was couldn’t be ignored.

What may start as a whisper, quickly grows into a chorus of thousands.

The rumors have circulated for years. Usually every couple of months they’d start, but in the past week, the rumors have been in overdrive.

Local 10 called its contacts at the White House. Spokespeople there said they were aware of “no change in Cuba.” A spokesperson of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said “it’s all rumor and that Castro is fine.”

An ABC news source in Cuba said all is quiet in Havana and as far as he knows, no announcement is pending.

In fact, the president of the Cuban National Assembly Ricardo Alarcon is reported to be on the beach in Varadero and would presumably be in Havana if a major announcement was imminent.

Local 10’s assignment desk also contacted police departments , which said they are monitoring the situation and taking it very seriously. Miami police said they are in contact with the FBI “hourly.”

Fidel castro dead


It is being reported through blogs at this stage that Fidel Castro is dead. It will be announced within the next couple of hours and of all people Perez Hilton "broke" it!

We don't know if we should be happy or sad. This is one of the best countries in the world and it will be interesting to see how it plays out!


Link to iFoods.tv

Perezhilton claims Fidel Castro is Dead, announcement in Miami 1 hour, no networks reporting this but blogs buzzing
Police in Miami are only holding off to make sure people do not flood the streets of Miami. Why is no major network covering this yet? Have they had too many false warnings? If you can get to Miami this weekend go!! Go now! This will be the biggest party the world has seen in years!




Free iFoods cooking videos

iFoods new site

Here is the new site! If anybody wants to put these buttons on their site we would be eternally grateful!

Link to iFoods.tv



Free iFoods cooking videos

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Back in the real world

Well folks I'm back in Sunny Ireland and that is no lie, after a month's non stop rain it is actually sunny today! I've spent the last month in wonderful castle Leslie up in castle Monaghan filming for the forthcoming iFoods which was pretty exciting but very very tiring! The good news is that we have 100 videos in the can and are in the post production stage now! Basically in 6 weeks we will be up and running! There is a huge amount of work to be done but we are getting there! I'll continue this blog and have regular video posts on our progress. Things should be getting exciting soon with lots of PR including radio, newspapers and TV so you'll be able to follow that all here!

Other good news is that my uncle has just delivered the first check to the orphanage in Zimbabwe and they were very very thankful. They are using it to feed children as we speak and have just posted a letter of thanks to me which i will share with you all as soon as get it. Keep the donations coming! Now that I Have my feet back on firm ground i am going to step up the fundraising efforts as well with a few events on the horizon.

So lots happening, once again sorry about the lack of posts but working 16 hour days filming in a castle with no internet was literally like being stuck in the middle ages!

Monday, April 30, 2007

Leaving the boats


Well it all came to an end today and i finished working on boats forever! Well i suppose you never say never but if the business goes well the next time i'll be on a yacht is hopefully as an owner and not cooking for others!

I woke up early this morning and went to the airport in St Thomas in the US virgin island to get my flight to puerto rico. I looked at my boarding card and knew it wasn't a good sign when under my "seat number" was written.....co pilot, no jokinh i swear! Basically it turned out to be a 6 seater plane and there i was literally sitting with my face pushed up against the windscreen!

At one stage my knee actually bumped into one of the leavers and the captain got a bit ratty with me! Anyway i survived and got to Puerto Rico and caught my conecting flight to NY!

I've just come back from a quick walk around times square, Maddison Square garden and a bot of shopping! Stumbled upon a little traditional Irish Pub in the middle of all the madnes here and got a great pint of guinness and a roast turkey dinner! There are hundreds of wonderful places to eat and i end up in a pub! I guess i am jut fed up of cooking fancy food for the past 6 months and wanted something traditional!

So i'm off to get a good night sleep as tomorrow i'm going to try and see as much of this great city as possible!

Sad to have left yachts but looking forward to the future! Filming starts in 6 days!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Whats going on???

Well firstly i need to apologise for a serious lack of posts over the last week. This has to be put down to having guests on board and working very long hours! We are still in the British Virgin islands and i only have 5 more days of being a superyacht chef! I have to say it is tough working on the yacht and trying to get iFoods set up at the same time! There is just so much to do!

Filming starts on the 7th May at castle Leslie in Ireland and the good news is that this blog will continue to follow what i am up to from day to day! There should be lots going on as we will be promoting it and travelling around a lot! I can promise that it will be just as exciting as usual the only thing that will be changing are the locations!

Also as far as the charity work is going the good news is that the total is slowly creeping up and there that means that there is something for me to take to the orphans in Zimbabwe. The other good news is that now that i am back on terra firma i will be organsing some big cooking events to raise even more money! we should see the total really moving soon, but in the mean time please please keep saving lives and donate!

So to sum up there are lots of exciting things happening and i hope you make the transition from Sea back to land with me!!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Virgin islands video

Well we are still in the Virgin Islands and having a great time! I only have 15 days before i step on the plane and go back to Ireland to start the new business! So it's time to do as much as possible with the time that i do have left and enjoy the incredible views, a few last cocktails and the islands in general!

we are off to Peter island in the morning which is good as it is more isolated and we can practice our diving so as i can get the courage to finally dive head first from the roof! Not leaving this boat without doing that!

Well i hope you are all well in your different parts of the world.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

British Virgin islands

Well we finally left St maarten and have now arrived in the BVI's, which really are wonderful islands! We had an 8 hour trip today and for the second trip in a row were lucky enough to see whales! They were breaching and basically playing around but i was n such a rush to get the camera for you my loyal readers that i missed nearly all of it and ended up with no footage!! We are here now for about 3 weeks and indeed i will be getting off the boat here to go back to Ireland and start the business! Starting to get a bit sad about leaving the boat's and the wonderful lifestyle that i have but i guess it had to all come to an end sometime! At least i don't have to go back and work for somebody else which is one positive!

Below is the video i made today with my brand new video camera, gone is the shaky little hand held one! I have also had a bit of a chance to surf around in the last couple of weeks and i found a couple of great sites. Blogging is a wonderful thing and i've made plenty of friends through it. My new favourite site is msglazewhich tells the story of a cool American chick cooking in a three star restaurant in France! There are some cool video recipes on there as well and it's well worth a read!

