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WordPress Cooking Challenge and My Third Liebster Award!

A blogger friend of mine, Healthy in all Hues, recently started a brilliant challenge: to pick 5-7 recipes from various bloggers and make their dish! It’s a great way to showcase our fellow foodies and those who take the time to share their love from the kitchen. (And ensure I get to taste some of the great food I’ve been reading about!) I think it’s such a good idea that I may start making it a monthly feature on my blog! (At least one dish!)

The concept of this challenge is simple: Pick seven dishes (actually limiting it to seven was difficult); Notify them that you are making their dish and challenge them to participate; Share an original link back to their site; Then do a brief write up on their dish including taste, difficulty following instructions, and your experience at large. (Keeping in mind that this is a positive thing, encouraging and appreciating fellow bloggers!)

The dishes I am selecting are (in no particular order, because I am not that organized):

  1. Cottage Cheese Oatmeal Pancake from The Richmond Avenue
  2. Chicken Divan by Lynz Real Cooking
  3. Natascha’s Palace‘s Easy Honey Cake
  4. Quick and Easy Curry from What’s Bec Cooking
  5. Life Bellissima‘s Triple Chocolate Cookies
  6. Chocolate Mousse by Sweetima
  7. Simple Jammy Muffins from Paintbox Mum
  8. Quirky and Wonderful‘s Broccoli Potato Casserole

I had to pick eight because these are all things I’ve wanted to make lately. And I’ve already learned something about myself! (Besides I can’t follow instructions.) For as much as I want to challenge myself (and fully intend to), I gravitate toward meals and food that I think will be not overly difficult,  family friendly, and those which I will most likely have ingredients on hand. (Of course big time producers such as Food Network and Pioneer Woman have been capitalizing on this for a long time. It should come at no surprise that I fit the mold, but I still found it interesting- to myself.) I am giving myself 2 weeks to complete the challenge… I’m so excited to try your food!

wpid-liebsterblogaward

Secondly, I would like to thank Swatti of Light at the End of the Tunnel for my third Liebster nomination! I am so appreciative and grateful for your recognition. Your blog allows me to explore a different culture and customs with still a similar perspective, as a woman who appreciates my mother and my best friend (aka my husband). Thank you!

The “Swatiilicious Questionnaire:”

How reading can enhance?
Growing up I loved that reading could allow you to imagine the way a character or setting should look. I like the way stories allow you to transcend places and time. I have very little time for leisure reading now; most of my reading (aside from the Bible) is instructional… And I prefer pictures! For example, I want to know what my food is supposed to look like.

The importance of writing?
On a basic level I believe writing is important for educational purposes. At this point in my life I use writing as an personal outlet, self expression and all that jazz.

Love has varied definitions. Why?
Without trying to get too deep: I think love has as many meanings as there are people in the world. It is different things to different people based on their own experiences- and still universally relatable; such as a commitment to your spouse, caring for children, helping your neighbor, etc.

How do see yourself as a blogger?
I wish I was really creative and I saw myself more as an artist sharing my unique perspective… But in reality I just very literally share my day to day.

Any blogs you would like to recommend?
I find out about new blogs on a daily basis that I think the world should know about! I just heard about foodbabe.com, a blogger making a difference in the food industry that I think is amazing.

Another Liebster Award!

