Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis

"A story about Ireland, love, murder, & potatoes!" Whistle Through the Shamrocks takes every Irish cliché of every stage play and  movie and dials it up to 100! Written and created by Derry Girls and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan and playwright Camilla Whitehill. The star studded cast is fabulous. (see below) Jonathan Van Ness plays a Banshee! Ah beggorah! Alison Curtis and Weekend Breakfast sat down with Nicola and Camilla over Zoom to chat: JUST PRESS PLAY HERE [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2022/01/15113909/NICOLA-COUGHLAN-POD-FULL1.mp3"][/audio]   It has a fabulous cast including:  Louisa Hartland who plays Orla in Derry Girls,  Jamie Beamish (also seen in Derry Girls and Bridgerton), Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the lead character Mirabel Madrigal in Encanto), Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, and Bridgerton’s Ben Miller.  

The most colourful woman Ireland set herself a challenge for this month to dress up using different household items every day for the month. Taryn De Vere has matched herself to a tube of toothpaste, an orange sink unblocker bottle, a tin of beans and a carton of Donegal fresh milk! Her creativity knows no bounds especially if you're housebound! This will Inspire anyone affected by isolation at home. Looking to lift their life. She has already featured in press across the UK and appeared on Australian TV! What a brilliant way to brighten up January! Taryn joined Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast: [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2022/01/09122711/TARYN-DE-VERE-.mp3"][/audio] Get involved #ObjectDressChallenge What a way to brighten up 2022!❤️🌟 This morning @AlisonTodayFM is chatting to Irish writer, designer, creative genius @TarynDeVere about her January fashion challenge. She is dressing as a household item every day of January and has already been on Aussie TV this morning! 🤩🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/oYF7WAlOk2 — Today FM 💛 (@TodayFM) January 9, 2022     View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Today FM 💛 (@todayfm) Follow Taryn on Instagram:   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by TARYN DE VERE she/her (@taryndevere)

Chef Shane Smith has some simple bakes that will brighten up your month. Who better to bake our way into January 2022 than one of our favourite guests. Three easy to follow recipes for you to complete alongside your kids or as a simple solo treat. Alison Curtis caught up with Shane for some baking banter ... what better subject is there! WARNING: Mouth watering may occur.  See Below for recipes. For more follow @chefshanesmith go to chefshanesmith.ie [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2022/01/08124345/SHANE-SMITH-NEW-YEAR-BAKES-2022.mp3"][/audio] Banoffee Pie Pancakes Makes 6-8 pancakes Pancake batter 150ml milk 1 large egg 1/2 tbsp caster sugar pinch salt 2 tbsp melted butter 120g self raising flour Toffee sauce 110g butter 100g brown sugar 120ml single cream dash vanilla Garnish 4 bananas 200ml single cream Grated chocolate Method For the toffee sauce, in a saucepan add the butter and brown sugar and cook over a medium-low heat until combined and it turns a golden brown colour. To this, carefully add the cream and vanilla and reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes until all the sugar is dissolved and the sauce has thickened slightly. Set aside to cool to room temperature. For the pancakes, add all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Add a splash of oil to a frying pan set over a medium heat and spoon on the pancake mix. Cook for 30 seconds on each side or until golden brown. To assemble, layer up the pancakes with sliced banana and toffee sauce. Top with semi whipped cream and grated chocolate. Enjoy Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches   Makes 20 cookies (10 sandwiches)   Ingredients 115g butter 125g brown sugar 2 tbsp maple syrup 1 tsp vanilla essence 140g plain flour, sieved 130g porridge oats 3/4 tsp bread soda 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice 60ml milk 100g grated carrot 50g pecans, chopped   Cream cheese buttercream 200g butter 200g icing sugar 50g cream cheese dash vanilla   Method For the cookies, preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan and line two trays with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix until soft & creamy. To this add the flour, oats, bread soda, spices. Mix. Next, add the grated carrot, milk & pecans and mix until combined. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes. Once rested, divide into 20 scoops and pop ten on each tray. Pop into the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove and allow to cool. For the buttercream, whisk the butter, sugar and vanilla together until soft and light in texture. To this add the cream cheese and fold through - don't overmix. Pop the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe onto the base of ten of the cookies. Sandwich with the remaining half and simply enjoy! Apple Crumble Loaf Serves 6 Cake batter 220g butter 140g caster sugar dash vanilla 4 medium eggs pinch salt 1 tsp baking powder 200g plain flour Apples 2 apples, peeled & chopped 30g brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Crumble 40g plain flour 30g porridge oats 30g cold and cubed butter 35g brown sugar Method • Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan. • Grease and dust a 2lb loaf tin, set aside. • Toss the apples in the cinnamon and sugar and leave to sit out until needed. • For the crumble mix, in a bowl mix all the ingredients together with your fingertips until you reach a nice sandy texture. Chill until needed. • For the cake, cream the butter and sugar until soft and pale. • Add the eggs gradually, if the mix begins to split dont panic, it will come together when the dry ingredients are added. • Add the vanilla. Mix. • To this mixture add the sieved flour, salt and baking powder. Mix. • Fold in the diced apples and spoon this bater into the prepared tin. • Top with the chilled crumble mix and place in the preheated oven and bake for 60 minutes. • Allow to cool slightly in the tin before carefully removing it.  

