I am thrilled to report that I’ve been nominated for the above award – an award presented only to qualified  bloggers.

Thank you so much, Iris & Your Very Hungry Entourage for your most welcome vote of confidence in nominating me.

For those of you who don’t blog, or do blog but up until now hadn’t a clue what the award was (like me, until I Googled and realized what an honor it is), below are the requirements in order to be considered eligible.  Obviously you need to be a blogger, so if blogging is something you’ve been dreaming about, get started and share you passions with the rest of the world – you too could be nominated!

Requirements:

• link back the person who nominated you
• answer 11 questions designed by the person who nominated you
• nominate up to 11 other bloggers for this award, who have less than 500 followers
• create 11 questions for new nominees to answer
• let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them

So, here goes…below you’ll find my answers to the 11 questions posed by Iris & Her Very Hungry Entourage. Hopefully they won’t disappoint and even more importantly, I hope the reader finds them interesting, informative (despite my not giving away any really dark secrets) and of course, nominee-worthy:

Q. Why did you start blogging?

A. I love cooking, entertaining & feeding people and would host a dinner party every week if that were possible. But these days it isn’t, so with the advent of ‘The Blog’ I saw a great opportunity to combine several of my passions all at once; cooking, writing, photography – and by no means least, eating well! Close friends are grateful as I frequently make more than I can eat on my own and I have a rather small freezer.

Q. Do you have a favorite post? If so, add a link to it.

A. Hmm, that’s a bit like asking me which is my favorite child. But as I have no children I can only imagine what that feels like. Blogs that have generated the most positive response make me happiest  – but that might be because I wrote about chocolate, not because I wrote particularly well. On the other hand, I do enjoy writing about eating in the UK: ‘In Defense of British Food – 2014’

Organic Chocolate with Tart Cherries, Almonds & Sea Salt

Q. If you had one food to eat daily, what would it be?

A. Only one?!? If it really must be only one, then I’d choose the one I couldn’t live without; chocolate – of the dark, organic variety. I make my own from scratch and vary it with hazelnut praline, or dried cherries, etc.,  depending on my mood (which is always for chocolate).

Q. Share a fact not many people know about you.

A. As little girl I was more interested in jet engines than girly things and I never owned nor wanted a doll. My bedroom walls were plastered with pictures of fighter jets, RAF Bombers and the like. I took a flying lesson once but British weather is so unpredictable that I couldn’t commit to a regular course, plus I was 100% career-focused back then. Nowadays I gaze at stars and dream of being an astronaut.

Livarot

Q. Are you a sweet tooth, or is savory more appealing?

A. Despite my shocking confession above, I’m more savory than sweet, particularly if a good French cheese is involved.

Q. If you won the lottery, where would be your first travel stop?

A. I’d head back to the UK and splurge on family & friends. Selfish me would go via Italy first.

Q. Do you consider yourself a cat person or a dog person?

A. I used to be both but can honestly say that during the past 25 years, I’ve become 110% dog!

Q.Where is your favorite place to go on a walk/hike?

A. I live in the Colorado Rockies and am utterly spoiled for choice when it comes to incredible hiking trails. However, if I had to choose, it would probably be the Capital Creek Trail – here’s a pretty picture from last fall:

Capital Peak from the Capital Creek trail

Q. Beach or Mountains?

A. In this I am more consistent than in my food choices. See above 🙂

Q. What are your goals for the blog this year?

A. To never quit writing. I may not always have a fabulous recipe to share but I do hope that people will always want to read what I write.

Q. Bigger reward: Cocktail or Coffee?

A. Without hesitation, Cocktail. Vodka-based, French Champagne, NZ Sauv Blanc or a good Burgundy or Chianti.  Coffee is more of an essential and much as I enjoy my first cup of ‘Bulletproof Coffee’ each morning, I consider it necessary in order to make myself approachable, with a functioning brain. A cocktail on the other hand is an absolute treat and therefore my reward for having made it through the day without causing too much of an imbalance in the Universe 😉

And now for the big reveal: here are my fellow-blogging Nominees for this prestigious award ( I confess to being technically challenged and have no idea how to find out if any of them have less than 500 followers):

Cooking With Mr Fitz

The Weekend Artisan

PlatterJoy

The Full Circle Vegans

Feeding Your Beauty

Dancing Tree Kitchen

Below are  my 11 questions for the Nominees; questions I mulled over first in my well-caffeinated brain – so go for it guys!

1. If you could dine with anyone living or otherwise, who would it be – and why?
2. What was the first thing you every cooked? Delicious or disaster?
3. What is the one thing you couldn’t live without ( asides from the obvious, air, food, water)
4. Describe your favorite kind of vacation
5. Which of your five senses is most important to you – and why?
6. If you were invited to a grown-up Halloween party, what would your costume be?
7. What is your all-time favorite movie?
8. What is your all-time favorite book?
9. What is your all-time favorite piece of music?
10. If you had a spirit animal counterpart, what animal would it be?
11. Hours in the gym or an outdoor activity?

Have fun, guys!