The Beautiful Blog Award

What a lovely surprise being nominated for the Beautiful Blog Award from my new blogging buddy John over at Sybaritica. By profession, John is a lawyer who lives with his wife in Canada’s Arctic – it looks EXTREMELY cold.  All of Johns food posts are a pleasure and luxury; he cooks the most extraordinary (mainly Chinese influenced) and exotic meals fit for a king.  Do pop over to John’s blog for a culinary treat.

It seems there are no rules to the award other than thanking and linking back to the person who gave you the award and paying the love forward to 7 other bloggers.

I always find this the most difficult part of accepting an award.  Who to pay the love forward to.   To be frank, I would like to nominate all of the blogs I follow but in sticking with the rules and in alphabetical order, my 7 nominees are…

1. Back Road Journal – Karen lives in the most magnificent and beautiful  1730’s home with an apple orchard and has a summer home on a lake in Maine.  Karen’s passions are travel and food.
2. Go bake Yourself – Choc Chip Uru, aka CCU is a darling 16 year old wise beyond her years and a clear professional baker in the making.
3. Just a Smidgen – Smidge is a beautiful poet, artist, photographer, aspiring cellist, and bon vivant with a passion for baking and culinary creations.
4. Kiwsparks – Kathryn is a remarkable artist, writer and designer who has the most magical commands of the English language, which I am sure stems from her teaching art, English and study/research methodology.
5. Lavender and Lime – Tandy, a fellow South African and longest standing friend in this list is a guru when it comes to pasta dishes.
6. Sarah’s Place – Sarah shares the most inspiring beach life, photography, fabulous food and brilliant knitting patterns.
7. Zesty Bean Dog’s Blog – Jen has recently completed all of her yoga study and cooks the most incredible meals featuring a weekly inspirational pizza and has a thing for yuzu.

John, thank you again for nomination me for this lovely award! 🙂

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Gratitude X 6

My fairly new friend Giovanna who blogs over at Blue Jelly Beans was kind enough to gift me 6 awards!  Wow, what love!  Thank you again Giovanna aka BJB, I really do feel very special.  Giovanna started her blog to document the recipes she got from her mom when she left home at 18 as a record for herself and her children and anybody else who is passionate about treasuring old family recipes and memories.  Do pop over and see what she is making today.

I have been honoured by receiving the Versatile Blogger, Stylish Blogger and Liebster Blog Awards previously, so instead of boring you with more of the same information, I will tackle the questions that form part of one of the other awards, the Sunshine Award.  What a lovely name for an award. 🙂

1. Favourite colour?

Hmm, well that all depends on my mood, but for now I would have to say pearl – it is neutral and goes with everything.

2. Favourite animal?

No surprise here – CATS!  But for the most part, all animals.

 3. Favourite number?

It would have to be 8 – nicely balanced top and bottom.

4. Favourite drink?

Non alcoholic – Tea

Alcoholic – Gin and Tonic with lots of lemon

5. Facebook or Twitter?

Facebook.  It is more interactive and friendly – whereas with Twitter people seem to tweet their every waking thought and it takes me too long to scroll through pages and pages of peoples thoughts.  I tweet once a day with a motivational quote and then every Monday, Wednesday and Friday a second tweet of the day with my blog post link.

6. Your passion?

I’m obsessive so whatever I am busy with is my passion.

7. Giving or getting presents?

Absolutely giving.  Not always easy when you are battling to find the right gift but more often than not, I try and make a gift – baked goodies in a nice bowl, engraving a crystal glass, homemade preserves, sauces and the like.

8. Favourite day?

Any day that Pete is home.

 9. Favourite flowers?

Any type of lily and lavender.

Then as with all the other awards, is to pay the love forward onto other bloggers.  I know each award has its own set of rules and how many bloggers etc. to pay it forward to, which is never an easy task to pin point only a few bloggers as you are all equally as important and special to me, but for today I have decided to share all of these lovely awards with:

Kathryn at Kiwsparks

Lizzy at Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things

Jed at Sports Glutton and

Betsy at Bits and Breadcrumbs

Reader Appreciation Award

What a way to end last year with the surprise of receiving the Reader Appreciation Award from John over at The Bartolini Kitchens Blog.  A few years back, John realized that some of his family’s recipes were rarely being prepared and would likely be lost if no one used them. So began his journey, with his Mom Theresa, and  his Zia (aunt) Lea ensuring that the family recipes would be preserved, used, and now shared on his lovely blog.