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Video of st Maarten

Well folks it's easter weekend and i am sure you are all enjoying yourselves with lots of good food and drink wherever you all are. It's one bad thing about doing my job, is that you don't get to spend much time with friends and family, however on the flipside i am lucky enough to be in the beautiful sun drenched caribbean. Today i am still in St Maarten and i take the camera up to the roof of the boat for a good look around. This is as close as we can call home as all the big boats are here and it's a chance to catch up with all our friends! No doubt we'll be out tonight enjoying a few beers and telling tall tales about being at sea since we last met. Tomorrow it's off to another paradise location, the BVI's or British Virgin Islands as they are better known! Happy easter

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Whale watching, Antigua and St Maarten

Well after a few days in Antigua watching cricket and having a good time it was time to head 8 hours north to the little island of St Maarten. It's pretty much the centre for big yachts in the caribbean and we all love coming here as we get to hang out with all our other "yachtie" friends from all the other boats! On the way up we saw a couple of cool things, one man made, one natural. The pod of whales we saw took the breath away but i wasn't really fast enough with the camera and then seeing the biggest yacht in the world, the Maltese Falcon took the breath away again, really stunning! We tied up here in St maarten and are all heading out for some well deserved beers now!!

Sunday, April 01, 2007

England world cup cricket Video

Another day in the caribbean and another cricket match. Once again we happen to be at and England match and have another wondeful chance to wind their fans up! This time we are slightly out numbered and it is me against about 300 of their fans! A great day out with lots of beers had and a wonderful atmosphere! They stole my hat, we wound them up but it all ended in smiles and we all shared a beer together afterwards!!

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Freak Rogue wave

We spend a lot of time in beautiful spots of the world watching idyllic sunsets and drinking cocktails on these superyachts we work on but every once in a while we have to enter big seas and get slammed by massive waves. These superyachts cross oceans and sometimes there really is nowhere to hide. You have to remember that although big some yachts are only 1/50th the size of an oil tanker. When the weather gets bad everybody goes to bed except for the captain and officers driving the boat and rides it out but sometimes something needs fixing urgently outside like a loose hatch or banging door. These guys are in just that position on a superyacht, the video is slightly long and not much hapens but the anticipation is key, you will literally not believe this!!Totally and utterly crazy!!!

Monday, March 26, 2007

The end of Superyacht Chef

You may want to read my new blog here

Well folks it's a sad day as i have to announce my retirement from the world of yachting. After three years and travel to all corners of the world i am finally calling it quits! Nothing to do with the job but more to do with what is happening over at my other blog iFoods .I started it just over a month ago with all the best video recipe i have and it has turned into a bigger success story than even i could ever have imagined! So now myself and a group of investors have deceided to make it into a professional company and produce over 500 video demonstrations with proper camera men and a full production company. We will be filming in Ireland in May and launching at the start of June. We are looking to bring large partners into our operation and have some intersting options already, we never could have imagined the interest there was out there for this sort of stuff.

So where does this blog go from here? I guess it continues following me around and i take the camera with me but instead of exotic locations and superyachts you will get an insight into the world of starting a company and rapidly expanding a golbal brand and a whole new way of cooking! The most important thing for me is the fundraising and i hope to continue that and indeed think i will be in an even better position not that i will be able to leverage my higher profile to make more money for the cause! For those of you interested in cooking, just go to iFoods . I also have connections in the yachting world an will continue to write and post videos about superyachts.

Don't worry we still have a month of travelling around the caribbean and exotic places before i go into filming Ifoods. The onlt thing that worries me is going back to rainy Ireland, how will i ever cope???

You may want to read my new blog here

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Crisis in Zimbabwe

You may want to read my new blog about social media here

All is still well folks and i am in St Lucia today enjoying some down time. It's off to another cricket world cup game tomorrow and to see the English take on Kenya. The good news is that we have passed the $1000 mark with the fundraising and i thought we could celebrate that by showing you a couple of videos of what life is like in Zimbabwe. The first a beautiful montage with some incredible music, every time i hear it it makes me so happy, this is how i remember the Zimbabwean people, the happiest most content people in the world. Unfortunately things are a lot different today and the second video shows what it is like today.

Just imagine what it would be like in your country if the opposition leader had his skull fractured by the main parties thugs??This is not acceptable and we cannot just sit and watch this happen. Getting to $1000 has been a great achievment but we need to push on. I still intend to go to Zim in June and our money will make a difference.
Thanks for your help and please please keep donating.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Amazing dolphins

I now write about Social media and online PR here


Well firstly I would like to apologize for the lact of posts over the last week but unfortunately in this modern world we can sometimes be at the mercy of technology! Especially if you happen to be working on a boat! We lost a part of our satellite system and lost all internet which felt pretty similar to what it must be like to lose your heartbeat! I felt like what an addict must feel like when they are coming off crack, it just feels like your whole world is empty! Anyway the good news is that my camera was still working and I got plenty of good footage and have heaps of stuff to update you all with! After such a lengthy absence I thought I’d better start you off with something good and here it is.. we were sailing up the Grenadian coast when we came upon a huge group of dolphins, luckily I had the camera with me and managed to catch them putting on a bit of a show for us!! Check it out!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Video Demo for TV

Well there is good news and bad news. First the good...I spent the day at one of the nicest beaches in the caribbean playing frisbie, snorkling and eating nice food. The bad news is i took the camera to get great footage but it ran out 1 minute after getting there, so no video to make you all jealous today!

What i do have is a funny video of me cooking! In the last week I've been asked by a couople of different production companies to provide a sample tape of me cooking to be pitched at TV execs for possible cooking shows. Now I thought to myself that instead of doing something fancy and trying to impress them with my cooking ability i'd make a plain old cheese sandwich! My warped logic behind this was if i could make a cheese snadwich sound interesting then maybe i could make anything sound interesting! Then again maybe they are laughing at me this second saying "what sort of a nutball have we got here?"

