Hello 2018!!!
I hope you're absolutely loving life and that this year is gonna be another class year for ya, full of amazing people, fab food, and good vibes!
Just to let you know: I'll be posting a new blog post every Sunday at 7:30pm so make sure to check back here every week for a new post!
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Welcome back to my interview series that I like to call "Chill Chats"!
I hope you're absolutely loving life and that this year is gonna be another class year for ya, full of amazing people, fab food, and good vibes!
Just to let you know: I'll be posting a new blog post every Sunday at 7:30pm so make sure to check back here every week for a new post!
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Welcome back to my interview series that I like to call "Chill Chats"!
It's where I talk to inspiring/cool/groovy/interesting people about food and life and all that jazz!
The 1st Chill Chats interview was with the fab Holly Wolfe which you can read by clicking here!
Michael Gannon is one of my best friends in the whole entire world, he's like my brother! We were in a lot of the same orchestras (he plays the violin and I play the viola) so we were always hanging out and travelling to different places for music-related events!
Michael is so kind and inspiring and hilarious, like I don't know how but he always has me nearly wetting myself with laughter!
Also, Michael did the Cork City Marathon last year, something that is on my bucket list of things to do, so he's defo the man to chat to if you need any exercise tips etc!
Also, Michael did the Cork City Marathon last year, something that is on my bucket list of things to do, so he's defo the man to chat to if you need any exercise tips etc!
He deserves a special thank you for putting up with me talking about food all the time and for eating everything I cook/bake ahaha!
Thank you for being such a sound human, Michael!
Here's what we chatted about, I hope you enjoy it!
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1. Favourite fruit?
My favourite fruit is an orange, because I've literally just had one and some orange juice! I like when you get an orange that's slightly bitter, a good tangy orange.
Me: Oh nooooo, they have to be sweet!
2. Favourite veg?
I think carrots, but they can be a bit hit or miss sometimes! I love a nice stew with some carrots, or some raw carrots with a bit of hummus or whatever you fancy, even peanut butter! It shouldn't be good, but it's a good snack.
3. What's the one meal you couldn't live without?
Protein and porridge, it's what keeps me going. Sometimes I leave it soak overnight and the oats go creamy but sometimes I'm in a rush where I just eat them without soaking overnight. I use a chocolate mint flavour protein and just mix it in with some oats and milk.
4. Favourite time of the day?
I would say any time after 8 o'clock in the evening just because you still have time to do stuff if you want like go to the gym, or you can just chill out, watch some Netflix or just do whatever. That's what I like about that time.
5. What's your go-to breakfast at the moment?
Eggs on toast. Toasted brown bread with seeds, a bit of butter, and then some scrambled eggs on top. I was getting a bit bored of just plain eggs so this morning I threw in some soy sauce and some chilli flakes which was good!
6. Favourite song?
That's a difficult one, I'd have to say "Under The Same Sun" by Ben Howard. It's the song that's always been my favourite without even realising it. His first album is very folksy and acoustic and raw and I really like that song because it has percussive guitar playing and when I heard it first, it was the first time I ever heard anything like that, it really got me into that type of music.
7. What's your coffee order?
It changed recently, I used to really like getting a flat white but you can only get a small one, it's one size, if you want more then tough you have to buy another one! Don't get me wrong, it's nice, but I get a cappuccino now. Or a latte. I'm cool with any big cup of coffee. I appreciate a good cup of coffee. I'll get whatever milk is going, oat milk or cashew milk are nice, but I'll get a coffee with normal milk too.
8. Do you have any words of wisdom or a favourite quote that inspires you?
Yes I do! The quote is by a Chinese philosopher and it's:
"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."
It's so easy to be passive and sit back but even to start with a small step, you're closer to your goal than you were. That's something that's stuck with me and I try and remember it.
9. If you were to make a smoothie what would be in it?
It definitely has to have bananas, or some sort of yogurt, something that gives it a bit of thickness. Beyond that, I don't really mind! Whatever I find in my fridge, whatever's going. I'd have milk in a smoothie, I wouldn't do water in a smoothie, it dilutes the flavour. And it'd have to have ice, there's nothing worse than a warm smoothie!
