Two Awards

Over the past few weeks I'm proud to announce that I have been the lucky recipient of two awards from two awesome bloggers.


The first is the You Make My Day award from the delightful Mary of Shazam in the Kitchen. This was the first blog award that anyone has ever given me! Mary continues to amaze me with her kitchen prowess, her clever posts, and her downright goodness, what with all that bicycle-riding-for-good-causes and sending cupcakes out to friends. Anyway, here's the award she gave me:

And that really did make my day.

So today, I'm happy to share this lovely award to a few of my bloggy buddies that continue to add sunshine and inspiration to my life:

- Lulu of Lulu's Laundry Blog. Lulu is a gem. She's an awesome online friend. She's gone back to school, now--which I think is fantastic, and an inspiration to women everywhere. Her once-in-a-while posts are always quality entertainment!

- Mrs. Mecomber of New York Traveler. Mrs.M is a friend, my homie, and always has some great information and advice on her blogs.

- Gloria of Canela's Kitchen. I think Gloria is one of the sweetest people around the blogosphere, quick to offer a note of encouragement and obviously a fantastic cook.

- And I would be remiss to exclude Aaron, who is so very talented and a wonderful brother and friend. I'm proud to call him family. Aaron is an illustrator and the author of Random Acts, a blog about storytelling, folklore and illustration.

Let's have an "awww" moment, shall we? Here is a photo of Aaron and I from 1974.

Seriously, how cute were we?

Okay. Back to business.

The next award that was given to me was E for Excellent, from Joy of Joy of Desserts. Thanks, Joy!

There are so many excellent blogs that I love, that inspire me, and that entertain me with clever posts and fabulous recipes. I'd like to pass this award on to the following blogs:

- Anne's Food. Anne is a brilliant foodblogger with some gorgeous photos, recipes and reviews. I have been reading Anne's Food for a long time and always look forward to the next post.

- Apron Strings and Simmering Things. Now I know that Marye already has this particular award, but I could not leave her out of my list. Her sweet, down-home style and droolworthy recipes area always a treat.

- Around the Island. Robin always impresses me with her posts. Her writing is outstanding and insightful.

- Coffee and Vanilla. Margot has one of my favorite blogs, full of top-quality food porn! Her recipes and photos are superb--really, if you don't read Coffee and Vanilla, you should.

- Feeding My Enthusiasms. Elle is incrediby talented. Her recipes and photos are lovely, and her posts are always very well-written and delightful.

- Frugal Upstate. A fellow New Yorker--I love reading Jenn's blog for all sorts of ideas to stay in my budget.

- Green Gourmet Giraffe. Johanna is so clever. Her recipes always have me licking my screen.

- Habeas Brulee. Danielle is brilliant. I don't know how she has time to show us her kitchen creations, but she does, and with style. This is a food blog for foodbloggers.

- Mele Cotte. Without a doubt, Chris has one of the best food blogs I've been reading. I always have special appreciation for bloggers who post recipes that are versatile enough to be adapted to my dietary needs (sugar-free and low glycemic-index). I know that I can always head over to Mele Cotte for some great--and doable--ideas.

- The New Cook. Any writes excellent posts, and I find them so useful to read. Review is good. A new cook's perspective is enlightening. And there's always some new/previously unlearned trick this old cook is interested in learning!

There are rules relating to the E for Excellent award*. Here they are:

- Find at least 10 more blogs of any kind which you deem to be excellent;

- Post about which blogs you picked, linking to me and to them;

- Once you've posted, return here to let me know your post is up, and of course let your 10 award winners know, too.

*If you've already received this award in the past, I won't hold you to selecting 10 more.