Let me know what you think of the video, remember it's all very tongue in cheek and i really don't expect you to make it at home!!
If you want to see my real recipes on video pop over to iFoods my other site

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Video recipe(The perfect steak)

Well a lot of people have tried to cook the perfect steak but i've never really seen it done properly so for your own benefit i've deceided to do it here. I had to look after the boat on my own today so i thought i'd let you share my dinner and see this beautiful ribeye being cooked to perfection!!

Ingredients
1 Ribeye steak
Olive oil
salt and pepper
Splash of good balsamic vinegar

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Australia v. England(St Vincent)World Cup

We were up at 5.30 this morning and off to St Vincent by plane to go and watch the start of the cricket world cup and the eagerly awaited match between England and Australia. We just about made the flight in the morning and arrived at the ground in good time. Most of you probably hate cricket and think it's boring, but all i'll say was if you were here in the caribbean at the moment listening to the steel bands and drinking rum you'd see it a lot differently. See cricket is more about the day out and the carnival aspect than the sport itself. The locals here in the caribbean have been crying out for something like this for some time now and even though the stadiums may not be 100% finished they will more than make up for it with their passion and friendly spirit.

If you're watching the video there is bad language from Will my drunken Aussie mate who can best be described as overjoyed by beating the English!

We got to speak to all the players afterwards and watch them in the nets which for cricket fans was a great bonus! A really fantasic day out.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

7 Magical waterfalls

Well folks i told you things were a bit quiet for the last couple of days but after a day off today there is plenty to report! We were up and about early and made our way up through the haert of grenada to a magical place called the 7 Falls. Once there we hired a guide who took us on a magical 4 hours trek through the rainforest down to seven waterfalls, guess you never saw that coming! The walk was tough work but getting to the falls was so so special. Grenada is very untouched by tourism and the whole couple of hors that we were there we had the place to ourselves! The water was ice cold and we had to jump from all sorts of different places sometimes into a space of water only a couple of feet wide from a tree 30 feet up with about 5 foot of water. The guide kept telling me to land softly but all i could think as i was hanging off the tree waiting to jump was "how the f#ck do you land softly when coming down from 30 feet???"


Well in the end we all made it and it was one of the best days i've ever had in the caribbean! we trekked back up the hill, past our guides hidden marjuina plants and had a few beers at the top and talked about what daredevils we all were!

I'm in bed early tonight getting ready for a 5.30 a.m start as we have to catch a couple of flights up to St Vincent to watch the cricket world cup! It's Australiaia v. Enland tomorrow so a day of drinking and abusing English players awaits us. Lots of red stripes will be involved so tomorrow's post could be pretty interesting!!

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Working hard in Grenada

Well folks i've been working hard cooking for heaps of guests so not that much to fill you in on. What i can say is that the response to Donating has been incredible. The blog has only been running for over 3 months and already we are very close to breaking through the 1000 dollar mark! As i said the trip to Zimbabuwe is in June to hand over the first funds. I'll be spending a week there filming and helping to put the money to good use. In the meantime i have plenty of fundraising ideas so keep reading!

I have also been busy cooking recipes over on iFoods so hope you are all cooking away!

A new feature that i am ading to the site that you will find on the right hand side of the page is a feature that allows you to submit your recipe of choice to be cooked by me. It will cost $19.99(all to the zimbabuwian cause of course) and i will do one of my usual productions. I'll credit you with the recipe and give a bit of it's background! It'll be a pretty neat way to have your favourite recipe produced and be able to show it off to your friends!!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Bouncing around

Well folks the good news today is that after yesterday's appealwe have started to raise quite a bit of money and the total is climbing nicely. The bad news is that i am stuck at sea and getting thrown around by the rough weather so making a video would be tough, as it happens even writing this is tough. I do get seasick quite a bit(great idea to work on a boat)so keep having to abandon the laptop and run out for fresh air! Luckily i posted a couple of recipes over on iFoodsbefore we set off today so that should keep you all cooking and amused!

Well i've just been outside again and the good news is that i can see Grenada and the end of the rough weather is in sight!

I have another favour to ask all you loyal readers! I need some ideas for fundraising. I basically need to raise as much cash as possible before i go to the orphanage in June. I'd love to come up with something interesting that would keep all you readers involved as well. Maybe sponsoring me to do something, a big raffle. I was thinking i could organise a raffle with 10 dollar tickets and the winner gets me to cook ameal for 4 for them? Let me know what you all think and get your thinking caps on for the sake of the African kids!!

Monday, March 05, 2007

First pictures from Africa

These are the very kids that your money will be helping

Well it's taken a while but i have the first pictures from the orphanage in Africa where i am trying to help all the kids. My Uncle and grandmother visited last week and after a week of grappling with the computer(he is not a tech wiz by any stretch of the imagination)the pictures have arrived via my uncle.

The work being done at the Orphanage is incredible but they are very low on funds and do not have enough money to both feed the Orphans they have or to continue the building work required to house them. As you can see from the photos conditions are very cramped and the children although very well cared for are living the most basic of lives. They could fill the orphanage many times over but are struggling with what they already have and survive on the small amount of donations they recieve from the church. We NEED TO GET MONEY THERE IMMEDIATELY!!
The kids were happy to see my grandmother and uncle, although my grandmother told me"she was shook up"afterwards.

Having the conditions described to me first hand by my uncle has really invigorated my appetite for fundraising. I will be making my first trip there in June and hope to deliver the first money at that stage. The aim is for this blog to start supporting the orphanage and building additional facilities within the year. It is not good enough to just support them financially, we need to develop a support structure for the place and give these kids and future generations of kids a chance. This will only happen with YOUR support, i hate to harp on but please please donate a small amount, it will help saves lives. I love doing this blog as i find it fun but i would also like to see it start making a differnece in Africa which is what i started it for. Thanks for your ongoing support and it'll be back to fun stuff tomorrow, we just can't lose sight of the goal!

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Sailing through the Grenadines

We have made our way along the chain of islands that are the grenadines for the last few days. They really are one of the most beautiful chain of islands with turquoise water, reefs and caribbean charm everywhere. It reminds me a lot of Tahiti. I jumped into the water yesterday and was in it for over an hour, i literally had to be dragged out to start cooking dinner for the crew!