10. If you could change one thing in the world what would it be and why?
There are a lot of damaging stigmas and a lot of people that feed off what other people say and think. I wish there was more of an open-mindedness, that'd be cool, if people reserved judgement for a minute. It'd be a cooler place to be, people wouldn't be afraid to express themselves, because at the moment I feel as if there's a need to fit in. People are changing, it does take a while but I feel that there are people pushing the boundaries and that's cool to see, just in general.
11. Favourite snack?
I'd say some trail mix or some mixed nuts or something. If I'm feeling like snacking I'll nom away. Roasted is pretty good, maybe salted, it depends! I'm digging raw cashew nuts at the moment, they're pretty cool.
12. What's your top tip for staying healthy?
Plan!
If you plan and prepare your meals in advance, it's a lot easier to heat something up and just have it, rather than going from scratch and having to make a big meal.
Invest in Tupperware, make things in bulk and then just separate them out, it's so easy to eat healthily then.
In terms of exercise, have a routine, have a plan because you push yourself a lot more when you know how much you're going to be doing that day. You can tell yourself that you're halfway through your workout etc. If you don't have a plan then you can overdo it.
Prepare yourself and have stuff ready.
13. Who inspires you?
Anyone who has their shit together, excuse my language! You can learn a lot from those people, it lights a fire under you and it can be very inspirational. It can be a dangerous thing to follow someone's word and their story too closely, but if you're aware of a person and their effect on you, then you can use them as a source of inspiration and let them motivate you.
14. What is your biggest achievement so far?
My biggest achievement so far was planning the trip to Ghana and then visiting there when I was 17. There was about a year and a half of planning, it came from nothing, it was basically my friend Eoin and from that we ended up raising I think it was like €30,000 for projects out in Northern Ghana, and visiting for 10 days was incredible. That's something that's always stuck with me.
15. Favourite café or restaurant?
I'd say my favourite restaurant would be Coqbull in town, I'm a big fan. They do a good chicken burger and their sweet potato fries are the best thing ever! Big fan of the food, and the place as well is quite chill and I like that it's quite industrial, it's really cool there.
16. Hummus or guacamole?
Guacamole, I think I'm a guac kid. I wouldn't eat it with a spoon, it needs to have something with it, even just some tortilla chips.
There's nothing worse than a watery, wet hummus when it's separated!
Me: Yuckkkk, I agree!
17. Where's your favourite place in the world?
I would say somewhere quiet, probably Gougane Barra. I went there with a few friends over summer and we spent out time just playing music and it was really nice. It's so tranquil with the lake and everything there. Now, the only thing is the last time we went we got eaten alive by bugs! But we had such a good laugh and we had just such a stupid time, it was so nice.
18. What do you do to stay active?
I go to the gym, I try and go every day if I can. I also cycle everywhere so that's a surefire way of not getting lazy. I have no choice but to cycle everywhere because I don't drive yet so I'll never get lazy from that! I really like going to the gym, you can just put on music and chill out if there's a lot on your mind, it's just a nice place to be.
19. If you could have dinner with any 3 people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
I actually don't know, I couldn't tell you! Anyone that you'd have a good chat with. It'd be cool to chat to someone who's open-minded. Just any 3 interesting people, I'd be happy out!
20. Favourite item of clothing you own?
So I recently got a new jacket and it was a bit more than I should've paid for a jacket, but I'm not unhappy that I paid that much for it. It was a good investment, it's a leather jacket, I'm a big fan of it. It's something I'll always have, like, leather jackets will never really go out of style. That's my favourite at the moment anyway.
21. Favourite dessert?
Cake! A tasty cake, I love a good chocolate cake or coffee cake or pecan cake, any of those. Not a huge fan of sponges or vanilla cakes, they're too boring. You can't beat a really nice chocolate cake.
22. What's the highest percentage of dark chocolate you've ever had?
It's definitely 99%. I've had bars of dark chocolate that have had a lot of flavour, it's a lot more interesting than just your ordinary milk chocolate. I'm definitely a massive fan of dark chocolate.
23. Favourite thing to put on toast?
Oooh on toast...a bitta butter and banana. Brown toast is really nice with slices of banana.
