Yes, I’m now officially part of the blogging community.  I’m slowly learning about the subculture of bloggers which involves lots of commenting on and linking to others’ articles as well as nominating each other for awards.  Slightly cheesy, yet quite sweet and part of building community and learning about what other people are up to.  So I graciously accept my first blogging award, the Liebster Award, not the Lobster Award (what spell-check keeps wanting to change it to!).

The Rules of a Liebster Award:

• Post the Liebster Award logo on your blog, on your homepage or in a post.
• Link back to your nominator
• Answer the ten questions they have set up for you.
• Nominate ten other bloggers for the award (preferably with under 1000 followers) and let them know they’ve been nominated.
• Think of ten questions for your nominees to answer.

Here are the 10 questions posed to be by the nominating blogger, Rebecca of Keep Calm and Cake

1.  What is your day job?

I consider myself lucky enough right now not to have an official day job.  I keep busy with my food blogging, teaching cooking classes, exploring London as an ex-pat and raising my two daughters (ages 10 and 12).

2.  What do you find most challenging about blogging?

Networking and increasing readership.  I love the cooking, writing, photography – love it!  But going to seminars, networking, guest posting and other forms of promotion don’t come naturally to me.

3.  Do you have a favourite cookbook? What?

Such a good question and such a difficult question.  I would have to say my absolute favorite (or favourite, rather) is The Gourmet Cookbook (edited by Ruth Reichl).  I not only refer to it for basic recipes (pancakes, tuna mayo sandwich..) but it provides great inspiration for new flavors and dishes as well.

4.  Do you have a favourite type of cuisine? What?

I don’t think I’ve ever met a cuisine that I didn’t like.  But if forced to chose, I’ll go with Italian.  I love the rustic simplicity, the use of excellent ingredients and the pizza, of course!

5.  Where is the most interesting place you’ve visited?

Egypt.  We recently did a Nile cruise and it was amazing to see life continuing along the Nile much as it has for thousands of years:  simple huts, farming without any large machinery, fishing out of simple canoes, mothers carrying around their babies while working in the fields.

6.  What other hobbies do you have?

Bikram yoga, hiking, holiday planning, seeing live music, and jigsaw puzzles (I know, totally dorky – I was even part of a puzzling club when I lived back in the States)

7.  Of which of your blog posts are you most proud?

Probably the post after my dear friend Maureen passed away from breast cancer.  After she died, I couldn’t do a typical (i.e. “celebrating the flavors of spring”) post, but had to somehow acknowledge her passing.  I found a recipe she’d shared with me – this amazingly delicious braised chicken – and wrote about food as a way to share love.

8.  If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I haven’t been to Asia, so definitely somewhere in Asia.  China would probably be top of my list, but Philippines look amazing as well as does Thailand.

9.  If you had to choose between eating sweet or savoury food for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

I have a huge sweet tooth, but sweets taste best in moderation.  So I’d go for savory.  Harsh!

10.  Do you have any particular goals for your blogging?

To increase my readership and get better with the photography, particularly better lighting, learning how to better use editing software and styling photos more creatively.

Thanks you, Keep Calm and Cake, for the thought-provoking questions.  Now here are my 10 nominations for the Lobster Award:

My nominations:

Sweet Phi 

Angloyankophile

Dang That’s Delicious

Striped Spatula

Stacey Snacks

The Thin Kitchen

Peeled

Floating Kitchen

Supper Lovin

Good Egg Foodie

And your 10 questions are….drumroll, please:

1.  What is the most intricate, time-consuming recipe you’ve ever made?

2.  What is your current favorite food blog and why?

3.  How did you get started blogging?

4.  What food condiment (sauce, etc) would you bring if you were stranded on a desert island?

5. What’s your favorite restaurant?

6.  Chocolate or vanilla?

7.  Where have you traveled that’s had the biggest impact on your cooking?

8.  How many cookbooks do you own?

9.  What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to eating (or cooking)?

10. What is your favorite, simple, 5-ingredient or less dish?