Shopping here is like nothing you would ever experience. When we come around the corner a fleet of little boats with locals clutching everything from lobsters to dolphin fish to baguettes(where they get those i have no idea). The lobster here is the best i have ever tasted. You place your order with the local and he speeds off in his boat, 20 minutes later he's back with 2 beauties just pulled out of his trap and still full of life! This really is the way to cook! staright from the Ocean to the plate, couldn't be any fresher.

Hope you are all enjoying my recipes over at ifoods

Friday, March 02, 2007

Srawberry muffins

Well i like to give you a breakfast recipe every Saturday morning so as those of you with a clear head from Friday night can have a bash at it. Today it's strawberry muffins and i hate saying this but a fool could make these they are that easy! You really will struggle to go wrong!

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Leaving Barbados

well folks I've been in Barbados for a couple of weeks now and that is pretty much as long as you will get me in one place! It's been beautiful and have met plenty of nice people, including two of my heroes today Dermot Desmond and JP Mcmanus(only Irish people will know these guys) but now it's time to leave! We are actually out at sea at the moment on our way to the Grenadines which are another beautiful chain of islands west of Barbados. I'm getting smasded up and down as i write this by the big waves but i'll be going to sleep in a couple of minutes safe in the knowledge that when i awake tomorrow i'll be able to have my breakfast on the bow overlooking another paradise location! Had one of the best days of the year so far today, playing golf, diving and meeting heroes! Check out the video!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Work in Progress

Well as you can all see i am working hard on the design of the blog! I will be finished by tomorrow and free to post again! Tomorrow is our last day in Barbados before heading off to Grenada. I have plenty of new content to add so thank you for you patience, the new look blog will be rammed full of new recipes, travel and superyachts over the coming weeks! Thanks once again for your patience and loyalty!

Foor all you budding chefs out there here is a perfect way to cook fish! See the full details at my new food site i Foods

Monday, February 26, 2007

i Foods launches

Well folks i'm sorry to say that the posts are a little light at the moment as i am doing a lot of work on the design at the moment(coming next couple of days!!). I would love you to check out my new site www.ifoods.blogspot.com which is totally dedicated to food and video recipes. I want to transfer most of the food posts to there and keep this site more orientated towards the superyachts and our travels!

Here is a recipe for Cerviche to keep you entertained today! see the ingredients on i Foods

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Funny yachting stories

I've been working in yachting for a few years and have met a lot of people who have told me plenty of funny tales about the industry. Most of them are a mixture of tall tales and hear say with a little bit of truth thrown in. There are however a few interesting stories from the industry that i do know are true. here are 4 of the funniest and most ridiculous things I've ever heard from this crazy business i work in and are all true.

1. I know a crew who came home after a big night one night to the boat, a bit of a party started and one new crew member was sent to get some wine. They drank 6 bottles and it was only the following morning that they realised they had mistakenly drank $76,000 worth of the bosses wine!! Luckily nobody ever noticed!

2. One Arab owner uses his boat for a couple of weeks every summer. To keep himself entertained he hires dwarves and pays them to water ski while he watches from the tender! The one who stays up the longest each time is given $1000 cash. Apparently he is amused for hours by this!

3. One owner once chartered a private jet to fly some mozarella to the caribbean from Italy as he wanted it for his dinner that night!

4. A very famous charter boat was lost by it's owner last summer over a game of cards, the yachts value was over $40 million!

It's amazing what goes on when that level of cash is involved! There are countles other stories that i could tell but would either get into trouble for or get sued!

Believe it or not i am still in Barbados as we are waiting for some rough seas to clear up so as we can go accross to Grenada. It's not the worst place in the world to be stuck!

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Scrambled eggs

Alright folks it's a pretty easy recipe today and it should be easy enough for all of you to make if you have culinary knowledge or not. I've eaten bad scrambled eggs so many times both in restaurants and in people's houses that i thought it was time to give a quick demo! So many people try to start cooking exotic and crazy things without having knowledge of the basics! Try cooking this it really is a simple 3 minute job and the satisfaction of actually cooking something will be immense!

All is quiet here apart from that, we are still in Barbados and had a big night out last night to celebrate the guests getting off and am paying the price for it very heavily indeed today! And as if i wasn't feeling rough enough I'm expecting a delivery of live lobsters in a minute which I'm going to have to spend the rest of the day killing! see who comes out better in that battle in tomorow's video post!

Happy cooking!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Wakeboarding, crazy back flips and ball breakers!

Well folks I have actually been working pretty hard this week even if today's video tells a different story! Still have 5 guests on but they get off tomorrow so, WWAAAHOOOOOOOO party time! Have the weekend in Barbados to enjoy ourselves before heading down to Trinidad & Tobago at the start of next week!

Hope these videos of me in crystal clear water with sunny skies make you all feel terrible in the depths of winter wherever you are!!!It's a tough life but someone gotta do it!

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Fusseli pasta with watercress, pine nuts and Chery tomatoes

I only had 1 hours notice today to make lunch so I had to conjure up a quick dish. Trying to keep it light and fresh i found some watercress in the fridge and mixed it with some nice cherry tomatoes. This is a quick, easy and tasty lunch dish.

Ingredients

500g Fusseli pasta(or alternative)
4 cloves of garlic chopped
2 onions finely chopped
400g Halved cherry tomatoes
100g butter
200g Pine nuts
300g fresh watercress
200g fresh grated parmesan



Let me know if you made it and what you think!

Monday, February 19, 2007

How the Foccacia(read fast in Irish accent!!!)

Well folks i got over the headache and have once again had a busy day cooking for all the guests!Working pretty long days of 14 hours this week so having time to do fun stuff and film it is difficult! Instead i have once again filmed a recipe that i hope you will enjoy, today it is one of my favourite things, bread! I don't know why i love cooking it, guess it is something to do with the theraputic action of kneading the dough!

Am off to bed as i have a 6 A.M start to go to the fish market here in Barbados in the morning! Hope you enjoy making the bread!!