24. Favourite herb or spice?
Chilli flakes, without a doubt! I like to have a bit of a kick in what I'm eating. Even in my eggs this morning it just added an extra something, it was really nice. No matter what I'm cooking there's gotta be some chilli flakes in there. They're my number one!
25. Since I've asked you so many questions, what's one question you have for me?
Michael: Do you want to go to Coqbull sometime soon?
Me: Yes!!! Sometime in the New Year, that'd be class!
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And there we go, Chill Chats #2 with Michael!
Thank you to Michael for being an absolute legend, I actually love ya to bits!
I hope you like these Chill Chats interviews and make sure to check out Holly's interview which you can do by clicking here!
I hope your 2018 is absolutely rockin' so far and I hope you're enjoying life in the New Year!
See ya next week for another blog post!
Big love,
Darragh
My favourite fruit is an orange, because I've literally just had one and some orange juice! I like when you get an orange that's slightly bitter, a good tangy orange.
Me: Oh nooooo, they have to be sweet!
2. Favourite veg?
I think carrots, but they can be a bit hit or miss sometimes! I love a nice stew with some carrots, or some raw carrots with a bit of hummus or whatever you fancy, even peanut butter! It shouldn't be good, but it's a good snack.
3. What's the one meal you couldn't live without?
Protein and porridge, it's what keeps me going. Sometimes I leave it soak overnight and the oats go creamy but sometimes I'm in a rush where I just eat them without soaking overnight. I use a chocolate mint flavour protein and just mix it in with some oats and milk.
4. Favourite time of the day?
I would say any time after 8 o'clock in the evening just because you still have time to do stuff if you want like go to the gym, or you can just chill out, watch some Netflix or just do whatever. That's what I like about that time.
5. What's your go-to breakfast at the moment?
Eggs on toast. Toasted brown bread with seeds, a bit of butter, and then some scrambled eggs on top. I was getting a bit bored of just plain eggs so this morning I threw in some soy sauce and some chilli flakes which was good!
6. Favourite song?
That's a difficult one, I'd have to say "Under The Same Sun" by Ben Howard. It's the song that's always been my favourite without even realising it. His first album is very folksy and acoustic and raw and I really like that song because it has percussive guitar playing and when I heard it first, it was the first time I ever heard anything like that, it really got me into that type of music.
7. What's your coffee order?
It changed recently, I used to really like getting a flat white but you can only get a small one, it's one size, if you want more then tough you have to buy another one! Don't get me wrong, it's nice, but I get a cappuccino now. Or a latte. I'm cool with any big cup of coffee. I appreciate a good cup of coffee. I'll get whatever milk is going, oat milk or cashew milk are nice, but I'll get a coffee with normal milk too.
8. Do you have any words of wisdom or a favourite quote that inspires you?
Yes I do! The quote is by a Chinese philosopher and it's:
"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."
It's so easy to be passive and sit back but even to start with a small step, you're closer to your goal than you were. That's something that's stuck with me and I try and remember it.
9. If you were to make a smoothie what would be in it?
It definitely has to have bananas, or some sort of yogurt, something that gives it a bit of thickness. Beyond that, I don't really mind! Whatever I find in my fridge, whatever's going. I'd have milk in a smoothie, I wouldn't do water in a smoothie, it dilutes the flavour. And it'd have to have ice, there's nothing worse than a warm smoothie!
10. If you could change one thing in the world what would it be and why?
There are a lot of damaging stigmas and a lot of people that feed off what other people say and think. I wish there was more of an open-mindedness, that'd be cool, if people reserved judgement for a minute. It'd be a cooler place to be, people wouldn't be afraid to express themselves, because at the moment I feel as if there's a need to fit in. People are changing, it does take a while but I feel that there are people pushing the boundaries and that's cool to see, just in general.
11. Favourite snack?
I'd say some trail mix or some mixed nuts or something. If I'm feeling like snacking I'll nom away. Roasted is pretty good, maybe salted, it depends! I'm digging raw cashew nuts at the moment, they're pretty cool.
12. What's your top tip for staying healthy?
Plan!
If you plan and prepare your meals in advance, it's a lot easier to heat something up and just have it, rather than going from scratch and having to make a big meal.
Invest in Tupperware, make things in bulk and then just separate them out, it's so easy to eat healthily then.
