My father

I remember the smell of my father. Smells stay with you. He smelled of beer and armpit sweat. Kinda. I know it may not be pleasant to picture but that smell will forever be a comfort to me. I'd say that there are many Irish people my age that have memories of their father linked to beer and sweat. Deodorant was only a twinkling in a scientists eye, and beer; it was the fuel of a nation. There's a saying, "beer was invented to stop the Irish conquering the world".

It's around Christmas time that I miss him the most. He died in 1978, but he always made Christmas magical. We never had a traditional Irish Christmas. My mum was Danish so we'd normally have duck or goose with red cabbage, caramel potatoes, gravy, sprouts with crispy bacon lardons and probably roast potatoes too. But my dad was always around at Christmas. He'd play with my sister and me with whatever toy Santa had brought us. It was a lovely time.

Caramel potatoes

5 tbs white sugar

25 - 35 g lightly salted butter butter

New baby potatoes, boiled and allowed to cool

Use a wodden spoon for this. Heat a non-stick pan with the sugar in it, but take care not to burn the sugar. All you need to do is make sure it's completely melted. When it is add the butter, it might fizz a bit but keep stirring it. When it's all blended together to a sticky shiny sauce, add the potatoes and keep them moving to coat them in the sauce and heat them through.

Voila, eat!