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Weekend in Barbados

Well folks all is still going well here in Barbados! I've actually been pretty busy with the guests for the weekend! This really is a beautiful island, one of the nicest in the caribbean! I'm gonna keep it short tonight as i have such a bad headache that it feels like my head is going to drop off! Watch out for more video recipes this week!

Saturday, February 17, 2007

chicken and vegetable broth


Well it's sunday and i thought it would be nice to have a wholesome chicken and vegetable broth video recipe! It's pretty quick, you should have all the ingredients in the house already and you can easily follow it step by step on here. Let me know how it goes making it!

Ingredients

4 large carrots Peeled and chopped into a rough dice
4 large white onions chopeed into a rough dice
6 mixed peppers chopped
3 sticks of celery chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 packet buckwheat noodles(or any other variety you may have)
2 litres of chicken stock

In the bowl of greens
200 grams sugar snap peas
200 grams mange touts
1 bunch coriander chopped
1 bunch parsley chopped

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Save a life today

Well guys i'll let the video do the talking today, it's so so important so please watch till the end, the message is what means the most!!

I also made a wonderful white chocolate cheescake today with fresh berries. I love food and feel that i'm a good chef that produces good food but today i was proud. I can't expalin it but i had a huge feeling of pride looking at that cake!I guess it's the reason i do this job! That and the exotic lifestyle!

Said cake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter


Filling:
2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 squares white chocolate, melted


Topping:
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Crust:
Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.


Filling:
In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar and lemon juice until light. Add eggs one at a time, while beating. Stir in sour cream, melted chocolate and vanilla until evenly mixed.


Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 to 45 minutes, until just set.


Topping:
Mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla together. Remove cheesecake from oven and spread topping over top.


Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and cool.


Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or overnight. Garnish with white chocolate curls, fruit, or fruit sauce if desired.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Safely in Barbados!

well the good news is that we battered our way through the waves and are finally here, and my god was it it worth it! What an amazing place! Whatever your mental image of heaven on earth is, this is it! I deceided on the spot that i am buying a house here today! It has everything that i could ever want, lots of golf, great surfing, wonderful white sandy beaches, friendly people and great beer. What more could a man ask for? Oh yeah being valentines day and all that maybe a nice girl to share it all with!!

I put together a new idea today which is a little video recipe that you can all work on at home! The ingredients are below and you can do it with the video in unison pausing the video as needed! I've started with something really easy and it would be perfect to do with friends for a snack or get the kids involved! Let me know what you think of the idea and if you would be interested in seeing more recipes on camera! Excuse the footage being a bit amateurish but i was holding the camera and trying to cook at the same time! Try it at home and let me know what you think!!

I'm off to get an early night now as i'm up in the morning at 6 to try and rent a surf board and get some surfing in before work starts!!!

Get cooking!!

Ingredients

1 cup Peacns
1 and a half sticks butter
1 and a half cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 dash Vanilla essence
1 cup chocolate morsels

Watch the video for recipe or follow this quick step guide



1.Toast pecans and cool
2.Whisk dry together
3.Cream butter and sugars
4.Add eggs and vanilla
5.Add dry
6.Fold in Choc chips and Nuts
7.Cook at 350/180 until golden brown

Let me know how they turned out for you by sending a picture to my e mail. I'll post the best ones!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Getting totally smashed!!!

well i'm writing this in the middle of the atlantic Ocean and all those nice posts of us jumping of the boat in idyllic conditions is a fading memory! I can barely write this anymore and am going to have to keep it short as i keep literally falling out of bed! I took the video at the start when it was light and we could still go outside. For the last 6 hours we have been stuck inside and nearly everybody is as sick as a dog! The boat is be flipped around like a rubber duck in a bath and it's over 50m long! You feel totally powerless out here in the Atlantic! Just looked at the 1 metre waves in the video and multiply them by 3 and thats what i am in at the moment! Hopefully i'll have a nice sunny post for you tomorrow and all the crew won't be too groggy!

Waves starting to get bigger but still quite small!

Monday, February 12, 2007

Superyacht pelorus 377 Feet!

This is my second post today, make sure to watch the first about being on the set of the "pirates of the caribbean" below this one!

I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time around pelorus this summer. She is the most sleek yacht ever built, just beautiful. Roman Abramovich the chelsea owner also owns this monster!



She is one of the largest private yachts in the world at 377 feet 3 inches (115 metres) in length. She was built at the Lürssen yard in Germany to the design of Tim Heywood and was launched in 2003. She was briefly owned by a Saudi businessman who sold her to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich the following year. Abramovich had her refitted to his own requirements by Blohm & Voss. This included the addition of a second helicopter pad forward, four new zero-speed stabilisers and modifications to the exhaust, mast and stern.

Pelorus is powered by two 3,600-hp Wärtsilä engines. Details about the interiors are scanty as Abramovich is protective of his family's privacy and highly security conscious, but they were designed by Terence Disdale. In 2005 Abramovich lent Pelorus to Frank Lampard and John Terry for two weeks as a bonus for being the two best players at his English football club Chelsea F.C. the previous season.

Abramovich owns Ecstasea, and gave away Le Grand Bleu to friend Eugene Shvidler see the video

To think 1 man owns this, can you believe it? What do you think of such incredible wealth?

Pirates of the caribbean

Well we were supposed to get to Barbados today but we hit the worst seas you could imagine on the way over there and were getting slammed so we had to turn back a couple of hours into the trip. Barbados is quite far out into the Atlantic so there is very little protection out there!

So being back in St Lucia isn't really the worst thing ever, i really could think of worse places to be stuck! We are going to make another run at the crossing tomorrow when hopefully the seas will have calmed down a bit!

we are anchored tonight on the beach where a lot of the pirates of the caribbean is shot! we are actually tied up to one of the docks where they tie the boats in the movies! It's really awesome as it is quite secret with no tourists around and the only people here are little local dudes in boats who were all extras in the movies! It is literally a case of walking onto the set! Check out the video!