Thank you to Healthy in All Hues for nominating me! I love your idea for sharing the good things you want to do in life. And I want to hang out with you at the beach having a “Low Country Boil” and building sand castles!
The Liebster award is a promotional award from bloggers to bloggers aimed at recognizing blogs having less than 200 followers. I am so thankful to be nominated by Healthy in All Hues and I happy to share great blogs I’ve come to appreciate in hopes that more will enjoy them too!
Here’s how the award works:
• Link back to the person who nominated you
• Answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominator
• Display the Liebster award logo in your post
• Nominate up to 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers
• Create 11 questions for the nominees
• Notify all nominees via social media/blogs
Here are my answers for the questions I was given:
1. How did you get started on your blog?
I have been a stay at home mom for 9 years, my youngest being almost 9 months old now. I really wanted a creative outlet!
2. What is the hardest thing you’ve found about blogging?
Time to do it. My life is so busy, I still have two in diapers! (Working on that…)
3. What is your favorite blog post?
That’s an interesting question. Probably the one about my grandma on the 4th of July. I loved going through those photographs and thinking about her.
4. If you had one day left to live, what would you do?
Yikes! I would probably say a prayer something like this “Thank you God for giving me a wonderful life. What do You want me to do?”
5. Sweet or savory?
Savory… And then sweet. Lol.
6. What is your favorite passion or hobby?
Baking/Cooking. (and blogging about it)
7. What is a motto or quote you live by?
“Love your neighbor as yourself. Love yourself.” There is so much wisdom in that!
8. Name one person that has inspired you.
My sister. She naturally makes great food. And she has an amazing way of thinking up over-the-top ideas for a party and actually making them happen.
9. What is a guilty pleasure of yours?
Chocolate and good coffee. (But I really don’t feel that guilty.)
10. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I pick manicotti, it just sounds really good right now.
Here are my 4 nominations:
What’s Bec Cooking, my sister from Oz?

Life Bellissima, so glad to find your blog?

The Richmond Avenue, I want to work in your restaurant?

Quirky and Wonderful, yes you are!?
Congrats to you blogs! I’m giving you the same ten questions I had to answer plus:

11. Your spouse’s boss has heard you cook and invited himself to dinner… What are you making?

Life is What Happens…

Within one single week,

image

Barbara, courtesy of Sharon

Barbara had a fall and took a turn for the worse,

“Hi,” courtesy of Chad

Hannah was born, healthy and strong,

Noah

Noah

I was able to push my baby on the swing,

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Courtesy of the V family.

Nick and Erica found out they are having a baby boy,

Addi, courtesy of Ryan

Addi, courtesy of Ryan

and we are celebrating my niece’s birthday.

I am so thankful for my full life!

“The chief beauty about time
is that you cannot waste it in advance.
The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you,
as perfect, as unspoiled,
as if you had never wasted or misapplied
a single moment in all your life.
You can turn over a new leaf every hour
if you choose.”
― Arnold Bennett

Featured image courtesy of Alex Childress Photography

Beautiful Blogger Award

I am honored to be the recipient of another blogging award! The Beautiful Blogger Award highlights bloggers with beautiful creativity. Thank you stephysweetbakes of Louisiana, you have been very supportive of my blog and this is my third award nomination from you! You have an extensive recipe list, an endless amount of baking creativity, and a beautiful blog!

THE RULES:
Link the blogger who nominated you.
List seven random things about yourself.
Nominate seven creative, beautiful bloggers.
Notify the people that you nominate.

Thank you Stephy of stephysweetbakes for this nomination!

Ok, seven random things about me:

  1. In high school I thought I would have eight children. ?
  2. I like black vehicles. Whenever I am car shopping, no matter what the make or model, I always gravitate toward black paint.
  3. I give myself mental quizzes regularly, like naming capital cities for the states or the Greek alphabet or the periodic table…
  4. I had a “breathtaking” experience. We were driving north along Highway 1 in California (somewhere between Monterey and San Francisco); on my right were vast mountains, on my left was ocean as far as I could see. And it literally took my breath away, I gasped for air. And after I caught my breath I thought, “that’s why they have those sayings.”
  5. I plug my nose when I jump into water. It’s embarrassing.
  6. When I was a little girl I didn’t like strawberries. I remember thinking to myself (for whatever reason) “I want to be the kind of girl who eats strawberries.” I don’t know, maybe I thought it seemed healthy? Maybe it was the influence of the cartoon Strawberry Shortcake? The thought makes me laugh now. But I did, I made myself eat them.
  7. I’ve kissed the Blarney Stone. (But I already had the gift of gab)

Now for my nominees:

  1. My French Heaven, a girl can dream…
  2. Bright, Shiny Objects, I enjoy the way you write
  3. Serena Glow- Health, Vitality and Food, I appreciate your natural methods of beauty inside and out
  4. Rachel Schultz, what do I need to say
  5. What’s Bec Cooking, my kindred cook ?
  6. The Richmond Avenue, I’m a fan
  7. Once Upon A Chef, you make perfection seem attainable

Thanks again Stephy!

