Saturday 6 September 2014

Liebster Award

So last week, whilst at work feeling miserable because I'd spent the last half hour with my arms elbow deep in dirty, greasy water washing up, I popped out for a cheeky cigarette and what did I see? Only a lovely little comment from the wonderful Sian from The Cheeky Vegan !

The Cheeky Vegan is a great blog, always so many recipes to drool over. I'm a fan of all of Sians recipes, but I love her slightly more simple recipes the most. Her Bread and Garlic is a beautifully quiet dish, a recipe made for Sundays, when you've been for a long walk through the fields. I also share her views on onions! "Onions are the centre of the culinary universe" 
These delights are made to be gobbled and to not care that the oil and garlic are dripping down your chin and getting under your fingernails.

I think The Liebster Award is a lovely way of getting to know other bloggers and also helping to spread the word of a good blog to read. 
Here is a list of things the award needs me to do...
1) Thank the wonderful person who nominated little old me-click on the link to check out her blog!
2)Answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated me
3)List 11 random facts about myself
3)Nominate other bloggers whose blogs I love to read
4)Write 11 questions for the other bloggers to answer
5) Let each of the nominated bloggers know they have been nominated

Now for the questions!

What made you decide to start a blog?

I have a habit of talking to myself, something that I have inherited from my wonderful, if slightly mad mother. A blog seemed a good way to get all of the stuff that rattles round my head out into the world, without resulting to talking to the stray cat. Who knew that baking would start to consume my world and therefore my blog? :)

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Well, as a child I think I would have been perfectly happy spending my days wherever the wild things were. I wanted adventure and talking animals...so naturally I wanted to be a pirate.

What is your earliest memory?

It's very foggy, but I can remember being in the bungalow my parents and I used to live in before we moved. My dad was telling an animated story, waving his arms around and laughing. My mum was sat on the sofa laughing really really loudly, the kind of laughing where you hold your stomach and tears fall down your cheeks. It's a happy memory and I'm glad I remember it.

If you could jump on a plane and fly anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?

Buenos Aires in Argentina, because my boyfriend T went there once and loved it so much he said it was his favourite city in the world, and the way he describes it, it sounds magical, so I would love to see it someday.

Which three foods/ingredients could you never live without?

Chickpeas. They amaze me because there is no end of things you can do with them. Chickpea flour omelette, falafel, hummus...eat them straight from the can with a sprinkle of salt...need I go on?
Chocolate. A bit predictable? Maybe...but then I don't really care as long as I've got my box of vegan dark chocolate truffles to scoff. Dark chocolate is my favourite, that bitter sweet glorious food of the gods. I love eating it for breakfast on Christmas morning, I love baking with it, watching it melt into cakes, making them glossy, I love having it in my pocket to munch on when I'm walking with mum and the doggies, on cold Autumn afternoons when you can see your breath hang in the air as you breath. 
Coconut milk. I use it in pretty much everything; soups, cakes, breads and smoothies. It makes recipes richer, more indulgent and above all it's the base to my Rum Coconut Caramel which is damn well tasty! 

Have you had any big kitchen disasters that you can share?

I once tried to make chocolate croissants...'Once' being the appropriate word. I was very young and foolish and thought I could just whip up a batch without even so what as glancing at a recipe book...yeahhhh. Lets just say it involved shortcrust pastry, a moment when I forgot to add any sugar and my dad saying 'it's a bit like eating a savoury pasty but with chocolate inside'...lets leave it there shall we?

If you had one opportunity to time travel, which time period would you go to?

Maybe the 1920's, I'd dance in fantastic dresses and drink too much alcohol, I'd have a short pixie haircut and be best friends with Gatsby and life would be totally fabulous dahling.
Or possibly the 1940's, just for the night, so I could paint a stocking line down the back on my legs, curl my hair and go dancing with an American soldier. 

If you could be a member of a TV sitcom family, which one would you pick?

I'm not sure if it's technically a sitcom, but I loved the TV show Spaced, I know they're not all related, but they're all friends that live in the same block of flats, so kind of like a family and they're all pretty crazy and amazing.

Who would play you in the movie of your life?