Well hopefully we make it to Barbados tomorrow!!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

St lucia and Dallaglio

Me looking like a midget beside Dallaglio


Well it's been a pretty hectic weekend! Not so much from working but we have had a bit of time to let our hair down here in St Lucia! That has included eating out, wakeboarding, partying and my favourite part of the weekend, drinking with ex England rugby captain Laurence Dallaglio and spending hours telling him why Ireland are the greatest team in the world and England are rubbish! Luckily he was a good laugh so took it all well!



It's been busy with about 6 islands in the last week but we are on our way to Barbados( as i write this i am struggling not to fall out of the bed it is so rough!). Barbados is quite a way out into the Atlantic ocean and the waves are massive! We'll be there for 2 weeks and will get a chance to try the excellent surf there again so thats me happy! Anyway hope you are all enjoying the video posts, lots of people think i have lost the plot as i can often be seen apparently talking to myself around the boat!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Greatest night of my life

I have been lucky enough to be on this planet for 27 wonderful years and have witnessed some wonderful things. I've been thinking about it today and seeing my new born sister and being at my father's wedding are the two moments that really made me happiest in my life. For pure unadulterated happiness there is however one moment that stands out in my life. I don't even support Manchester United but on this particular evening i was going for them against the boring Germans. For those of you who don't know anything about football or soccer as my American readers call it this is the greatest moment in football history and possibly sporting history. Nothing that I have ever seen in my lifetime can match this for drama and the pure excitment and happiness that only sport can give you. This is totally different to my normal posts but it is the most incredible experience i've ever had and it is dedicated to the two people who would apprecaite this video most, my wonderful father Ronan and best friend Sean.It just doesn't get any better than this!!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Cakes and volcanoes

Well I'm pretty tired after working hard and filming the video today so i'll let it do the talking!!



Keep going ont those new names for the blog, cheers!!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Changing names

Eating dinner in Martinique tonight

I'm in Martinique today after a pretty rough crossing down here from Dominique, we were bouncing all over the place! Not nice!

I need all you guys to help me out!! Basically the name of this blog "thelifeofaprivatechef" is much too long and not catchy enough. People would never remember it and it doesn't show up very well in search engines so i'm looking for a new name! I thought it would be great if you guys could choose it for me and save me from wasting time thinking of a funny/catchy one!! It needs to be food related and have a twist about working for rich people/superyachts. It also has to be as short as possible and very catchy! I'm not asking too much! So write your ideas down in the comments below and the best one will be choosen and used for eternity!

It's the captain's birthday tomorrow so I'm up early making a big cake! Not my favourite thing in the world to do but I'll have to make a big effort as there going to be about 20 people there waiting on it!! Every time I make a cake it's usually a disaster, I'll get it all on film tomorrow so as you can see if it is or not!

Get thinking of that new blog name!!!!

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Jumping off a superyacht

Well i was trying to make an interesting video today and seeing as the guests had gone out for the day and i didn't have to cook i had to be creative so the best i could come up with was jumping off the roof and filming it! We're in Guadeloupe and the weather is gorgeous so why not!



It's not my day off today but i must say it felt like it with swimming, golf and taking it easy!

I still need plenty of comments guys about what you would like cooked next week on video, anything you would like to see filmed on the yacht or any questions you miht have! Just leave a comment at the end of this post!

Monday, February 05, 2007

Cooking on camera!

Well i woke up today and thought why not make a cooking video! Basically we are in Guadelouple and i went out shopping and filmed the making of a lunch for the guests! It's kinda hard to film as everybody is working and busy so i have to film myself but I've done the best i can!


The dish that i cooked is "seared Dorado with braised sweet potato, broccoli puree, caramalized red onions and balsamic reduction"

It's fun cooking with the camera but think i need a lot of practice! Hopefully in the next few days i'll have time to run through a whole recipe from start to finish on camera! I'm looking for some suggestions, leave a comment as what you would like to see me cook? It could be something simple like an omlette or the fanciest dish you can think of. The best suggestion will have their meal cooked and shown here next week. Just leaeve a comment below!


I'm off to bed it's been a long day!

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Arriving Guadeloupe

Well i've officially launched my own TV station on You Tube now so you can watch all my videos. Its another way of drumming up support for the blog which should mean more money for the African kids.

I have just arrived in Guadeloupe after a 4 hour crossing from Antigua. It's good to be back on a French speaking island and away from all the bars and attractions of Antigua!

Tomorrow is a huge day for us as the owners and a few of the crew love American football so we are having a big Superbowl party! That means a big barbecue, heaps of food and lots of beers!I'll let you know how it all foes tomorrow!

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Friday, February 02, 2007

SY Maltese Falcon 88m



The Maltese Falcon is a clipper sailing luxury yacht owned by American centimillionaire Tom Perkins. It is the largest privately-owned sailing yacht in the world at 88 metres (289.1 feet). Ken Freivokh Design were the appointed designers for Maltese Falcon, the world's largest privately owned sailing yacht.

The luxury yacht is currently registered in George Town, USA; though it will shortly be registered in Valletta, Malta as Grand Harbour will be its homeport for the next 25 years. It completed its trial sail in the Marmara to the Bosphorus strait on 12 June 2006 and made its maiden voyage from Turkey to Italy via Malta in July 2006. S/Y ‘Maltese Falcon’ was be available for select yacht charters beginning in the summer of 2006 and charters out for between EUR€ 325000.00-335000.00 per week[1] plus expenses.


She sports fifteen square sails (five per mast) which only take 6 minutes to open. The three carbonfibre masts, manufactured and assembled at the Yildiz Gemi yard in Tuzla, 50 miles south of Istanbul, Turkey, under the supervision of the English company Insensys are free-standing and rotating, an absolute world-first for an application of this size and complexity. Without sails, these masts can be used on their own to leave port. The yacht's sophisticated computer detects parameters such as wind speed automatically and controls all sailing controls, making it possible for a single person to pilot the yacht

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Day off in Antigua

The view in shirley hights Antigua

I hope you are all enjoying the video posts but i'll go for an old fashioned one today with plain old words and pictures! Had a great day off today but couldn't get a dune buggy so had to settle for a moped, lots of fun though!

