Just a few days to go until the big Christmas Dinner. Stop — allow yourself to slow down for a few minutes. Ask yourself, on a scale of one to 10 how vital is it to dash to the shops once again to buy those last few things?

Ballymaloe Cookery School’s students spread far and wide, using the skills they learned to push the boundaries of the global food scene.

Drawn by Darina’s endless enthusiasm and passion for good food, the greatest minds of the global food scene come to Ballymaloe to teach, and leave having learned a lesson of their own.

What’s it like to be part of the team at Ballymaloe Cookery School? Meet the people that inspire and delight the culinary stars of the future.

It came as quite a surprise to learn that I had been writing my Weekend column in the Irish Examiner for 21 years — how the years have flown by and how the food scene has changed in Ireland over those two decades.

As Darina Allen marks 21 years of writing for The Irish Examiner, she talks to Ciara McDonnell about her amazing career.

An insight into the world of gardening.

One Pot Feeds All… my 19th cookbook has just arrived in shops around the country. There I am, smiling off the front cover.

Food writer Georgina Campbell has warned that hospitality standards are slipping at some of Ireland’s highest-rated and most expensive hotels and restaurants.

The teenage son of TV chef, Rachel Allen, has been remanded on continuing bail for sentencing on drugs charges later this year.

Foraging for wild foods with my little basket on my arm is definitely up there with my favourite pastimes.

Honey & Co Chefs, husband and wife team, Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich are sitting contentedly at our kitchen table podding peas and broad beans for supper.

AN exciting parcel arrived on my desk today, a present from a past student who wanted me to have a copy of her first cook book.

Celebrity chef Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery School returned to profit last year, recording a profit of €62,134 compared to a loss of €45,548 in the previous year.

IT CAME as quite a surprise to many to discover that one of the several ‘hats’ I wear is Honorary Council General for Sri Lanka to Ireland.

May 20 is World Bee Day so I’m devoting a whole column this week to honey, nature’s most delicious, interesting and biodiverse sweetener.

As Rory O’Connell returns with a new RTÉ series exploring international cuisine, he returns to his local roots for a new food festival in Cork. Ciara McDonnell reports.

Joshua Allen’s drug treatment is continuing, his lawyer said as the son of celebrity chef Rachel Allen confirmed his signed guilty plea to having cannabis for sale or supply at the Ballymaloe Cookery School.

Eve Kelliher reports on the sale of 1860s-built Ballymaloe Cottage, located adjacent to the world-famous Ballymaloe Country House.

The husband of the late and much-loved award-winning author Emma Hannigan has revealed that a documentary is to be screened by RTÉ.

Joshua Allen, 19, has been remanded to Cork Circuit Criminal Court after appearing before Midleton District Court on six drugs charges.

Want to start a Zero Food Waste challenge in your home? Darina Allen has all you know to know – leftovers will be a thing of the past.

Well Christmas is well and truly over for another year.

There’s no need to settle for less at the Christmas table, says Arlene Harris who asks three wise chefs for their top vegan recipes

We are super excited to have three new Michelin star restaurants in Co Cork: The Mews in Baltimore, West Cork under chef Ahmet Dede; Ichigo Ichie in Cork city owned by chef Takashi Miyazaki and Chestnut in Ballydehob with chef Rob Krawczyk (a Ballymaloe Cookery School alumni).

WE’RE all set for Halloween, squash, pumpkins and gourds of every size, shape and colour are piled precariously on the cookery school table tops, window ledges, in baskets and boxes. They look so beautiful.

We were on our way to Ennistymon to eat at Little Fox, a newly opened, super cool café on a corner of Main Street.

TV chef Rachel Allen is to close her first restaurant for a €1m casual dining reinvention. Rachel’s, on Cork’s Washington St, which opened in March 2017, will close on August 8 for the eight-week revamp.

Rachel Allen’s TV shows were filmed in this extensive home next to a beautiful beach and nature reserve in East Cork. Tommy Barker steps into a real dream home.

TV chef Rachel Allen and her Formula 4 racing son, Lucca, have backed a new drive to encourage visitors to turn east after landing at Cork Airport.

I’m back writing about Spanish wine again this week (after a short break!) but I have a good excuse as Spanish Wine Week runs from April 23 to April 29. I’ve spoken a lot about the value to be had from Spain but less about cava. Much of the cava we drank in the 1990s was rather simple

I’M JUST back from a flying visit to California, a mini book tour with a few days in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Ojai (pronounced O hi) — a beautiful valley, north of Los Angeles, carpeted with orange and avocado groves and surrounded by the Topatopa Mountains.

Darina Allen shares her favourite St Patrick's Day recipes

London is right up there with New York and San Francisco, vying for the title of top food capital in the world.

The Indian Spring festival of colours, Holi, is celebrated by Hindus all over the world and after Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is considered to be the second biggest festival on the Hindu calendar.

Brother and sister Rory O’Connell and Darina Allen recall their childhood Christmas memories with Marjorie Brennan

Food news with Joe McNamee

Ask any of my Certificate Course students where they would like to work when they finish their stint at the Ballymaloe Cookery School — at least a quarter will sigh wistfully and mention Ottolenghi and indeed many of my past students have worked there and loved their experience.

FIFTY-THREE years ago, in 1964, Myrtle Allen opened a restaurant in her own house in the wilds of East Cork to celebrate the connection between agriculture and gastronomy, uniting a whole food movement of farm to fork eating which has inspired chefs and cooks, not only in Ireland, but all over the world.