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A Coeliac’s Dream: From Judging to Attending the FreeFrom Food Awards
Having judged in September, I had the pleasure of attending the FreeFrom Food Awards on Friday night. The event, held (on the rainiest night of the year!) at The Grand Hotel in Malahide, brought together producers, chefs, and food lovers, all committed to making delicious, inclusive food accessible to everyone.…
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Be Happy and Healthy: Connect in Real Life
Humans are social creatures – we need each other. Sociality is thought to have been one of the key reasons Homo sapiens survived while other human species, such as Neanderthals, did not. We may not be able to draw a direct parallel with their extinction and this new technological age,…
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Beyond Taste: Exploring the World of Flavour
Flavour is often simplified to taste – salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. But true flavour is far richer, shaped by chemistry, culture, memory, and emotion. To explore flavour is to move beyond the tongue itself and into a world where senses overlap, history lingers, and identity takes shape with…
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Archaeology: Connecting Past and Present
Take a moment to close your eyes and picture a monument, a ruin, or an old building in your local area. Perhaps it’s a stone wall, a church, a dolmen, or the remains of a long-abandoned structure. Imagine the hands that built it, the lives that unfolded around it, and…
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“It’ll Come to You, This Love of the Land”*
People connect to land in many ways – emotionally, socially, historically, spiritually, and economically. These connections provide memory, belonging, grounding, identity, and a sense of continuity with past and future. The land is not just a backdrop for life. It is an active participant in shaping our experiences. This post…
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Why Connection Matters
Humans have always sought connection. From the way our ancestors gathered around fire and food to share stories, traditions, and laughter, to how we now reach across distances with conversation and shared experiences, the need to belong and to understand one another is universal. Connection gives life its depth. It…
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Oak and Oolite Explained
Oak & Oolite may seem like an unusual name, so it deserves an explanation. I am from County Kildare in Ireland and I wanted a name that reflected the land and what it produces. My first idea was Oak & Limestone but it did not feel quite right. A few…
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Welcome to Oak & Oolite
Hello and welcome! I’m delighted you’ve found your way here to Oak & Oolite, a land-inspired blog – a place where time, taste, and connection come together. Here, I share posts that aim to encourage connection to land, the past, food and shared human experience, helping us remember what truly…
