First I have to say a great big thank you to MandJoy from the blog Kitchen Joy for nominating me for this award! That was very sweet and makes me so happy:-) I have had bloggers nominate me in the past for other awards and I have never done anything with the nomination because I can never figure out how to accept and correctly follow the nominee rules, so this time I am determined to at least attempt to accept this nomination and force my technically challenged self to figure this out! Deep Breath after that one. Ok.  I am always so grateful when I get a nomination so if you read this and have nominated me in the past, I truly do appreciate it! As far as MandyJoy goes, you must go check out her website, Kitchen Joy http://kitchenjoyblog.com/. She has some super duper fantastic recipes (she has to be cool, she has a lobster roll recipe!) and seems like a very sweet and cool person. I love all my virtual friends I make through blogging and I love following along their creations as they follow along mine!

 

So here we go with my answers to ManyJoys questions:-)

1. If you were a contestant on Iron Chef America, what would be your ideal secret ingredient?

hmmmm. I can think of several but I’m going to say Beer. Have you ever cooked with beer? It’s awesome, infact, I have a recipe I recently made using Beer that will be coming up as a future post very soon. You can use it in sauces, stews, breads, etc. So many uses and it adds such a great flavor when cooked into the meal!

2. If you had to make a meal for an unexpected special guest using only what is in your houseright now, what would you make?

This one is rough because I went light and didn’t do my typical grocery shopping this week that I typically do! I would make skinless chicken thighs in a creamy curry sauce served over a spicy brown rice. Oh we need a vegetable, I do have carrots so I could steam carrots and serve them with some curry and butter.

3. What is your favorite book?

Another hard one, I love reading! So many are my favorites but one that really stands out is The Help. I’ve always been fascinated with the history of  “the old” south and the culture of how the maids were treated even how people themselves, especially women were expected to behave. I love Skeeter and her defiance and persistence of breaking out of the cycle of being like all the other women and going after her dream of writing. And how can you just not love Aibileen?! It’s a great book and now that I live in the South, it’s so hard to imagine that lifestyle that these people lived.

4. Which magazines, if any, do you subscribe to?

I currently subscribe to All You and Cooking light and must subscribe to Food Network as I end up purchasing it every month and it costs more! I’ll tell you a funny tidbit about me. I read magazines backwards, back to front. Don’t ask, I don’t know, I blame my aunt Bonnie, LOL, Love ya Bon!

 

5. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Hands down Christmas!!!! I just wish that it would not be such a retail holiday and we could bring back the true meaning, celebrating Jesus and then bringing it to be about spending time with family surrounded by great food! I love the cozy feeling of Christmas, the music, the lights, the decorating, the kids excitement. It’s magical and awesome!

 

Here are my nominees for the Oh so Fabulous Award!

http://cookingwithcandi.com

http://saucypans.wordpress.com

http://onceinabluespoon.wordpress.com

http://therecipecriticblog.com

http://simplymadekitchenandcrafts.com/

 

My questions for you are:

1. What is your all time favorite food to cook or bake?

2. If you were given a round trip airfare to anywhere of your choice, where would you go?

3. If Gordon Ramsey was coming to dinner at your place, what would you make him?

4. What are your favorite hobbies?

5. What is one thing you just could not live without?