In terms of exercise, have a routine, have a plan because you push yourself a lot more when you know how much you're going to be doing that day. You can tell yourself that you're halfway through your workout etc. If you don't have a plan then you can overdo it.
Prepare yourself and have stuff ready.
13. Who inspires you?
Anyone who has their shit together, excuse my language! You can learn a lot from those people, it lights a fire under you and it can be very inspirational. It can be a dangerous thing to follow someone's word and their story too closely, but if you're aware of a person and their effect on you, then you can use them as a source of inspiration and let them motivate you.
14. What is your biggest achievement so far?
My biggest achievement so far was planning the trip to Ghana and then visiting there when I was 17. There was about a year and a half of planning, it came from nothing, it was basically my friend Eoin and from that we ended up raising I think it was like €30,000 for projects out in Northern Ghana, and visiting for 10 days was incredible. That's something that's always stuck with me.
15. Favourite café or restaurant?
I'd say my favourite restaurant would be Coqbull in town, I'm a big fan. They do a good chicken burger and their sweet potato fries are the best thing ever! Big fan of the food, and the place as well is quite chill and I like that it's quite industrial, it's really cool there.
16. Hummus or guacamole?
Guacamole, I think I'm a guac kid. I wouldn't eat it with a spoon, it needs to have something with it, even just some tortilla chips.
There's nothing worse than a watery, wet hummus when it's separated!
Me: Yuckkkk, I agree!
17. Where's your favourite place in the world?
I would say somewhere quiet, probably Gougane Barra. I went there with a few friends over summer and we spent out time just playing music and it was really nice. It's so tranquil with the lake and everything there. Now, the only thing is the last time we went we got eaten alive by bugs! But we had such a good laugh and we had just such a stupid time, it was so nice.
18. What do you do to stay active?
I go to the gym, I try and go every day if I can. I also cycle everywhere so that's a surefire way of not getting lazy. I have no choice but to cycle everywhere because I don't drive yet so I'll never get lazy from that! I really like going to the gym, you can just put on music and chill out if there's a lot on your mind, it's just a nice place to be.
19. If you could have dinner with any 3 people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
I actually don't know, I couldn't tell you! Anyone that you'd have a good chat with. It'd be cool to chat to someone who's open-minded. Just any 3 interesting people, I'd be happy out!
20. Favourite item of clothing you own?
So I recently got a new jacket and it was a bit more than I should've paid for a jacket, but I'm not unhappy that I paid that much for it. It was a good investment, it's a leather jacket, I'm a big fan of it. It's something I'll always have, like, leather jackets will never really go out of style. That's my favourite at the moment anyway.
21. Favourite dessert?
Cake! A tasty cake, I love a good chocolate cake or coffee cake or pecan cake, any of those. Not a huge fan of sponges or vanilla cakes, they're too boring. You can't beat a really nice chocolate cake.
22. What's the highest percentage of dark chocolate you've ever had?
It's definitely 99%. I've had bars of dark chocolate that have had a lot of flavour, it's a lot more interesting than just your ordinary milk chocolate. I'm definitely a massive fan of dark chocolate.
23. Favourite thing to put on toast?
Oooh on toast...a bitta butter and banana. Brown toast is really nice with slices of banana.
24. Favourite herb or spice?
Chilli flakes, without a doubt! I like to have a bit of a kick in what I'm eating. Even in my eggs this morning it just added an extra something, it was really nice. No matter what I'm cooking there's gotta be some chilli flakes in there. They're my number one!
25. Since I've asked you so many questions, what's one question you have for me?
Michael: Do you want to go to Coqbull sometime soon?
Me: Yes!!! Sometime in the New Year, that'd be class!
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| We were chatting over these class coffees in Soma. In case you can't tell by now, I love Soma a lotttttt. |
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| In true Michael Gannon style we cycled into town on our bikes, and in true Darragh Woods style I had to take a picture for Insta ahahaha! |
Thank you to Michael for being an absolute legend, I actually love ya to bits!
I hope you like these Chill Chats interviews and make sure to check out Holly's interview which you can do by clicking here!
I hope your 2018 is absolutely rockin' so far and I hope you're enjoying life in the New Year!
See ya next week for another blog post!
Big love,
Darragh
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