Diets

I like to start diets at the most inopportune times, like two days before Thanksgiving or on Christmas eve. I don’t know what my problem is. If I had to psychoanalyze myself, I’d probably say I was setting myself up for failure. But that is not how it feels at commencement; it feels very earnest as in “I don’t care what tomorrow is, I’m starting today!” But you can imagine how it ends.
So the past couple days, I’ve been contemplating, let’s just call it, healthy eating. The list of reasons why is boring, and redundant, so I’ll spare you and me. Then I’m reading this article from Food Network magazine about how much activity you need to do to burn off certain popular summer treats. And some of it is not relatable; I don’t row or play tennis. I don’t play basketball or jump rope (that’s actually a hilarious thought), and on a plus side I don’t eat lobster rolls… which means I just spared myself an hour of swimming, awesome! I do have the yard work thing under lock down which means I burned off two pieces of fried chicken last night (that’s like the same as a reuben sandwich right?) Anyway I put down my bag of honey mustard pretzels and said ok. Let’s do it. There’s not even a holiday scheduled for weeks so there’s that, momentum.

The Creative Blogger Award

I am so honored to be the recipient of two awards! I love the idea of bloggers supporting bloggers. As a busy mom my time to read is limited. When I do get the time, I am astounded at the amount of talent out there. These awards shed light on individuals I may have never found otherwise.

There are always going to be more talented people than me; people who captivate readers with a single sentence, and take on meaningful subjects I don’t want to touch. There are those whose photography blow my shots of dinner out of the water! I never am going to have the life of an adventurer sharing some trek in the Congo. I don’t want to be a 5 star chef, I just want to feed my family good food. I am content in life; I am raising four beautiful children; I am a dedicated wife; I am a follower of Christ. I’m not trying to be something I’m not, and sharing that with you has been unexpectedly fulfilling.

Thank you stephysweetbakes for appreciating what I do. Your creativity is astounding, I aspire to make my pies look like yours!

Rules of the Award

1.  Nominate 15-20 blogs and notify the nominees.
2.  Post the link of the blog that nominated you.
3.  Share five random facts about yourself.

My Five Random Facts:

1. I prefer my deodorant and baking powder aluminum free

2. I have no business having a hobby that requires knowledge of social media

3. I don’t have a natural love of fish or seafood, I coerce myself

4. I love thunderstorms

5. I loathe sharing french fries, I’d much rather buy you your own

My Nominees (in no particular order):

1. Emerging Adult Eats

2. Savory Stalks

3. Beauty & Living

4. The Travelling Pantry

5. Fueled By Vegetables

6. Farm Raised Cooking

7. Italian Home Kitchen Blog

8. What Mary Made Next

9. My Pinch of Yum

10. Food Fellowship & Wine

11. Take Two Tapas

12. Big Girls Small Kitchen

13. Bright, Shiny Objects

Sunshine Blogger Award Nomination

Thank you to stephysweetbakes for nominating me for the Sunshine Bloggers Award! I am honored. Your supportive comments are always appreciated and your extensive list of recipes is amazing!

THE RULES OF THE AWARD:
•Thank the person who nominated you.
• Answer the questions from the person who nominated you.
• Nominate a few other bloggers.
• Write the same amount of questions for the bloggers you nominated.
• Notify the bloggers on their blog.
• Put the award button on your blog.

