LIEBSTER AWARD - JUST FOR FUN

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A leaden sky promised another snow storm, when I received a surprising facebook message. Harald Mahr (cahama - Besser: Selbstgemacht!!) presented me with the "Liebster Award - discover new blogs" and made my day!

 The whole thing is a fun action -  there is no jury, and the award is only honorary.

You get nominated, because another blogger likes your blog, and wants to give it some recognition. And if you join, you have to tag other small blogs you like ("liebster" means "most favorite" in German.)

I did a bit of research, because the way of distribution seemed a little suspicious. I didn't want to be part of a chain letter scam, so I tried to trace the award's source, and, also, checked with Google.

The "Liebster Blog Award" is obviously around since 2010. The earliest post can be traced to Bird of Paradise, but its origins seem to be lost in the darkness of history.  

During blog-to-blog transmission the rules seem to have undergone an evolution. Jasmin's (Birdy of Paradise) request:

"The goal of this action is shining the light on good blogs, therefore I would ask you not to post blogs that already have 3000 readers, but talented newbies & people, who, though blogging for while, are not yet very well known." 

first turned into: "tag blogs with less than 3000 followers", but then was, more rational, downsized to  "less than 200 followers".

While in this case commonsense won over a too literal interpretation, the stipulation: "Name 3-5 favorite blogs that you link to your post, too..." took the exact opposite direction - realistic 3-5 ballooned into 11 favorite blogs!

This strange inflation made several bloggers wonder whether it wasn't a chain letter scam, after all. 

In ye olde posts was no mentioning of questions and answers. It was just about recognizing other bloggers and presenting them to others.

At some point someone came up with the idea of the mini quiz: 11 questions, from which the nominee should choose, and answer, one. But here, too, evolution followed: in the meantime all questions have to be answered.

The Liebster-Blog-Action spread, from Germany worldwide, and participating blogs cover books, lifestyle, fashion, foodie - you name it!

I like the original idea behind the award. It's neither about money, nor does it hurt anybody. As blogger Sopphey (Sopphey Says) states: "It's just a recognition from one blogger to another for how awesome they are. Kind of like a really big Internet hug!"

I was happy about Harald's recommendation, and found answering the questions funny and interesting. Therefore I participate, but, like the founding mothers, will restrict my nominations to  3-5 blogs (you'll find them at the end of this post).


These are my answers to the questions:

1. Why did you to start to blog?
This was my daughter Valerie's doing. She said: "Mama, you are talking constantly about baking, your breads and recipes  - you should really write a blog."

My daughter instigated me to blog

2. What, in your opinion, turns a normal day into a good day?
When I experience something that makes me happy: an interesting discussion with my husband or my kids, a bread that turned out great, the first crocuses after a long Maine winter, or the magnificent view over Frenchman's Bay.

Early morning fog in Frenchman's Bay

3. What famous personality would you like to meet?
The Dalai Lama. From all I know about him, he is one of the few world leaders that have real moral and spiritual authority.

4. What kind of food do you like best?
Haha, bread, of course. Especially home baked. But, on the other hand, my motto is: "Life is uncertain - eat the dessert first!"

My favorite food is bread

5. And what food don't you like?
Green bell pepper: as a child I hated stuffed pepper so much that I poked around in my plate for hours, and then, when nobody was looking, buried them in the flower box. I'm no big fan of kale, either.

6. Where would you like to travel?
I would like to travel with my husband through England, Schottland und Wales, just 

following my nose, as I did with my BFF when I was a student. That was a really wonderful trip.

B&B in a 17th-century watermill  (1971)

7. How many cookbooks do you have?
So many that my shelves almost cave in, and I pledged Equal Opportunity for All Baking Books, to bake at least one recipe from every book. My attempt to get rid of some cookbooks at a store that specialized in them, ended with my leaving with even more cookbooks.

Only a small part of my cookbook collection

8. How does your kitchen look like after your cooking?
Pretty tidy, I put away what I don't need anymore. I always think of my grandmother, a wonderful cook, who left the kitchen a veritable battlefield after family dinners - and we kids had to clean up.

My Omi - wonderful cook with "battlefield"

9. Do you rather cook yourself or have someone cook for you?
As much as I like cooking, I like even better if someone cooks for me. My husband doesn't need a recipe for inspiration (I do). When we both come home hungry and tired, he goes opens the fridge and creates a nice meal from what he finds. But I, also, like eating in a good restaurant.

I like it when my husband cooks for me

10. Your favorite dish?
Crabcakes. I should probably write a post about it.

My favorite dish: crabcakes

11. Your favorite place?
I am lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Maine, next to Acadia National Park. Mount Desert Island is my favorite place (followed by my hometown Hamburg).

Mount Desert Island and the Acadia National Park - my favorite place

My nominations for "Liebster Blog Award":
Hanaâ's Kitchen (Hanaâ instigated the Avid Baker's Challenge)


BreadLab (Freerk makes wonderful videos of his baking experiments - check them out!)


Ninivepisces: Ninive pairs her bilingual blog posts with matching music, sie answered Fragen über Fragen/Questions upon Questions

It's Foodzeit! Che(f) Foodzeit just returned from China to his native Swabia, let's see what he will serve us next: Liebster Blog Award - I won a prize!

(Chrissitally's Cupcake Factory I am too late! Christin colorful blog for dessert lovers has been nominated in December - well deserved!)

Questions:

1. Why did you start a blog?
2. What do you hope to achieve with your posts?
3. What rules do you follow when you blog?
4. What are your blogging no-nos?
5. How did you learn to cook/bake?
6. What are your 3 must-have kitchen gadgets?
7. What 5 ingredients do you like best?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. Where would you love to travel?
10. What cookbook would you take on a trip (if you had the opportunity to cook)?
11. What is your pet peeve about food? 

Rules (if you accept the nomination and want to participate):

• Answer the questions
• Come up with 11 new questions for those you want to tag
• Name 3-5 favorite blogs that are not yet well known, with less than 200 followers
• Inform your nominees about the award (link to your blog post, with explanation and Liebster-Award-Logo)
• Inform the blogger, who named you, that you accept the award, and put a link to your blog post as comment on his page.