Thanks & Giving

November 27, 2013 by Laura Haugen 21 Comments

I have lots of catching up to do for Thanksgiving. First, I’d like to thank Transplanted Cook, More Food Please, and Fae’s Twist & Tango for nominating me for awards. Wow! These are some of the best and most inspirational blogs I’ve come across, and it’s an honor to receive such kudos from them! Second, I’m happy to pass the recognition on to some more outstanding and deserving blogs in each category.

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The Versatile Blogger Award

Many thanks to Transplanted Cook for the nomination and for her wonderful posts as an American foodie living abroad in Great Britain and following her passion of cooking — please visit her blog if you haven’t already discovered it!

My nominations:

Rules:

Thank the person who gave you this award.
Include a link to their blog.
Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself (see below).

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The Liebster Award

Thanks so much to Ada at More Food Please for her wonderful blog and for the lovely, thoughtful nomination! Please stop by Ada’s blog (and check out these yummy pineapple buns) if you haven’t already. And now I’m delighted to recognize other relatively new blogs that I find truly inspirational.

My nominations:

Rules:

Nominees must link back to the person who nominated them.
Nominees must answer the 10 questions that are given by the nominator (see below).
Nominee must nominate 10 other bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers.
Nominees must create 10 questions for the new nominees to answer (see below, I will ask my nominees the same).
Visit the nominees’ blogs and notify them about the nomination.

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Blog of the Year Award

I am grateful to Fae’s Twist & Tango for her treasure of a blog and for her ever thoughtful, engaging, inspiring posts AND for the very kind nomination.

My nominations (with 3 stars each):

Apuginthekitchen
Cooking-spree
Cottage Grove House
Fae’s Twist & Tango (Can I nominate you back, Fae? I would like to…)
More Food Please
Savory & Sweet Food
Shivaay Delights
Superfoodista
The Novice Gardener
Tortore
Transplanted Cook
What’s Cooking
Yummy Chunklet

Rules:

Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2013’ Award
Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there are no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ the blog(s) with their award.
Let the blog(s) that you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the instructions with them – (please don’t alter the instructions or the badges!)
Come over and say hello to the originator of the ‘Blog of the Year 2013’ Award via this link – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/blog-awards-2/blog-of-the-year-2013-award/
You can now also join the ‘Blog of the Year’ Award Facebook page – click the link here https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlogoftheYear/ and share your blog posts with an even wider audience.
And as a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog … and start collecting stars…

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Okay, one final item of business — here goes my list of 7 things, and my answers to the 10 questions:

Seven things about me for the Versatile Blogger Award: 1) I am smitten with Swiss dark chocolate, 2) I don’t understand the appeal of marzipan. 3) My prized collections include cookbooks and ceramics, 4) I have way too many kitchen gadgets (but never quite enough) 5) I love lemon and all citrus fruits in general, 6) Rice dishes are my comfort foods, 7) I could happily live the rest of my life in the Italian countryside sipping Brunello and learning to make pasta.

Liebster Q & A:

1. What do you love about blogging? I learn something new every day, whether it’s technical blog stuff, camera work, a new recipe, or a different approach to cooking and writing.

2. Sweet or Savory? Close call, but probably sweet, along with some strong coffee.

3. Who do you hope to reach through your blog? Others interested in cooking and travel who can share their insights.

4. Who do you admire and why? My parents, because they model how to live humbly and honorably.

5. If you could trade lives with someone for a day, who would it be and why? I would love to be Nigella Lawson for a day, because her approach to cooking from the heart appeals to me, and she does it so artfully.

6. Where do you dream of traveling? India, China, and Thailand at the moment. Also, all the islands of the Mediterranean.

7. What’s #1 on your bucket list? Thailand.

8. How long have you been blogging? About four months, and it’s been a wild learning curve!

9. What is your favorite post you’ve written and why? It would have to be my post on Nigella’s Chocolate Cloud Cake, because it was so personal and felt so cathartic writing (and creating the cake).

10. What is your favorite quote? These days I’m liking Julia Child’s quote, “I think every woman should have a blowtorch.” (I don’t have one, and if you read my Caramel Custard posts, you’ll know why this is probably a good thing.)