It is always such an honour to receive an award and being able to share the appreciation by paying the love forward to other fellow blogging buddies.

The rules of this award are to:

1. Award your top 6 bloggers who have commented the most.
2. Be thankful.
3. You cannot award someone who has already been awarded and you cannot give the award back to me.
4. Don’t forget to tell the bloggers you’ve awarded.
5. If you don’t want to pass on this award, that’s okay to. Just admire it.

Well point number 3 ain’t so easy as my top 6 have already all been nominated so I am nominating the following bloggers:

1. My friend Michael over at Oishii – Michael loves to share great recipes which he discovers from popular restaurants, cookbooks, food magazines (Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, etc.), tv shows, friends, family, and other blogs as well as developing his own.  Michael doesn’t blog that often but when he does, you can guarantee an exceptional recipe every time.  Oh and  just in case you wanted to know, “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious.
2. Second on the list is Linda over at Fired Up Cooking SA – Linda who also doesn’t blog that frequently, writes a monthly article called ‘Camping Chat’ for the Caravan and Outdoor Life Magazine  as well as their ‘Cook-Out’ articles.  Linda makes the most incredible meals over a camp fire from starters, to mains and even desserts.
3. My Australian chef friend Anna over at The Hospitality Guru has been privileged enough to meet the Queen no less.  Anna’s most recent accolades include having worked with the Prime Minister & Cabinet to create official events at Parliament House, dealt with famous performers and entertainers in preparation for the Australia Day live concert, to Manuka Oval working on the Prime Minister’s XI Cricket match.
4. Next up is Bobbi over at Bam’s Kitchen.  Bobbi currently lives in Asia and Bam’s Kitchen is a place where you can experience some very unique international dishes that even teenagers will enjoy.
5. Angie over at Angie’s Recipes makes the most magnificent meals that she photographs so beautifully!  Angie has taken food photography and turned it into culinary art and it’s easy to see why her recipes are so popular.
6. Last but certainly by no means least is Barbara aka Smidge over at Just a Smidgen.  Barbara is a poet, artist, photographer, aspiring cellist, and bon vivant who has a passion for baking, culinary creations and the wonders of existence of her my hometown,Calgary, Alberta.

The Versatile Blogger Award

I am thrilled to share that Jen, a new blogging buddy over at Zestybeandog’s Blog has awarded me The Versatile Blogger award.  Jen loves to experiment with new ingredients and thinks of ways to prepare fresh foods in a unique way all the while being busy with studying and working.

I have previously received this award from my friend ChgoJohn and originally by Tandy who writes the Lavender and Lime blog as well as by the lovely Tanya over at  Chica Andaluza.

Here is a rerun of my interesting and random facts that I have shared about myself:

1. I learnt from doing a challenge on Tandy’s blog that I would not eat roadkill.
2. I probably drink too many cups of tea in a day, especially in winter.
3. One of the first things I do when visiting family or friends, is look in their fridge.
4. I love sharing motivational quotes.
5. I have the strangest idiosyncrasy of having to smell everything.
6. I bake cupcakes / muffins every week – sweet and savoury.
7. If I could magically play an instrument, it would be the violin.
8. I love to knit and crochet.
9. I am extremely loyal to my family and friends.
10. I absolutely adore cats – they are fur children after all.
11. I love making and working from lists and have been known to make lists of lists.
12. I get claustrophobic.
13. I have been thinking of cutting my hair for the past 10 years and will hopefully make a decision soon.  I am still thinking about it.
14. I  am like a dog at a bone and won’t stop until I have completed something, even if it takes longer than planned.
15. I am a neat and organised person.
16. I am committed and enthusiastic about what I do.
17. I was crowned Miss College forever ago.
18. I am an arachnophobic.
19. I REALLY do not enjoy winter.
20. I love crossword puzzles
21. I never leave home without a bottle of water.

Thanks again Jen for honouring me with this lovely award, I feel super special to have been selected. 🙂

The Liebster Award

What a great start to the weekend.  I was gifted the Liebster Award by my blogging buddy ChgoJohn who writes the wonderful  From the Bartolini Kitchens and his passion for preserving and sharing family recipes is evident in each new post.  Do pop over to The Bartolini Kitchens for some true authentic Italian cuisine.