Was on the golf course by 8 and could not have played any worse! At least the view was awesome! Then spent the rest of the day on a little beach on the other side of the island. The best thing to do in the whole of Antigua is have a rum punch in Shirley Heights where the view is the best in the world! It's where Heratio Nelson used to hand out and direct his military operations. You could also literally be on the set on Pirates of the Caribbean!!

I've posted this early as we are having a night out for a girls birthday tonight and it could get messy! Better not posting later! Off to guadeloupe in the morning so will get you all a video of cruising down

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Superyachts

Well for those of you who havn't seen a superyacht in the flesh here is a little video of one! It should give you a bit of an idea of the scale and just how big they actually are!


I am still in Antigua and am off today so am getting scooter to tour the island and play golf.Watch out for tomorrow's video of me sinking a 40 foot put on the golf course!

Myself and one of the deckhands took some time out of our busy shopping day today to check out a cricket stadium, one of the most famous in the world, where Brian Lara made his world record 400, the recriation ground in Antigua!The tour guide told us the west Indians are the best fans as they are always drunk and stoned!


I hope you are starting to enjoy the videos and they are giving you some insight into yachting. If you go to Youtube you can subscribe to my very own channel and see all the yacht videos!

Please do remember to donate as this is all for a good cause and i need all the help with this i can get!Donations are really starting to pick up but it's never enough, children are dying as i write this!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Video posts

I was lying in bed last night thinking about ways to improve the blog when it dawned on me....why not have a video blog! Words and pictures are all well and good but i think people struggle to realise what superyachts are actually like and some of the places we go are so nice that only seeing them in film will do them justice. I will continue to write every day but will now add videos aswell as often as possible! They will also be available on Youtube so watch out for them there aswell. Here is the first one....Let me know what you think with a comment!

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Stepping aboard the Maltese Falcon

Remarkably all the sales are controlled by touch screen in the bridge and even though 88m it is designed to be sailed single handed.

I've been in Antigua for a couple of days now and am lucky enough to have a coulple of friends working on the brand new 88m sailing boat "Maltese Falcon". Its one of the biggest sailing yachts in the world, has stunning design, amazing interior and causes a stir wherever it goes. I was lucky enough to be given a guided tour and can report that it is the most stunning and remarkable boat i have ever been on.



The design is highly unusual from the outside but as soon as you step inside it starts to make a lot of sense with fantastic views, amazing skylights and truly remarkable features! The lush dining room is complete with an electronic wall that pulls back to reveal a fine collection of wines and the boat has some of the most tasteful artwork i have ever seen. I was told the boat is meant to have cost 150 million dollars and i can well believe it!

The dining room is as big as some shore side restaurants would be!


The owner Tom perkins is the founder of HP printers and an avid sailor who was heavily involved in the design. The crew told me they are fully booked for charters until 2008 and havn't had a day off in 4 months! I really am not surprised as this really is a remarkable and truly unique boat!!

Seared Tuna with passion fruit coulis and pineapple

Fresh, vibrant and so so healthy

we spend a lot of time in the caribbean and with constant warn weather it's always nice to have something light to eat at lunch time. This dish is perfect and if you spend a bit of time looking for some excellent tuna it'll be a sure fire lunchtime winner for you and your friends! Go to your local fish munger and ask him for some sushi grade tuna and don't be afraid to spend quite a bit! I promise you when it melts in your mouth you'll realise it was worth every penny!!

Makes for 4 people

4 tuna loin steaks at about 200 grams each
2 limes
2 passion fruits
50 grams sugar
Half a pineapple
100grams sugar snap peas or mange touts
Coriander leaves

start by making the sauce. Scrape out the centre of both the passion fruits and place in a small pot along with the sugar and 50 ml water. Bring it to the boil and then place in a food processor. Blend for 5 minutes until very smooth and then strain through a fine strainer.Set aside and allow to cool.
Cut 12 thin slices of pineapple and sear them in a frying pan over a high heat for 1 minute on each side or until golden brown.
Now on a grill pan sear the seasoned tuna on both sides over a very hot heat for 1 minute each side. At the same time cook the sugar snap peas in boiling salted water for not more than 2 minutes.Arrange the sugar snaps and the pineapple in a line at the top of the plate. Place the tuna in the middle and spoon some of the sauce around the tuna. GGarnish with some of the coriander leaves.

This lunch is meant to be very light so either eat as it is or serve with a very light side salad of rocket leaves dressed simply with olive oil and good sea salt.
This is as healthy as it gets so treat yourself to a nice glass of white and enjoy!

I know yours will look this good!!!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Another day off in paradise

Beautiful St Kitts where i am today

well i must say the reaction has been fantastic since yesterday when i asked people to start donating! Just look at the total and how it is rising! For those of you who havn't done so yet please please put your hand in your pocket and start now! For those of you who have thank you and please make it a monthly occurence!

I'm in St Kitts now which is a beautiful island, lots of rolling hills which reminded me of Ireland but maybe a bit warmer here!

Life is pretty good at the moment and having a day off in a place like this always helps! We spent the day out around sightseeing and exploring. Lunch was in a plantation where they harvest sugar and we have just come back from sipping some nice local rum cocktails!
Having dinner and drinks by the pool with the crew


I'm also adding plent of recipes by the day and you will be able to find them by looking on the right hand side of the blog under labels. I will no longer include them in the daily post but there should be at least one new recipe per day. I would also love to hear any comments that any of you might have about attempts you have had of making the recipes! Just leave a comment after this post!

I am off to bed now as have an early start, we are heading to Antigua in the morning! It's well known as a place for crew to let their hair down so better get my beauty sleep!
If you were unsure about donating watch this and please give the 10 euros that could save a child like these lives

Thanks once again for the donations and keep it up!!!!!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Give up a beer save a life


Well the time has come to speed things up and start giving donations to speed the project up. What i am asking you guys to do is to give up one small thing like a beer, coffee or magazine and save an African life. Basically by cutting out one small thing like that a week you should be able to donate 10 euros a month. Just think about that amount, 10 euros, that means nothing to most of us but will go so far to helping in Africa.

