I Made Him Think? Huh.

I've been given an award. How the hell do you like that? And it's one of the nicest awards to be given.. I'm quite flattered and more than a lil shocked! heee! This award.. it's a "thinking" award.. It means someone has been readin' this lil blog o'mine and it's made him think! Well terrific! I think that's great! Not that he needs to think about my blog filler so much, as he has no problems coming up with his own fabulous food creations just fine on his own! But Thank! You! Jerry! for such a nice surprise =)) Okay well, a small task comes with receiving this award and that is, I need to list five other bloggers who make me think! Well the only thing I think about that is, it SUCKS! Just five?? Holy cow, that hurts my brain. After much debate and over a week of going through my VERY LONG list, I have decided on 5 other bloggers to give this award to. And by decide, I mean I made a list on notebook paper, taped it to a wall and flung little glue tabs at it. Whatever blog they landed on is the lucky recipient of this very sweet award AND now has the job of trying to figure out five of their favorite bloggers to pass it on to next. MUAHAHA! Okay here is my list, in the order upon which my lil glue flingy was flung: Ilva of Lucullian Delights - When I first started reading her blog well over a year ago, the food she wrote about was foreign to me. This is not how most people I know eat. But the more I read, the more I realized.. why the hell aren't we eating this kind of food?? It looks delicious, it sounds delicious and it's healthy food! It's not drowning in marinara sauce! There are not 3 inches of cheese on top! Just healthy grains, vegetables and fruits! I aspire to cook like Ilva one day, it's hard to break my butter / mayo / sour cream addictions but by learning more and more how she cooks, makes it all that much easier for me to start incorporating her ways into my own cooking. Ohh... and, by chance, have you noticed her photography?? *swoon* Callipygia of FOODchair - If you've read her blog, then you can skip this explanation of why she makes me think. You already know. Callipygia's writing sucks you in and won't let you go even after you've read the last word. Her descriptions are so vivid that if you were to close your eyes, you'd clearly see what she's talking about. She has a great sense of humor as well and I am always guaranteed a chuckle at some point through her post. She'll write about a particular food that I either am not familiar with or would normally turn my nose up at. But after she's told me about her experience with it, not only do I want to try it - but I want to try it RIGHT NOW. Take, for instance, yummy cheese balls... and I do mean yummy... Kirsten of Kirsten's Home Cooking Adventures - Now this gal just makes me think about how I can incorporate her mouthwatering foods into my repertoire! I love the way she cooks and have asked her REPEATEDLY if she'd just ADOPT me (I might have even asked her to marry me).. but I've seen no papers come across my desk yet. *sigh* So what's so great about her blog? It's the simple fact that she somehow knows exactly what I've been craving and then goes and makes it - to taunt me with! I don't think I've come across one entry of her's that did not make me say to myself, "I am SO going to make that!" Laura Rebecca of Laura Rebecca's Kitchen - Laura's is one of the first blogs I had ever read and she's one of the first friends I'd ever "met". Her blog is about real food being eaten by a real family with all their different likes and dislikes. About how a very busy mom, wife and teacher still has time to cook fabulous dinners and treats for her family. But, aside from how she makes me drool and uhh, react when I read her posts or try her recipes, I know I can count on her to let me know when something important is happening in the food world. Her accounts about organic farming, the e coli outbreak, mad cow disease, how the big wig bastards are trying to f*ck with our chocolate, net neutrality and this atrocity get me thinking about things that I normally like to pretend just aren't there. I'm grateful that she's not afraid to let her readers know her opinions and how she provides even more information to whichever it is she's writing about. And last but certainly not least - Sara of i like to cook - Sara likes to try new things. She doesn't seem to be scared of what the outcome could possibly be, she's more into it to see if she can discover something new. I've never gotten the impression that Sara's recipes come from a list of tried and true's, yanno? I know some are, but mostly she's willing to go beyond what might be normal fare (rice burgers! Yum!) for herself and her husband. Therefore, when she tries something new, regardless if I'm brave and try it myself or not, she makes me think outside my normal comfort zone. Most recently, the subject of tofu came up. Seriously kids, there is just no way, up until the point of reading her posts, that I would even entertain the thought of eating tofu. I'm sorry it just squicks me out. But she taught me to think differently about the stuff - to use it in recipes where you really don't know it's there, that it's so much better for your body than the stuff I've been shoveling in. I want to get healthy and she's given me one option. Okay gals.. here's what you are suppose to do: If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think, Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme, Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote. So there you have it kids.. five of the many blogs that make me think on a daily basis. Thank you again, Jerry! xoxo