“A Lovely Blog Award” Nomination

Earlier this month, a fellow blogger , Natascha from Natascha’s Palace, nominated my blog for the Lovely Blog Award. I consider myself a “baby” blogger. Having just started this fun and creative adventure in September 2014, I was tickled pink to read her message about this! I have to tell you a little bit about Natascha: she is the very first blogger I started to interact with.  She is Canadian now living in Madrid (how I envy her) and her blog posts talk to me all the time! She offers beautiful yet simple recipes and when we are lucky enough, she tells us a little bit about her, her family and her life in Spain. Like in my own life, her beloved husband is her main kitchen tester. And because she comes from my home country, she does include Maple syrup in a fair bit of her recipes: I totally dig that!!!

Participation rules:

My list of seven:

1. I am the proud mama to 2 young men who are celebrating birthdays at this time of the year: April 21 and May 4. My babies are respectively 22 and soon to be 20…
2. I secretly wish I was a celebrity chef! My little claim in the spotlight happened when I was a participant on a TV cooking competition in Quebec in 2008 called Recettes en Vedette. 3 contestants battling to gain the title of best recipe in a themed category. I didn’t win but it was loads of fun.
3. I was extremely lucky to land a short contract with the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Ottawa as a recipe tester for the cookbook In The Kitchen with Le Cordon Bleu, published in April 2013. You can find my name in the credits 🙂

4. I am an avid scrapbooker. I love both traditional and digital scrapbooking but over the last few years, I have mainly scrapbooked the digital way.
5. Europe definitely feels like home: I lived there as a child and wish I could move back now… But one needs to earn a living and my work is not «work visa» material.
6. High on my bucket list: visit all of Asia: I would start with Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and China. India, Nepal and the Middle East (the peaceful one) are also coveted destinations but not so much by my King so maybe a chick trip will be in order. Of course, the entire world is a constant attraction: Iceland, Scandinavia, East Europe, Egypt, Morocco, South America, Down Under… Actually, I am opened to go anywhere!!!
7. My favourite taboo foods are the deep fried ones. Good handcrafted fries are at the top but really, anything fried is what I gravitate towards. I can show restraint. Well most days 🙂

I am way too young a blogger to know 15 other bloggers. Actually, it took me a while to complete this activity because I was fretting on this list which seems too sparse. I spent the last few weeks getting acquainted with several sites and reading tons of post. I finally came to the conclusion that I cannot offer 15 other bloggers here just yet but I will nominate those that have captured my attention thus far.

1. Of course, Natascha at Natascha’s Palace for all the reasons I wrote in the intro
2. Lynn, my mentor and guide on this wonderful blogging adventure. Lynn is a talented writer and her main source of inspiration is her family. Although my kids are all grown up, I love reading Turtlehead because I can still relate! I love her views on things.
3. Nandini from Goan Imports. Thanks to her lovely posts and recipes from her home country, I have discovered a new place I want to visit and awesomely flavorful recipes!
4. Rachel from Rachel Eats. I love, love, love to read her beautifully composed posts
5. Bill at Simple Living Over 50. Bill writes about his daily struggles and successes living with type II diabetes. I particularly like his honesty, his candor and his ability to engage with his followers.
6. The nameless blogger at Food is the Best Shit Ever. FUNNY!!! Great recipes, anecdotes, stories and a very entertaining comments section.
7. Andrea from Cooking with a Wallflower. Beautiful blog!
8. Another blogger I couldn’t find a name for but who’s posts inspire me every time! Cooking Without Limits

This concludes my list of nominations. And again, a very heartfelt thank you to Natascha!