Filling the blanks - Award(s)

So, I had told you about my cooking teacher coming for dinner.
That was the day after the Berry Fair so, foreseeable enough, I put together a mainly-berry-themed menu.
If you have read me this month, you have seen pretty much all I served that night:

- Rasperry/Blueberry and Lard Crostini
- Blueberry Cjarsons
- Roastbeef and Yogurt Nests
- Raspberry mousse

Appetizers, first course and dessert were berry based. I didn't want to go all the way with it, and the second course was a light and fruit-free dish.
It was the easiest to put together, and as sometimes happens, was the most appreciated.



These are Roastbeef and Yogurt Nests, I found the recipe in a special issue of La Cucina Italiana (Italian edition); 4 times a years they print a monographic issue, could be about eggs, potatoes, chocolate, pasta... this was focused on healthy food.
They are basically rolls of a very light potato salad and roastbeef.

For 4 servings, you need 12 slices of roastbeef (store bought, they have to be thin).
For the filling:
- 2 medium sized potatoes, boiled
- 4 pickles
- 4 tablespoons of greek yogurt
- parsley

I put a lot more than 4 tbsp of yogurt, about 3/4 cup, and added a good 1/4 of minced chives.
Dice the potatoes and the pickles, mix the vegetables with all the other ingredients and then roll about 1 tablespoon in a roastbeef slice.
They are called "nests", so I made a base on one side of the roll and stuck a toothpick in it to keep it in shape, then served them on a bed of green salad and cherry tomatoes.

Quick, easy, and really, really appreciated!


Now, the award(s).
I actually got two in the last two weeks, and I was really surprised, amused and flattered.
When you get an award you're supposed to spread the joy and pass it to other people you think deserve it.
The problem is that, as it often happens to me, I took things backwards with this blog thing.
I opened this blog to be able to join the Daring Kitchen Challenges, then I ran away with it and THEN became involved in reading other blogs.
So I didn't open a blog because I was enjoying the blogosphere, but it was the other way round for me.
Being still a newbie, I feel like I'm still opening a thousand doors a day, with all the remarkable blogs out there, but still feel a little lost and have a hard time remembering who wrote what.

That's why when Jill from JilliciousDiscoveries awarded me with the "One Lovely Blog" award I was quite overwhelmed to see that I had to pass it on to 13 other people, with all that she was already awarding 90% of the blogs that I knew!

This is to thank Jill very much, it's not that I didn't appreciate your gift!

I was thinking and researching for the list, when Laura of Tiramisu gave me another award. But this time I would have to nominate only 7 blogs, so thank you Laura, and here I am to spread the joy of the Kreative Blogger Award.




The rules, copied a pasted from Laura's blog are the following:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.


7 things about me:

- My weight at birth was 10lbs sharp (4.550kg).
- I stay up late for no reason, I'm just one of those kids who never wants to go to bed, I easily stay up until 2 or 3 am. I repent every morning, then every night is the same old story.
- I never wanted to study history at school. Obviously, for the Law of Large Numbers, I married a guy who is totally into history and tries to pull me into conversations where I just smile and try to divert the topic.
- Said guy first held my hand while we were visiting a Museum of Torture. We are oh, so romantic!
- My Italian teachers were never that thrilled about my essays (keep in mind I ended up studying Chemistry, I wasn't a total failure at school!); which is funny, considering that now I'm taking so much fun writing this mini essays in a language that's not even mine. I told you, I hardly take things the easy way!
- I'm a procrastinator.
- I'm the only woman on the planet who thinks that shoes are just something you use to protect your feet.

And now, the 7 blogs (some of them are in Italian, and they are worth the use of an automatic translator):

- Audax of Audax Artifex: he blogs mostly about his Daring Kitchen Challenges, but he treats the given theme in so many different ways, it just blows my mind!
- Alex of Ombra nel Portico.
- Julia of Melanger to mix: I love the way she looks at things.

The next 4 I find connected, in some way; they are assertions, on how applying a principle (healthy diet, intolerance to gluten, or having to go most locally possible because of a remote residence) do not necessarily stop you from living a full and enjoyable life.

- Angela of Isolated Foodie
- Em of Kitchen M; she's a dietitian and food photographer.
- Jeanine of The Baking Beauties
- Petula of La Cuoca Petulante, a macrobiotic blog. I'm particularly grateful to her because it was through her blog that back in 2007 I discovered anobii.com . I have never told her, now she knows.


That's all, folks!