Stylish Blogger Award

A while ago Johanna handed me a stylish blogger award which was a real highlight in my short blogging existence. I was so excited and extremely gracious to receive such an award (of which I had no idea even existed) although a part of me didn't feel like a worthy recipient. There are so many food blogs around with exceptional standards in all areas of cooking, writing and photography. My little blog feels quite the opposite of stylish at times, although it is still early days and there is always room for improvement!

The way the award is supposed to work is for me to pass it onto some other bloggers that I admire (with the exception of the person who presented it to me) as well as posting seven random facts about myself. So without further ado here are the stylish bloggers I am presenting with this award.

Where's the beef?
Cindy and Michael deserve this award based solely on the merits of their awesome vegan sausage rolls which I make on at least a once a month basis. There is way more to these guys than sausage rolls which is shown throughout the diverse array of recipes within their 1000+ post history.Their frequent eating out experiences are always coherently written up so it can be handy to drop by and check out their reviews before settling on a place to dine in Melbourne.    

Holy Cow

Vaishali's blog is full of tasty Indian recipes as well as plenty of other cuisines from around the world. Her writing style, photography and taste in food all resonate with me (as well as her love for dogs, particularly 3 legged ones ;-)). Vaishali posted a recipe for Tofu Pakoras this week which look fantastic and I will definitely be giving them a try soon.  

Eat me delicious
Ashley states that baking is her passion and indeed she does post some delicious looking sweets although I haven't tried any yet. All of the recipes I have enjoyed making from Ashley's blog have been savoury items; most recently was this sensational Curried Chickpea soup - highly recommended.

The Tropical Vegan
Teresa's blog is one that I haven't been following for a long time but have been enjoying immensely. I love reading about her life and eats in Far North Queensland which is one of my favorite regions in Australia. Teresa is also a fellow lover of Ethiopian food judging from one of her recent posts.  

Our Veggie Kitchen
Matt is about the only male vegan blogger that I follow apart from VeganDad (there seems to be a serious lack of male vegan bloggers out there). He predominantly features his own recipes and the ones I have tried have been fantastic. Matt's chipotle ranch dressing was very popular last summer as it is the perfect condiment to spice up a usually boring sandwich.   

And here are seven random facts about me...

1. My omnivorous life was only left behind about three years ago when my husband suggested we try vegetarianism and after quite a long period of transition I decided to go vegan last November. I am planning to write a more detailed post about this soon.
2. I used to find it amusing that when my son turns 21 I will have just turned 40! As he is getting close to turning 18, I'm not sure it’s that funny anymore. So scary how time flies!
3. Although not well-travelled I am a bit of a geography nerd and have always loved maps. My son has followed in my footsteps and we often have capital city quizzes for fun.
4.  I wanted to be a vet throughout my whole childhood and adolescence. Every time we visit our vet these days however, I think about how hard it must be to be for vets to euthanise animals and deal with negligent pet owners and don't think it would have been the right career choice for me after all.
5. Dill is about the only herb that I try to steer clear of in cooking. I have disliked everything I have made whenever I have used fresh or dried dill. Thyme is a conundrum as I love it fresh but find it can be unpleasant and overpowering when dried. I adjust heaps of recipes that use dried thyme by reducing the amount, using fresh thyme or replacing it with another herb.
6. My employer has allowed me to work from home for the last 18 months which has a lot of pros associated with it. After commuting from the SE suburbs into the city for many years, it is a blessing to wake up in the morning, have a shower, make breakfast and a coffee and be at work immediately without wasting time and energy on our overcrowded public transport system. And of course, it leaves a lot more time for cooking!
7. Many years ago, I met Boy George in a hotel lift whilst wagging school with some friends. Don't ask me why we were riding around in hotel elevator, the intent was certainly not to meet Boy George. He was quite a pleasant guy and rather concerned that we would get caught wagging as we were dressed in school uniform. From memory, we got away with it that day...

I would like to wrap this post up by thanking the lovely Johanna for giving me this award. She has been a fantastic supporter and frequently comments on my posts for which I am very grateful. It has been such a rewarding experience to join the blogosphere this year after being a blog reader for some time and I have been overwhelmed with the sense of spirit and support that exists within this community.