1.  What is it you love about blogging?

Initially I loved the self expression. It gave me an outlet that didn’t require baby talk. But I am quickly learning to appreciate a community of extremely supportive men and women who are invested in sharing their lives and know-how; and lack of for that matter!

2.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hmm, my youngest would be in kindergarten… It’s kind of a bittersweet thought. What would I do with all of that free time?? I’m so engaged in my daily life that it’s hard to imagine! Have a garden maybe? Taking care of chickens and a goat probably. Still cooking. I’d have to get back to you after a good night’s sleep.

3.  Name one blog that you love that inspires you?

The Pioneer Woman! Her story about grabbing a donut and the glass case breaking made me laugh out loud. And her recipes are easy to follow and good.

4.  Do you blog as a hobby or as a job?

It’s a hobby, but I pretend it’s my job.

5.  Thinking back, where would you say you seen potential in yourself enough to actually start blogging?

Yesterday.

Now for my nominees…
1. The annalist; your postings are uplifting and kind
2. rachelmankowitz; i see your heart in your daily life, even if I don’y have a dog
3. Natascha’s Palace; I love your creativity in the kitchen

Questions for the nominees:

1. What do you think is essential to bring on a road trip?

2. What’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten?

3. As a blogger, do you prefer screen or texts in print?

i want

i want a calgon take me away bath moment. except I don’t want artificial bubbles. and i want it in a porcelain tub with iron clawed feet. i’d like it to be on a carrera marble floor bathroom, the kind i pinterest. i want freshly cut hydrangeas of purple pink and blue around the room and a large picture window overlooking a sand and grass landscape that fades into the ocean. i want to live the instagram life of @helloemilie for a day, maybe three, because it looks like the best beach version of an anthropology catalog. i want david chang to make me noodles for dinner. and then i want a chocolat chaud from le notre in paris. when i come home i want my freshly bathed kids to give me a hug and a kiss before they go to bed on a night that they sleep through ’til morning. when i wake up i want a leprechaun sized barista living in my kitchen cupboard. thank you

Cookery Books

My family and I spent last week in the great Up North. We have a cabin on the Tahquamenon River, where it is tranquil, rustic, and a sincere connection to times past. There is nothing like cooking over a campfire (and maybe a stroll around Mackinac Island in a horse drawn carriage) to make me think of how our ancestors cooked much the same way not so long ago. To commemorate my trip I purchased a newer print of an old cookbook, Early American Cookery or Ye Gentlewoman’s Housewifery, by Margaret Huntington Hooker. I was very curious to see what kinds of recipes were made over 100 years ago. The author even referred to previous ‘cookery’ books as early as 1736. Obviously some things have changed, but we’re both using fire and cast iron!

I was actually amazed that they had so much access to a variety of spices and herbs. For whatever reason of my limited knowledge, I am impressed to learn they cooked with Marjoram, ‘Tumeric’, ‘Gynger’, Summer Savory (I don’t even know what that is), Parsley, Thyme, Laurel, Sweet Basil, Mint, Cloves, Cinnamon, ‘Garlek,’ Mace, and so on to name a few. I guess I imagined things being bland. The author refers many foods I can relate to soups, anchovies and ‘tomata sauce.’ And although the language is before my time and measurements aren’t always given, many of the techniques still apply. For example “a piece of butter rolled in flour…” They were making a roux!

Of course some things were totally un-relatable to me. I can’t imagine giving an eel a salt rub to remove the slime. And although I know people still cook eel today, I actually have a hard time imagining that it was ever common practice. I understand using all parts of the animal and making the most of what you have. That stated, it is completely foreign to me to put a “neck of mutton about 6 pounds…” into any of my recipes. I mean, they just say it so nonchalantly. Was that the norm neck size? Just about 6 pounds? Do they just assume it has been de-haired? In another mutton recipe they instruct to put the “head, heart and lights and 1 pound pork into 5 quarts of water…” Lights? What are the lights? If I had to guess, I’d say the eyes; which leads me to believe that again they assume I know what to do with the head, i.e. de-furring, removing parts, etc. After an hour of boiling you add the liver, and a while later one finishes it off with some doughy dumplings before serving. And I’m wondering if the head is still in there? Does it dissipate? Because I think my kids would freak out. I, myself, can barely stand the thought of bouillabaisse. I mean, I’ve made leg if lamb, but this is on another level. So I think to myself, we are so far removed.

