While I honestly wasn’t sure what this award was, I was pretty stoked that someone… anyone… was reading my blog and liked it enough to recommend it to others.  The Liebster Awards is essentially an award by bloggers for bloggers, sort of a virtual chain letter. I really like that it’s based on peer-to-peer recognition, and it’s a way to help introduce great blogs to a larger audience. To accept the award, there are a few rules I now have to follow:

• Pass the award on to 11 bloggers (and let them know)
• Pose 11 questions (and not the same ones my nominator posed to me) to these chosen bloggers
• Answer 11 questions posed by my nominator (and let her know)
• Post 11 random facts about me.

So, thanks so much to Amy of Living a Good Food Life for nominating my blog…  now I will return the favor.  I am looking forward to following these 11 fantastic up-and-coming blogs:

• Peanut Butter Fingers
• The Gleeful Gourmand
  
• Whine and Cheers for Wine
• Frugal Feeding
• The Winegetter
• Wining Times
• I am the Milk
• Laura Loving Life
• Foods for the Soul
• The Drunken Cyclist
• Squeedunk Cats

My 11 questions for these bloggers are:

• Why did you begin blogging and what makes you continue?
• What is your favorite past time?
• What’s your “guilty pleasure” food?
• What do you do in your spare time, if you have any?
• What are your three favorite things to make?
• Do you believe that recipes are “directions” or “guidelines” in cooking?  Discuss…
• Do you have a role model in your life?  If so, who and why is that person important to you?
• Do you have a Bucket List (or more than one)?
• If money were no object, where and how would you live?
• Favorite TV show or movie?
• What’s one thing that you would never eat?  Why?

Here are my answers to the 11 questions that Amy posed to me. Hopefully they make sense, since not all these blogs are food-based:

• Why do you blog?   I blog because I was creating recipes at the winery where I work and I didn’t want to try and create a full-blown cookbook.  I also blog because it’s a way for me to share my love of food and wine with others.
• What is your favorite vegetable?  I love asparagus, but am not so fond of the “after effects”.  I am a fan of most any vegetable, aside from lima beans (or any of those other “big flat beans”)
• What is your favorite utensil in the kitchen?  My favorite utensil is my stick blender… it’s easy to use in a variety of ways and I can wash it quickly and put it away immediately.  My favorite basic utensil is a non-stick whisk… it’s essential!
• What’s your closest grocery store?   Food Lion – I call it “Food Dog” because the symbol doesn’t look like a lion to me.
• What were the last three things you cooked?  Homemade pull-apart rolls and Pretzel kaiser rolls, Kielbasa with sauteed onions, and Mango Risotto
• Are you a baker or more of a savory cook?   I cook using The Force, so that lends itself to being a savory or sweet cook as opposed to the precise directions needed for most baking.
• Chocolate desserts vs. fruit desserts: discuss.   I love chocolate desserts AND fruit desserts, but my husband is not a fan of either.  Since he’d prefer vanilla desserts, anything I bake that’s chocolate tends to go to work with me.  I’m not very good at making fruit desserts, so I lean toward making baked goods when I’m asked to bring something.
• What is your favorite place to visit?  Hands down, Annapolis Maryland is my favorite place in the world.  Being there with my husband (and sons, if they’re able) is a true joy.
• If money were no object, what restaurant would you most like to try?  I don’t have a “bucket list” for restaurants, so I’d have to ask my best friend, Lynne, for suggestions, but I believe that she would suggest that The French Laundry be at the top.  I’m just as happy and satisfied going to Cantler’s Riverside Inn in Annapolis.
• Best food movie?  Mystic Pizza… the idea of creating a sauce that makes people happy seems pretty awesome.
• Last meal: what would it be?  Seafood of any sort… I love it all.

And finally, here are 11 random facts about me:

• I love wine… I may not drink it all the time or know everything about it, but I love it just the same.
• I really hate Halloween – masks scare the life right out of me.
• I used to be a Drug Addictions Counselor.
• I love to write, whether it’s recipes (on this blog) or about life (on beatitudesofmylife).
• I am too vain to use reading glasses in public, unless absolutely necessary.
• I adore cooking, but hate to follow a recipe, so I use “The Force” and create new meals almost every day… but I am not a chef.
• My husband is the very best, most amazing person I know and I thank God, every day, that he’s mine.
• I get bored watching most “must see” movies and don’t like unnecessary violence.
• I really love watching sports, especially with my family, but I do NOT like to watch baseball on TV.
• I am nauseatingly patriotic… and proud of it.
• I adore my job and feel blessed every time I go to work.