One Lovely Blog Award

Back in May I attended Sheridan’s Irish Food Festival, mainly because it looked like a great day out, but also so that I could review it for this wee blog (See post here). Little did I know that by going to the festival that I would cross paths with Vicky from The Flourishing Pantry.

Vicky is an established health/ wellness and food blogger from the UK with over 80 delicious and healthy recipes and stacks of posts that provide information on gut health and healthy living. She recently won the Best Free From & Illness Recovery Blogger 2017 in the Health Blog awards- congratulations Vicky!

I am delighted that Vicky nominated me for the Lovely Blog Award, as it gives me the opportunity to share more about myself. Now that my blog is growing, I feel that it’s time to be more personal rather than just rattling off recipes and reviews one after the other.  So thanks Vicky for thinking of me! Do check out her site out here; I am especially in love with her salmon onigiri recipe.

The rules of the One Lovely Blog Award are:

• Thank the person who nominated you (gracias amiga!)
• Share 7 facts about yourself
• Nominate 15 bloggers and inform them of the nomination

 

7 facts about me…

Fact one: I only intended to stay in Ireland for a year.

When I made the move to Ireland, I had only intended to stay for a year. I fell in love with the country and have been here for 8 years now. The friendly people, the stunning scenery and the close proximity to mainland Europe, have been the main reasons that I stayed in the early years, now it’s all of that and being in love with a lovely Irishman.

 

Fact two: A good friend encouraged me to start a food blog.

I had started posting pictures on Instagram of the food myself and my partner had been cooking, mainly as a bit of a joke. After a while, I realised that I liked posting up the pictures as it inspired me to spend more time cooking and it encouraged me to attempt to cook meals that were different from my usual repertoire or that I thought were difficult to master. A good friend who works in media production and management encouraged me to start a blog, which was something I had never considered. It has been a great challenge to come up with interesting content on a semi-regular basis; the motivation to cook delicious food and take photos of the end results remains, but the motivation to sit down and plan blog posts and to write them can be a challenge at times but has also been the most rewarding.

 

Fact three: I love Halloween.

In Australia, Halloween isn’t particularly popular so it is a novelty for me. I love all the decorations, the costumes, the baking and, most of all, the pumpkin carving. This is last year’s effort; Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare before Christmas. Now that pumpkins are starting to come into the shops I’m already thinking about what to do for this year’s carving.

 

Fact four: My space for taking photos is tiny.

Majority of my food photos are taken on a window ledge in my small one bedroom apartment. It definitely makes it a challenge to take a decent shot! The walls are also a bright yellow, which doesn’t really photograph that well, so I use chopping boards and makeshift backgrounds to try to mix things up a bit.

 

Fact five: I’ve seen a polar bear in the wild.

Back in 2012 I went to Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. I was fortunate to see a polar bear in the wild. Unfortunately, my camera didn’t have the ability to take a decent photo of a white polar bear on white sea ice surrounded by white cliffs. Oh well.

 

Fact six: I grew up in a very multicultural area of Melbourne, Australia.

My neighbours were Chinese, Filipino, Cambodian, East Timorese/ Portuguese, Croatian, Indian and Australians. I’m a first generation Australian, with my parents hailing from Spain and Switzerland. Surrounding suburbs were filled with people from all over the world, but mainly a large Greek and Vietnamese community. I was never raised on “traditional” food; it was the norm to try foods from other cultures without a second thought. Whilst I appreciate authentic dishes, and value the views of those that champion it, for me I crave the variety and the pleasure that comes different cuisines and fusion food.

 

Fact seven: I have a fear of heights, but always try to challenge it.

I get a serious case of vertigo when it comes to heights, but yet I always try to tackle the fear head on. So far I have climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, sky dived and abseiled to try to get over my fear. I’d love to say that it’s getting easier, that’s not the case, but the sense of achievement afterwards definitely makes it all worth it.

 

Nominations (and my reasons why you should check them out)

1. A Cookbook Collection: I regularly make her Spring Vegetable Pasta Salad.
2. Magnumlady: Her Biscuit cake recipe is so easy and so so good!

3. Kinneagh Kitchen: He reviewed Sha Roe Bistro, and I want to drive over an hour to try it out right now.

4. Rookie cook: Check out his delicious recipe for Korean Spicy Tenderstem Broccoli. Yum!

5. Hungry Breton: Love his writing style and this recipe of Damson Tarte Tatin
6. Sugar and shots: This Watermelon Gin Slushie is the biz!
7. The Healthy Tart: I love chai and I love chia… Chai Chia Pudding
8. Skitikkio: Her comprehensive guide on What to eat in Rome is a must if you’re planning on visiting.
9. Everyday cooking with Mira: This Mauritian curry is is authentic and delicious.
10. Where is my teaspoon: I love her passion for baking, such as this Classic Coffee and walnut cake.
11. Cooking with Craic: This step-by-step guide on how to butcher a duck is so handy.
12. Cookbooks and cardigans: I adore her Soba noodles in a jar
13. Tasty Mediterraneo: She has cake for breakfast! Check out her Spelt cake with chocolate pistachio topping
14. The Elle plate: Her drool-worthy guide to sweet spots in New York is a must read.
15. Le Petite Foodie: She reviews restaurants in Melbourne, like Osteria Ilaria, which make me want to go on a plane back home. Have you seen her photos? She’ll have you salivating!