So this was totally unexpected: Liebster award!

Okay, so I’ve been trying hard to do one recipe and one musing type post whenever I send something out into the world on here because of the food promised in the blog name, but right now recipe-perfecting and mini food photo-shoots just take up too much of the little free time I have so I’m sorry, foodies, for deviating from the usual posting routine.

Now onto what this post’s really about. You might be thinking: What is this Liebster award. And before you open a new tab, I’m going to stop you right there and save you the Googling. It’s an award for new blogs with small followings – someone has been on your blog, liked what they saw and wanted to show their appreciation for it by spreading the word. I didn’t know about this until Dennis nominated me for this one. (Check out his blog if you’re looking for some friendly advice on where to eat vegan food and how to act around your vegan friends). I have to admit, it’s a little odd at first – nominating people for virtual, chain-mail-like “awards” and I completely understand some of the skepticism behind it, but I’m not going to over-think it and take this one as a victory for my newbie blog. Yay.

It’s kinda like in real life; people should express their appreciation for things. Whether it’s being grateful for what someone does for you everyday or taking a second out of your routine to think about the things in life that we take for granted. Food. Family. Friends. Air. The smell of frying onions. And everything else we are not deprived of in this part of the world.

Sorry for turning this light-hearted piece of, I guess, blog culture into a rambling life lesson. But before I really start, these awards not only open your own blogger thoughts and ideas to a bit more of the world, but also introduces something different to the readers of your blog. And who knows, maybe one of them will click on it, love what they see and their day can be brightened every week whenever they get that little envelope in their inbox telling them there’s a new post by Jiminy Billy Bob. In the mean time, the blogger can get that warm, fuzzy feeling when they see that orange notification in the corner of their screen telling them, hey, there’s another person that thinks my blog is cool.

I was going to try and keep my answers short and sweet ’cause I doubt many of you are interested in reading paragraphs about my life story. But judging by this long introductory one, I’d keep my expectations low. So here ya go. Thanks Dennis for nominating me – completely out of the blue, totally flattered and couldn’t have imagined actual people who like reading my recipes and listening to my daily thoughts enough to sign up, let alone someone picking me out specifically to show their appreciation for my own little corner of the internet.

My answers:

1) Where do you get the ideas for your blog posts?  They usually stem from the mental clutter in my mind. There’s definitely something comforting about finding someone in this “ubiquitous” small world (that’s me using a new word, hoping that I used it in the right way and not making a fool of myself) who feels the exact same way as you do in one situation or another. You know the feeling. When you have the same opinion about a specific topic. Or a certain feeling you didn’t realise you got until someone else started describing it. But yes, anyway, they come from my brain. I usually jot down things when I find something I like or write down a reminder of a lesson I learnt that day, that might comfort someone who was feeling lousy about doing the same thing.

In terms of recipes, they come from many failures, successes and binned scrambled-egg-custard. I’m not sure about the usual delicious-looking foods that appear on the internet like they emerged from the cook without accidentally getting flour all over their un-aproned shirt, but it definitely takes a lot of time and effort before a recipe makes it on here.

2) What is the best feedback you have ever gotten on a blog post? As a new blogger, I obviously haven’t had a lot of people interested in what I’m posting, which is completely understandable. But that just makes it all the sweeter when someone genuinely compliments you on it. So I would have to say “I absolutely love the way you write” and “We look forward to reading your posts” are the ones that have stuck with me. I wasn’t born a writer and didn’t start this blog searching for admirers or views – it was simply to put my recipes out there and have an outlet for my thoughts, but when a compliment is said about something that came from and is fundamentally you, it’s nice. Really nice 🙂

3) What motivates you to keep blogging?  I know I just said I didn’t start looking for follows and “likes”, but if I’m honest, my motivation has evolved to the idea that my recipes and thoughts can actually reach people and affect someone. Even if it’s just somebody trying one of my recipes and adapting it to their liking. Or a comment saying they totally relate to something I just said. That. I want that. For people to feel like they can identify with the things I talk about and to be as excited as I am about the recipes I post.

4) If you could move to any part of the world right now, where would you go and why?  Off the top of my head, Copenhagen (Laila 😉 ). I’ve heard it’s one of the happiest cities and I, without a doubt, want to try a real Danish pastry.

5) What’s your favorite restaurant in the world?  There isn’t one that’s shouting out to me right now, so I’ll just say Las Iguanas. Cassava fries, sweet potato, refried beans and DIY fajitas!

6) Where is your favorite place in the world?  and 7) If you were a character from a movie or a different world (e.g. from Space), who or what would you be, and what would your story be?  These are too hard! And require some serious thought – will get back to you when I think of something..

8) Who are some of your heroes (past or present)? I don’t think I’ve really lived long enough to be confronted with massive hurdles I’ve had to conquer, milestones I needed to face or a huge passion for something in particular in order to have a figure to totally and utterly motivate me in my everyday life. So unfortunately for you, my answer will have to be the clichéd “my mum and dad”. I won’t elaborate to even attempt to verbalise what they signify – just want to say that choosing them certainly does not take away from the genuineness (had to oxford-dictionary that) of my answer.

9) Please tell me a joke 🙂 : Jokes about German sausages are the wurst.

10) What is the one thing that you do each day without fail?  Think about what I’m going to be eating later 😀 For sure.

11) If clothes make the men, what does what you are wearing right now say about you? I feel like I should give a really deep philosophical answer to this one, but all I ever wear is a tonne of layers with a scarf around my neck and my big fat Timberlands. The real reason is because I’m cold (and have no other clothes). But I guess, if we’re analysing things, this “sensitivity” to the elements could reflect how sensitive I am. To and about absolutely everything. Other people’s emotions and thoughts. I usually take them up as my own and learnt recently that maybe I burden myself with them. Not only that, but my own mental state is very sensitive to change too – my stress levels, mood or outlook on life can change in the blink of an eye.

Alright. So you’re meant to “nominate” other blogs that are also new, but most of the ones I’m subscribed to already have quite big followings. So I’ll just give a coupla of links to a few that I like and personally think are worth checking out. They might not be your kind of thing, but it’s always worth stopping by.

Neil’s 1000 Awesome Things for days you need a pick-me-up

Girl on the Contrary for a chuckle and a reminder that you’re not the only weird yet awesome human being out there (that’s a link to a post of hers I liked)

A spoonful of nature for awesome photography and general musings you can relate to

Jam and Thimble for those of you who like your textiles

Phew. Thanks for reading til’ the end! 😀 I hope you enjoyed the post!