Its so easy for all of you to read something like this and think thats great and do nothing and leave it to others. Now is the time to act, people are dying now, this second. In the orphange i want to help now there are children lying on the floor with no clean water, little food, no hope and HIV. If we start donating those very kids will have clean water, basic regular food, HIV retro viral drugs and with a bit of luck some hope for the future. EVERY SINGLE PENNY you donate will make it to the cause. Instead of having a large operation like a charity that costs money to run we will take the money directly to Africa, with volunters and build a lasting place for children to prosper and have a viable future.

So many people go about their business from day to day so ignorant of the problem going on right on our doorstep. You jump on a plane from London and in 6 hours you are there in the middle of all these people dying. We all have out little goals in life like the new flat screen TV, the holiday, the new car etc but what about the children lying there in Zimbabwe wishing and praying as hard as you do for what they want. They are pretty reasonable, their needs are not huge, all they want is water, food and basic medication. I'm not asking you to give up all you possesions or even any of your time, just a simple little donation. Together we can make a difference, don't leave it to others like we always do, don't think you can't afford it beacuse you can easily. Just give up one little luxury a week and we will start to make a difference.



All donations can be made in the top right hand corner of the screen. The method uses PayPal which is 100% safe and secure. I am starting the ball rolling by donating 100 dollars per month and hope that you will all start to contribute yourselves very soon. Thank you and lets get this going as soon as we can to help those kids!

Monday, January 22, 2007

Weekend in St Barts

The beautiful exclusive St Barts

Well its been another tough weekend hanging out in st barts. We have been here for 4 days now and have spent most of the time checking out the beaches by day and the clubs by night. Its a beautiful little island only 6 miles wide but populated by some of the best clubs and resturants in the world along with enough glamourous people and hollywood A listers and models to keep your head turning from one side to the other all day long!

It's also a great place for surfing and it was great to get over the hangovers by jumping into the surf!

We also got the chance to eat in some of the best restaurants as the guests were kind enough to take me out to sample some of thr local food. One bill came to 1800 euros for 6 of us so you can see that st barts is not for the faint hearted!

Refrshed and back at work with lots of new ideas on the boat! We are off to St Kitts tomorrow for a couple of days. Golf is booked for the four seasons hotel there so i need to go and get my beauty sleep as i'll need to be on top of my game there!
The girls dancing at nikki beach st barts

Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Reason i write this....

Kids are starving and dying right this second

I've put a lot of thought into what to do with the money raised form this site and have finally found a worthy cause. My uncle lives in Zimbabwe has found an excellent cause that we can be sure will receive the money first hand, use it properly and use every single cent we raise. So many charities have huge administrative costs or plainly lie about what they are doing with the money. My aim is to start something that will get 100% of the money to the children.

The following is a passage from an e mail my uncle sent me this week..

Shungu Dzevana Trust = Passionate concern for children " in Shona ..is a
private voluntary organisation giving support to orphaned children in the
form of child fostering .It is catering for 400+ children including dumped
babies . When we were there , 5 weeks ago , there was a 3 week old baby left
at the gate in a plastic shopping bag . The children are all Aids orphans
and they probably have it as well . But when you go there and see them
running around as happy as can be it would do your heart good .

The unit we support is run by an African nun , Sr Mercy Mutyambizi , and is
in a 3 bedroom bungalow with about 10 in each room , bunk beds etc . She is
trying to build extra rooms but the cost of day to day running the show uses
any money she gets .

She gets no support from the government ..most of her funding comes from the
Irish Carmelite priests and it was them that introduced her to us .

Zimbabwe was once a prosperous country with thriving crops but has recently suffered huge droughts and oppressive rule from Robert Mugabe. The people suffering the most are the children.

I thought i was having a hard day today and then i read that and it makes you think again.

My idea is to start sending money as soon as we get to 1000 dollars raised. Withing the next week there will be a facility to accept donations on the site as well so that will speed things up significantly. I want to fly out there myself soon to look into it further and report back on the blog so as we all have something to read and work towards. I find that the biggest problem with giving is that you never see who it helps and you always wonder what is happening with your cash. At least this way we will have a direct link to what we are doing and weekly reports with pictures etc.
I want to give the kids a future


So at least we now ave a project to start with and something to work towards. I will be trying everything in my power to move this along over the coming weeks and hope that you will also and help by passing the link on and reading as regularly as possible.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Havin a beer with the boys after work

Well it's another day in paradise and i started it off with a little spin in the kayak before breakfast, it's all part of the new year's keep fit regime which is going well so far! Lets see how long it lasts! I spent the rest of the day cooking and getting some things ready for my day off tomorrow which is being spent on the golf course followed by my favourite burgers and beers on the beach! You can cook all the fancy food in the world but nothing compares to the burgers this little man cooks on his dirty barbecue and beers from his ice box after walking 6 miles around a Caribbean golf course!Heaven!!!

After my kayaking i came back and made this salad for the owners. I always think it is nice to have something light and health at lunch time and this fits the bill perfectly...

Seared swordfish with fresh summer salad

1 piece of swordfish
1 lime
1 bunch coriander
salt and pepper


For the salad

3 different types of leaves like frise, mache and rocket or whatever you can find
1 punnit of raspberries
12 asparagus
1 red pepper
12 asparagus
10 cherry tomatoes

For the dressing

30ml olive oil
30g whole grain mustard
20ml white wine vinegar


Marinate the fish with the lime juice and zest and chopped coriander preferably an hour before hand. Make the dressing by whisking the vinegar and mustard together and then slowly pouring the oil in whilst continuing to whisk. Place all the salad ingredients in a bowl(halving the cherry tomatoes and thinly slicing the peppers).
Next place the asparagus in the oven with a dash of olive oil and some salt and pepper for 5 minutes on 180. While they are in the oven sear the fish in a frying pan in a small amount of olive oil. Sear it for 3 minutes on each side until it feels slightly firm to the touch on each side. Toss the asparagus with the salad ingredients and dressing and place on the centre of plate. Add the fish and drizzle a bit of the dressing around the edge! Done, fresh and lovely!!

Your salad will look like this I'm sure!!!