Neven Maguire is now a best friend of the show. We love him on Weekend Breakfast. Every year it's become tradition for him to share his Christmas dinner wisdom. Grab a pen or open notes on your phone! Just Press Play and get start licking your lips! WARNING: Your tummy will rumble. It's the tastiest podcast you''ll hear! Neven Top Tips Include: ✅ How to prevent a dry bird. The biggest fear for many! Neven has some super ideas to get the best from your bird. ✅ The best method for a super spud. Roasties, mash and the rest. Neven has the best tips. ✅ It's all in the preparation. Neven tells you how to do it from your mash to your turkey. ✅ Goose or Duck this year? Then Neven has you covered. You can follow Neven on Instagram for more top tips:   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Nevenmaguire (@nevenmaguire)

Gillian Anderson is one of the world's biggest stars. She came to huge fame as Dana Scully in X-Files back in the 90s and since the she has graced many TV shows and movies. She even played Margaret Thatcher in The Crown and now she plays another villain in the new Aardman movie, Robin Robin. Being a superfan of Aardman Animations it was easy for her to snap up the role of 'Cat' but had no idea she would have to sing! (Don't worry she pulls it off brilliantly in character!) Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast spoke to Gillian about the new movie, which is fabulous!  PRESS PLAY TO HEAR INTERVIEW [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2021/11/28121219/GILLIAN-ANDERSON-FULL.mp3"][/audio] Check out the trailer here:

Jeff Kinney is a writing phenomenon. He is the creator of The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series and they have sold a very un-wimpy 250 million copies. They're available in 65 languages and 79 editions. Kids worldwide have loved the adventures of Greg Heffley and Rowley Jefferson. And now those loved characters appear in an animated movie on Disney+ (out December 3rd) Jeff told Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast how excited he is about the new movie, how he has Irish roots, his best place to write (in his car, but wait till you hear where he is parked!) and loads more He has been interviewed many times. However this time he also gets grilled by an eight-year-old Irish superfan called Lara who keeps him on his toes! PRESS PLAY TO HEAR THE JEFF KINNEY CHAT [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2021/11/21115824/TDFM-J9-JEFF-KINNEY-WITH-LARA-INTERVIEW.mp3"][/audio] THIS LOOKS AWESOME! And make far more sense than the real life versions.  