It seems there are no rules attached to this lovely award except for paying it forward to five of my favourite blogs, which is very much easier said than done.  There are so many wonderful blogs that I follow every day (it is a full time job) and not wanting to leave any of the nearly 100 out, I decided on a different way of choosing who to pay the love forward to…  I wrote all of the blog names down on pieces of paper, excluded the blogs that I have paid previous awards forward to and drew them out of a hat.

With no further ado, I present you with the recipients with love from me to them.  They are all very deserving of being part of my favourites list so please do pay them a visit.

From Donuts to Delirium

Yvette’s TwistedVines

Chica Andaluza

Life in a Recipe

BrownieGirl

Enjoy paying it forward. 🙂

One Lovely Blog Award

I am very excited to share that my blogging buddy Tandy gifted me the One Lovely Blog Award.  This is the second award Tandy has sent my way; thank you so much for honouring me again Tandy, I feel very special. 🙂

In acceptance of the award, the rules are:

• to thank the person who gave you the award
• to reveal 7 random facts about yourself
• to pass the award on to 5 other deserving bloggers

My 7 random facts:

1. I love to knit and crochet.
2. I am extremely loyal to my family and friends.
3. I absolutely adore cats – they are fur children after all.
4. I love making and working from lists and have been known to make lists of lists.
5. I get claustrophobic.
6. I have been thinking of cutting my hair for the past 10 years and will hopefully make a decision soon.
7. I  am like a dog at a bone and won’t stop until I have completed something, even if it takes longer than planned.

I am passing this award onto the following 5 bloggers:

1. The Hospitality Guru
2. Tes at Home
3. Ang Sarap
4. Baking Devils
5. A little bit of Everything

It is so difficult to make a choice of just 5 bloggers as there are so many that I follow and enjoy.  Sharing this award is a great way to share the love and to build relationships with new people and to increase our blogging family.  Enjoy paying it forward. 🙂

The Versatile Blogger Award

I am thrilled to announce that I have been gifted the Verstatile Blogger Award by my blogging friend Tandy who writes the lovely Lavender and Lime blog; Tandy has weekly challenges which are great fun.  I was also gifted the award by my new blogging friend Tanya over at  Chica Andaluza.  Tanya recently started writing about her wonderful life in Spain and her apt tag line is “Living the Dream Up A Mountain Somewhere In Andalucia”.  Thanks ladies!

In acceptance of the award, the rules are:

• to thank the person / people who awarded you by linking back to their post
• to list 7 interesting things about yourself
• to pass the award on to 15 other new or newly discovered blogs

My 7 interesting facts:

1. I recently learnt from doing a challenge on Tandy’s blog that I would not eat roadkill.
2. I probably drink too many cups of tea in a day, especially in winter.
3. One of the first things I do when visiting family or friends, is look in their fridge.
4. I love sharing motivational quotes.
5. I have the strangest idiosyncrasy of having to smell everything.
6. I bake cupcakes / muffins every week – sweet and savoury.
7. If I could magically play an instrument, it would be the violin.

I haven’t discovered 15 new blogs of late, I have however found 7.  I am pleased to pass this award onto:

1. Just One Cook Book
2. The Intrepid Foodie
3. One Perfect Bite
4. Eat Play Love
5. Ravie Nom Noms
6. Sweet & Crumby
7. The Gorgeous Gourmet

—o0o—

The Stylish Blogger Award

My quote for yesterday was: “There are only 3 colours, 10 digits and 7 notes; it’s what we do with them that’s important.” – Jim Rohn

I would like to add that there are 26 letters to that quote.

My own quote for today is: Find what stimulates your creativity and use it every day to grow your passion.

My passion helped me to write my cookery book, which enabled me to share it with you all on my blog, which led me to be nominated for an award!

I was first honoured with the Stylish Blogger Award by Rita from The Culinary Taste and again by Yvette from Yvette’s Twistedvines.  Ladies, thank you so very much.  I am delighted to share this wonderful award with you both and feel truly privileged to be nominated twice.  What a treasured feather in my cap.

The first part of accepting the award is to share 7 things about myself, so…

1. I am a neat and organised person.
2. I am committed and enthusiastic about what I do.
3. I was crowned Miss College forever ago.
4. I am an arachnophobic.
5. I REALLY do not enjoy winter.
6. I love crossword puzzles
7. I never leave home without a bottle of water.

The second part of this award is to nominate bloggers I feel are deserving of this award.  Sadly I cannot make a choice between all of the wonderful blogs that I read and follow daily, as I feel they are all deserving.