So Many Dishes

I’m beyond humbled to be nominated—twice—for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Victoria Kenanda, an incredibly talented writer, whose blog is victoriaseries , nominated me just before we headed out of town, and I didn’t get a chance to follow up before another member of my WordPress family, Darryl B, also nominated this blog. Darryl, who writes the delightful My little corner of the world, and I connected over shared South Florida experiences, but his stories often touch my heartstrings. You would be doing yourself a favor to check out both of these blogs.

Guidelines

1) Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog

2) Thank the person who nominated you

3) Provide a link to your nominator’s blog 

4) Answer your nominator’s questions

5) Nominate up to eleven bloggers 

6) Ask your nominees eleven questions 

7) Notify your nominees by commenting on their blogs

Both Victoria and Darryl gave me questions to answer, and wow, are they great questions! Because of the timing, the questions I’m answering are the ones from Darryl, although there was some overlap. Victoria, I promise you’ll get some answers in a later post.

1. What is home for you and why? Home, to me, is where you make indelible memories with family. I’ve lived longer in our current home, almost 37 years, so this is where I call home. (Yikes, I just realized, that’s half my life!) Yet, because we made so many memories there in five short months, and the experience made such an impact on our lives, I will always think of Prague as home

2. What is your greatest joy? No question, it’s my family. My husband, my kids, my grandkids. I love them with all my heart, and nothing beats spending time together.

3. Describe a moment when you had to make a tough decision. I would say that making a career change was a tough decision. I’d sort of ended up in banking by accident, but I wasn’t thrilled with my last job in that field. I answered an ad for a choral music teacher at a private school, and got an interview. I was offered the job on the spot, and had to give them an answer right then and there. I took a deep breath and said yes. It’s one of the best decisions I ever made.

4. What ignites your creativity? In keeping with this being primarily a food blog, I’d say it’s looking at a blank weekly recipe planner page. What am I going to cook on which night? Is it a diverse menu, in terms of cuisines, ingredients? Is it (mostly) healthy? What’s the balance of tried and true recipes vs. new ones?

5. You have a day with unlimited funds and a teleportation device. What would you do? No question, I’d teleport to Prague. I could visit all my old haunts, plus the new additions in the 20+ years since Ken and I last visited. Drink great Czech beer. Ride the Metro. Walk across Charles Bridge and up Nerudova Ulice. Eat bamborovy knedlicky. Honestly, maybe I don’t need to be teleported. I just need to close my eyes, and I’m there.

6. What bugs you? That, try as I may, I’ve never been able to play the piano as well as I’d like. I’m realistic about my skill level, but I’m not happy about it. No amount of practice makes it better. I blame my short, stubby fingers.

7. Describe a memorable chance encounter. I’m going to refer you to an earlier post, What has he done today?. My answer is that post.

8. What is your greatest fear? At my age, and with the world as it is today, I fear for what we’re leaving our children and grandchildren.

9. Of all of your posts, do you have favorite? If I have to choose, I think it’s the one I wrote about the wonderful musicians I work with, Close to My Heart

10. Describe an idyllic childhood experience. Time spent with my maternal grandparents was always special. I loved their house, an old, odd converted schoolhouse. I loved to sit on the sun porch to read, because there were plenty of books. We would take walks with my grandmother, or, in winter, go sledding on the nearby hill known as camel’s hump. My grandmother would make waffles for dinner and my grandfather would make pancakes on Sunday mornings. You knew the memory would come down to food!

11. It’s the end of the world and you get a final meal. You’d pick: ____ . I’m thinking comfort food. There’s no future, so no need to worry about calories. Something cheese-laden. I’m thinking lasagna. And a hot fudge sundae. And a good bourbon 😊

Bloggers/blogs I’m nominating:

Melsar93/Next Eleven Years

Erwinism

aquinoaa2272/My Love Expressions

Tamyra Miller/Our Simple Life

sandyroybessandbugzy/Roads We Travel and Destinations Reached

Lisanordlund/thefoursmigosblog

Light Writers/lightroom

The ancient eavesdropper

Aptivi

SaaniaSparkle

And finally, my questions for them:

1. What was the subject of your first blog post?
2. What is one food that is always in your refrigerator?
3. It’s a special occasion. How will you celebrate?
4. What is something you are proud of?
5. Who is someone who had a positive impact on your life?
6. What’s a random fact about you?
7. Time and money are no object. What’s your ideal trip?
8. What advice would you give to a student about to graduate from high school?
9. What’s your favorite song?
10. Did you play a sport growing up? What was it?
11. You’re invited to my house for dinner. What should I cook?