We heart Aisling Bea! The star of brand new Home Sweet Home Alone spoke to Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast on TodayFM alongside co-star Archie Yates. Aisling started with some essential festive Irish language tuition for Archie: [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2021/11/20095601/TDFM-J9-AISLING-BEA-ARCHIE-WITH-BED-AND-TRAILER.mp3"][/audio]   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Today FM 💛 (@todayfm) Check out the Trailer here:  

From hosting Blankety Blank as his alter ego Lily Savage to hosting his own talk show on Channel 4 Paul O'Grady is a television and comedy legend. He later became renowned as an animal rights advocate presenting hugely popular shows like For the Love of Dogs and Animal Orphans. Paul is already a best-selling author and his four volumes of adult autobiography are all Sunday Times bestsellers. Now, his latest challenge is in the world of children’s literature. His debut book is inspired by his love of animals and is called Eddie Albert and the Amazing Animal Gang: The Amsterdam Adventure Paul O Grady had a gorgeous, funny and heartwarming chat with Alison Curtis on Weekend Breakfast. Not only does he have three pregnant Alpacas, he has five dogs, five pigs, three goats, six barn owls, nine sheep and so many ducks and chickens he has lost count! He even had a cow called 'Dot' once, but she kept coming into the house and wouldn't leave the kitchen! Paul also talks about his rural Irish childhood on holidays in Glinsk, Galway and family who still live in the West. He learned to milk a cow at six-years- old! PRESS PLAY TO LISTEN BACK HERE [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2021/11/14132423/PAUL-O-GRADY-.mp3"][/audio]

Science Week 2021 is here! With so many amazing science themed events happening online and in the flesh - this year is set to be one of the best yet. It's a time to celebrate the people in the white coats with big hair... (and sometimes covered in hair) It runs from Nov 7-13. So, to tell us all about it Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis are absolutely delighted to have world renowned Immunologist and Professor of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin - Professor Luke O’Neil. He told Paula MacSweeney (in for Alison) why it's his favourite time of the year...like a mini Christmas! [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2021/11/07123444/LUKE-O-NEILL-SCIENCE-WEEK.mp3"][/audio] This year’s theme for Science week focuses around the Creating Our Future campaign – an opportunity to discuss and explore the collective future that they want for Irish society. There will be 12 pre-recorded Science Shows for Primary Schools available. From The role of STEM in caring for elephants at Dublin Zoo to Rocket Science with Dr. Naomi Lavelle to Ocean Challenges and Actions with Galway Atlantaquarium - There’s even A Mindful Movement and Meditation Workshop. And this year there will be 13 Science Week Festivals taking place all across the country. For a full list of the thrilling science shows, workshops and talks across the country, visit the Science Week website scienceweek.ie Professor Luke's new book  called ‘Keep Calm and Trust The Science’ is out now.   The wait is over - Science Week is finally here! With events, interviews, partnerships and more, there is something for everyone and every interest. Get involved and help us with #CreatingOurFuture! Learn more at https://t.co/MkKQnFfn5T#ScienceWeek #ScienceWeekIreland pic.twitter.com/OBY0eAJVOf — Science Week Ireland (@ScienceWeek) November 7, 2021

Adam King stole the hearts of the nation when he introduced us to his Virtual Hug at the Toy Show in November 2020. It gained the attention of the world from NASA to Joe Biden and beyond. For the rest of us it has become a national symbol of love and positivity. And now Adam and Dad David have written a book inspired by that hug travelling around the world. Adam and his Dad David joined Paula MacSweeney (in for Alison) on Weekend Breakfast: [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2021/11/06121633/ADAM-AND-DAVID-KING-.mp3"][/audio] The book is shortlisted in the Children's Book Of The Year (Junior category) for the An Post Irish Book Awards. You can vote for Adam and David's Book - 'A Hug For You' here It was a joy to have Adam King and his Dad David in to to see us! 🤗❤️ Our Paula had a fab chat on #WeekendBreakfast with this little superhero 🙌🏼 He even signed a few copies of his book #AHugForYou ✍🏻📕😎 It’s out now! pic.twitter.com/BZwoDnY77C — Today FM 💛 (@TodayFM) November 6, 2021