At the same time I am starting to read a suggestion from one of my blog readers and friend, A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield. Now here is a current and up to date cookbook. In this book she acknowledges celebrities like Jay Z, okay; modern. And as I am reading the forward of the book the writer that assists Chef April Bloomfield mentions a cumin-spiked tomato sauce and filleting anchovies; and again I am struck by the similarities. Then, I kid you not, they write “…a peek into the oven to check on a roasting lamb’s head.” Maybe it’s just me?

Born on the 4th of July

My grandma was born on the 4th of July. There was a time in her early life when I believe she thought all of the hoopla was all a part of her celebration. And although I am largely patriotic and enjoy all of the red, white and blue, I can’t have a fourth of July without thinking about my grandma.

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My grandmother was a renaissance woman. And in memory of her this time of year, here’s a little about grandma… Early on in her life, there was no father figure around. And my great-grandmother (GG) took it upon herself to raise and provide for her three children. As soon as my grandmother was able, she also took on the responsibility to help, and she pretty much worked ever since. She wasn’t the type of grandma you imagine standing over the stove, stirring her secret sauce. In fact, she had a reputation for burning everything and GG did most of the cooking. My grandma was different, and perfect. At a young age she would collect left over cobs of corn from a mill to bring food home to her mother and siblings. She worked in a potato chip factory, in Detroit, MI. And she recalled that every once in a while a potato would come down the line at Lay’s that had missed the process, baked and seasoned; she shared, it was a real treat. Later she took a job at Vernor’s in Detroit. Eventually they had enough money and she and GG bought their own house. They were proud to have owned the deed to their own home, and by the time my grandpa came around, she was quite self sufficient.

Aunt Becky (my mother's sister), Grandma and my mother.

Aunt Becky (my mother’s sister), Grandma and my mother.

She gave great beauty tips: Never pull on the skin under your eye, it will give you wrinkles; Brush your hair upside down (over your head) to make your hair grow thick and longer; Tap your nails to make them stronger; Use caution ever putting oil on your face, it makes your pores big… but sometimes you should use a little vitamin E on it. She had great skin. She wore scarves in her hair, which she always died dark brown. She loved to be comfortable. She would cut, move, and tape any shoe, seat belt or shirt to be worn with more ease. She always carried breath mints and gum; which she chewed half of a piece at a time.

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When she was upset she would say “Oh beans,” and if she heard something shocking she would say “Good night;” except ‘good’ had two syllables. When she laughed hard she would throw her head back. She was adorable.

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My Grandma, kneeling with her girls along with my grandfather. ‘GG’ in the upper right.

She had an amazing garden. It was huge and productive. She canned her own green beans, tomatoes, along with other vegetables and the best grape jelly that I’m sorry you never got to taste. She could eat an onion like an apple. She was into trying to eat your vitamins through food, and taking vitamins… before it was a fad. She had a subscription to Prevention magazine. If she were around today I’m sure she’d be an advocate for eating organic and avoiding GMO’s.

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My grandma started every day with black coffee and fell asleep every night listening to tapes of someone reading Bible scriptures. She was extremely devoted to God, and His son, her personal Lord and Savior, Jesus. She sang hymns around the house. She had a big heart, and when her sister was unable to care for her children my grandma raised two nieces and a nephew as well as her own.

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Every year on the 4th of July we would celebrate her birthday, and as a child I would ask “How old are you grandma?” And every year her response was the same, “Twenty-nine.”

Grandma on the right, eating cake.

Grandma on the right, eating cake.

She would have been 29 today. ?

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!