My First Award!

Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find that KianLam Kho, proprietor of Red Cook - Adventures from a Chinese Home Kitchen, had passed along to me the Arte Award. The Arte Award originated on the Arte y Pico blog and is given by award recipients to fellow bloggers who, in their opinion, display creativity, present interesting material, and contribute to the blogging community in some way.

Kian and his blog certainly deserve the honor. I'm flattered that he thinks enough of my own humble scribblings to similarly honor me. And although it should inspire me towards some sort of higher standard, I promise that receiving the Arte Award won't keep me from opening the next tin of nastiness I find at the dollar store and writing about what I find within.

As part of the fun, I am allowed to choose five of my own recipients among the bloggers I read regularly.

The Royal Bacon Society - Of all the bacon blogs on all of teh Internets, this is my favorite. Marianne has it all covered, sweet or savory, meal or snack, for people or for pets.

Food for Thought - Chef John Hughes' recipes are wonderful, his restaurant reviews come from the unique perspective of a professional chef, and his blog and website are friendly and welcoming. Most of all though, I salute his commitment to seasonal dining and sustainable seafood harvests.

Just Cook It - Alex introduced me to the writings of Fergus Henderson, a celebrated English chef of whom I had never heard until I read a few references in Just Cook It. I guess one of the things I really like about Alex's writing is that his attitudes about food and cooking are so similar to mine, but with a British perspective.

Lobstersquad - I adore Ximena Maier's blog not only for the recipes and commentary, but for her illustrations. They're beautiful and whimsical and touching, and they make Lobstersquad a total delight to visit. Also, I'll slip in an extra plug for her drawing and artwork blog as well.

Fritter - Reading Sarah's blog is like sitting down for coffee and a visit with an old friend. There's always something delicious on the kitchen table as she shares recipes and reminiscences; she has the rare gift of writing with a smile in her pen, and it shows.

The Rules for the Arte Award:

1. Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award with their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogger community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog.
3. Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.
4. Award-winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. Display these rules on your blog.