I want to say Zooey Deschanel. Not because I look anything like her (well, we have a similar fringe!) but because she's god damn amazing. And the whole quirky thing, people tell me I'm a bit strange.
Or maybe Zoe Kazan, because she was wonderful in the film Ruby Sparks, again, quite quirky and a bit of an oddball.

If you could un-invent one thing, what would it be?

Guns, weapons, anything designed to hurt people. That might sound naive or child like, but If I could I'd love to believe that people are all born with a good soul, and that maybe if there was nothing to fight with, then maybe they wouldn't fight.

What is one thing you always wanted as a child but never got?

Every time I came across a wishing well or had a birthday cake or lost an eyelash, I always made the same wish; to be able to fly like a bird. I remember telling my mum that my wishes never came true and after asking me what they were I told her. She gave me a hug and ruffled my hair, 'my silly girl' she laughed. Years later when we went to Greece I remember her nudging me as we were sat on the plane and saying 'look millie, we're flying!"


Ok, so here are 11 completely random and bizarre facts about moi

  • I have the words 'Blue Skies' tattooed along the inside of my middle finger on my left hand.
  • I can't whistle.
  • I eat spinach with pretty much every meal.
  • When I'm all growed up me and T want a dog, cat and rabbit called Claude, Jam and Gatsby.
  • Candyfloss is one of my all time favourite things to eat, but I only eat it when I'm at the seaside or fair, because it tastes better with salty air and carousels.
  • The carousel is my favourite ride.
  • I love Autumn the most, when the air has a bite to it, the leaves spiral around my feet and the promise of Christmas is all around.
  • I cry a lot, I cry when I'm happy, sad, excited, nervous, angry. And when I cry I am not one of those girls that looks pretty or delicate, I cry big loud sobs with lots of tears, snot and hiccups.
  • When I eat broad beans I only eat the middle part and leave the skins.
  • I grew up in the country, with roaming fields, streams deep enough to swim in and and secret woods. I now live in Bristol and although I love it, I do miss the countryside everyday.
  • I am very much like my mother, and I am very happy about that.


I nominate these wonderful people...

Clem from The Vegan Cookie Fairy is a beautiful lady with a beautiful blog, lots of sugar to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Taylor from Gluten Away isn't a strictly vegan blog, but he has some great vegan recipes and all of them are also gluten free, so great for those with sensitive tummies! Plus, there's lots of information on gluten and how to eat gluten free, and he's such a little cutie!

Jenni from Raw Shakti is one of the most amazing people I have ever met and I am lucky and blessed to call her a friend. Her blog is fairly new but contains amazing, simple recipes for raw food everyone can enjoy. Every time I read one of her posts I feel like going and sitting in a field of wild flowers, soaking up the sunshine whilst eating raw vegan cheesecake.

Jade from Jade Green Vegan is lovely, an animal lover and great blogger. Her lifestyle blog is great for finding random vegan dishes is big non-vegan places. Thanks to her I know I can even eat at Nandos if I want to!

Lisa from We Don't Eat Anything With A Face is a vegetarian mum with some great recipes. Although she's not vegan lots of her recipes come with vegan alterations. I love her warm, chatty and friendly posts!

So here's my 11 questions to my nominees:

  • When did food start becoming more than just food, and start becoming something you were excited about so much you wanted to rant and rave about it? 
  • If in an alternative universe you were a child raised by animals, which type of animal would you want to grow up with and learn from?
  • What is your favourite quote?
  • Have you ever gone out to a restaurant and only eaten dessert?! 
  • Favoutite kind of potato...sweet or white? Baked, mashed, fried, boiled, roasted, chips, fries, curly, crinkled, waffles, hash browns...?
  • Did you have any pets when you were growing up? If so then what were their names?
  • Do you have any food or meals/snacks that you personally associate with certain occasions? (Simple example - mince pies at Christmas).
  • What is your favourite time of day? Are you an early birdie or a late night owl?
  • If you could go back in time and re-live one moment, but only to re-live it, not change it, what moment would that be?
  • What snack food or meal do you wish grew on trees?
  • What's your favourite song to dance to?
Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed finding out a little bit more about me!
Mucho love! x

1 comment:

Jade Louise said...

I finally got around to responding to this on jadegreenvegan.com! Thanks so much for the nomination Millie :) xx