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Entertainment

17th Feb 2020

Curated With Cassie: Pizza making, a casual choir and engagement rings

Cassie Stokes

My one true love is pizza!

This week on Curated With Cassie, I (as Cassie) got to fulfil one of my lifelong dreams… I made a pizza.

Yes, I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I love pizza and I’ve never made one that didn’t start off frozen, so this was an absolute dream come true!

Aside from pizza making, I also witnessed the making of an engagement ring in Kilkenny and dusted off my vocal chords at a casual choir.

Click play below to watch the full episode:

Let me start by saying, making pizza is NOT as easy as it looks. The dough is so delicate and I will admit it took a few tries before I made the perfect one… but I got there.

I know I may sound boring but I love a good Margherita pizza and I must tell you all before moving on I am a strong believer in pineapple on pizza. Controversial, I know but I can’t deny who I am. In the words of Lady Gaga, I was born this way.

I will admit I am a pizza snob. However, I also appreciate that everyone likes different things when it comes to pizza. My type on paper is a thick crispy-ish crust, delicious sauce and perfect cheese. Boco Bar and Oven on Bolton Street on the north side of Dublin City ticks all those boxes for me.

Boco is very much a pizza bar, really cool design inside and is almost always busy. The staff are some of the best, they actually seem happy to be in work which is always a good sign, and most importantly they love to give tips on the menu (apparently the meatballs are out of this world). Pizza tastes even better when the restaurant is filled with happy staff, and it’s one of my favourite spots in Dublin.

This week, I also had the chance to join a choir. I’m not exactly a gifted singer but I thought I might as well push my limits, new year, new me and all that jazz!

My cousin told me about the Casual Choir in Dublin which she went to a few months ago and said she had such a laugh. Up to 300 people meet up in a lecture hall in UCD every few weeks and sing their hearts out, no judgement and no commitment. A lady named Roisin Savage set it up for people who can’t commit to being part of a weekly choir but still love to be part of one.

Every week, Roisin picks a different song, and over the course of two hours in the lecture hall we learn the ins and outs of it. Myself and my friend Patrick went along this week and we couldn’t contain our excitement when the song was revealed on the day Wilson Phillips’ Hold On– one of my absolute favourites.

We had such a laugh and it was probably one of the most feel good nights of my week. Singing is just so much fun. I would recommend it to anyone, I’m still smiling from our choir night and I’ll be back.

Last but not least, I went to Kilkenny to meet the people behind one of Ireland’s finest jewellery makers, Rudolf Heltzel.

The minute you walk in you know you’ve come across something special. They are known all over the world for their timeless pieces, handcrafted using old school techniques and tools.

I went behind the scenes to see the process of it all and find out exactly how much effort goes into making the perfect piece. While I was visiting, they were in the middle of making a stunning engagement ring with a gold band and a beautiful diamond which sparkled like something out of a Disney film.