Friday, May 23, 2008

Meme and Award Time!

I've had a long week for a variety of reasons. One unexpectedly bright spot from the week was receiving this from Susan of
Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. If you haven't been to Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy go there NOW. I mean it. Susan's wonderful recipes and insights and sweetness will leave you feeling happier for going there. So here was her generous gift to me:



The Blogging With a Purpose Award was originated by Eric at Blogging With a Purpose. The rules are, that recipients must nominate five people who have not yet received the award, and that the blogs that receive the award must serve some purpose.

This time around, I'm going to nominate some food blogging friends who are trying to get us to think in new ways about food:

Kim of The Farmer's Marketer. Kim is one Ann Arbor's local champions for the local food movement. Her entries are informative and give great advice for living a simpler, healthier life.
Heather of Gild the Voodoo Lily. Heather shows us daily how local ingredients and a bit of kitchen know-how can bring us literal feasts. She's a master of pulling together the extraordinary from the mundane.
Shan of Tales from the Fairy Blogmother. Shan started up What's Cooking Wednesday, which is a lovely circle of U.S., Canadian, Italian and... other(?) bloggers who share simple recipes from the previous week. This is more of a help circle, than some of the flashier food experiments, and it's been a great resource for many of us!
Ben of What's Cooking?. Ben is not only on a quest to teach us the healthy aspects of Mexican food, but he also is one of the most generous and supportive bloggers out there in the food community. He posts important articles on health issues, cooking techniques, has a cooking around the world series, etc. I always know I'm going to learn something when I visit Ben!
Marye of Baking Delights. Marye is an honest-to-God homesteader and baker extraordinaire. She grows much of what her family eats, and she has seemingly limitless creativity. If you want to learn how to bake on any level, hang around with Marye.

Secondly, I was tagged by Liz at Los Angelista's Guide to the Pursuit of Happiness with the following meme:

This meme is book related and the rules are:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

"As she slowly backed out of the crowd, towards the corner, Thierry caught her eye. He motioned to her. Carry this."

This is from Murder in the Marais by Cara Black. I'm not that far into the book yet, but I'm really, really enjoying it. She brings together an emotionally-damaged Parisian PI with a dark story of secrets of both collaborationists and the Underground from WW II, brought to this time, when a Survivor is found murdered with a swastika carved into her forehead. It's not emotionally easy reading, but it's smart, thought-provoking and beautifully written.

And yes, I'm going to specifically tag a few readers, although anyone can decline and anyone can play. So here are five readers whom I know are always surrounded by books:

1. Dru of Notes from Me
2. NYC/Caribbean Ragazza
3. Anno of Anno's Place
4. Wendy of La Delirante
5. Sisters Sassy and Honeybunch of Sisters of a Different Order

27 comments:

anno said...

Congratulations, and thanks for the great picks! I'm happy to see some long-standing favorites, and looking forward to some new and interesting reading.

As for the book meme... sure, I'll play along. We've probably got one or two books around here somewhere I could use. ;)

That one you're reading sounds awfully interesting, though.

Jen said...

I'd be glad to pass it on to you after D and I finish it. I think you'd really like it.

glamah16 said...

Congrats on all your award. I love all your picks as they are mostly regulars on my reading list . Have a great Hoilday weekend.

Momisodes said...

Congratulations on the award! So very well deserved :)

Mae Travels said...

You wrote: "a dark story of secrets of both collaborationists and the Underground from WW II, brought to this time," -- are these veterans extremely old now? I have met some former members of the French resistance, but they are no longer with us. It was a long time ago.

And what stories they told! I hope you will further review that book! Is the author French?

Marye said...

umm..I do NOT grow much of our food..some of it yes..LOL! I do try to buy local though...
and thank you so much. You are an encouragement!

Heather said...

Thank you, Jen! I'm so flattered. I'd like to reiterate the others' sentiments that yours was well-deserved. :)

Have a great three-day weekend! I'll make something really good to honor the award.

April said...

Hope you have a great, long weekend!

Susan @ SGCC said...

Thank you for the props,Jen. You made me blush! I'm glad the award brightened your week.

Believe it or not, I just started reading Murder in the Marais too! How's that for a coincidence? We'll have to compare notes. :)

Korie said...

Ooh, a new book to keep an eye out for.
Congrats on the award and hope your next week is less, erm, long feeling?

Jen said...

Glamah and Sandy - Thanks!

Mae, I was wondering about the time period myself. I wasn't quite right - she set the book in 1993. And yes, the murder victim and several other key players are very elderly.

Oops, Marye, I thought you did... I'll fix it. Heck, if you grow ANY of your own food that's still fabulous!

Jen said...

Thanks, Heather, and have a lovely weekend!

You, too, April - enjoy every minute of it!

Oh, Susan, I'd love to get chat about it. I'm really intrigued - and have you read any of her others?

Jen said...

Oops! Mae - Cara Black is French-American - lives in both places, I believe.

Jen said...

Lilac, I have a feeling you might really enjoy this series. And thanks for the good wishes, too. ;-)

diana murphy said...

Ah, worthy recipients all! I checked out your 'tagged' friends as well. I like NYC/Caribbean's take on the Times article. Bloggers (and blog readers - not to mention the blog averse) are primed for discussion this weekend.

Enjoy your holiday, Jen!

La delirante said...

Hi!!! Thanks for the tag!! It is quite an original one!! I am trying to close my eyes while I type this so not to see the books in the shelves opossite :) As soon as I finish writing this I will pick a book and play with the tag :)

Leslie said...

You know, your blog makes me hungy most of the time now.

Goofball said...

sounds like an interesting book

Jen said...

Diana, NYC's blog is truly wonderful. She's now moved to Rome and her perspective on life there is fascinating. I think you'd enjoy reading her!

Wendy - thanks for playing and I loved your choice!

Leslie - is this a good thing or a bad thing? ;-)

Goofball - I'm really enjoying it!

Shan said...

Thanks so much Jen. I am incredibly flattered you thought of me.

Jen said...

Shan, I think your What's Cooking Wednesday feature is both terrific and important. I also love how supportive you are of all the members! Thank you!

Jen said...

It's well-deserved Ben! You always have wonderful projects going.

Kim said...

Hey Jen

Congratulations! And thank you! I'm really enjoying seeing what you're making from the farmer's market and your kind encouragements! It's clear you're a uniter. ;)

I've really enjoyed learning about what other people are interested in and I like knowing there are other people who want to eat real food too. I'm very flattered. Thanks again - you're very kind.

Kim

Jen said...

It's more than deserved, Kim! You're doing so much important work for our community and for the world, in general!

Mommy Project said...

Oops! You probably aren't ready for another one of these, but maybe you can tuck it away for another (slow) day. I was just tagged and tagged you, too!

http://themommyproject.blogspot.com/2008/05/tagged-7-fun-facts-about-me.html

p.s. I love that Shan got one of your awards! I love WCW!!
:)

Jen said...

Norma-Ann, this is a perfect time for a meme! Thanks! And I so agree about Shan and What's Cooking Wednesday!

Sister Sassy said...

we're catching up on the memes this week. We're such bad bloggy friends. Thanks for the tag!