Oh happy day! Nana Clare’s Kitchen has been nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award by Peter Block, a Food Buzz blogger. Peter’s blog is Feed Your Soul and you will definitely want to check out his recipes: http://chefpeterskitchen.blogspot.com

But I had to find out – What’s The Versatile Blogger Award? It turns out it’s like a giant game of tag among food bloggers. But don’t stop reading, because there’s a great benefit to you: new links to food blogs for you to visit. It took me awhile to compile the list of links, but I think you’ll agree there’s something for everyone in this list.

Here’s the rest of what I discovered about the award: ”It is a great way to introduce different bloggers to each other and to promote quality blogs that awardees and their readers may not have discovered otherwise.”
There are also a few guidelines for what to do when you receive the award:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award. Thanks so much, Peter Block!
2. Include a link to their blog. Here it is: http://chefpeterskitchen.blogspot.com/
3. Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
5. Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself. You can see my list below!
6. In the same post, include this set of rules.
7. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

My list of 15 bloggers – in no particular order.
Chocolate Covered Katie – http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/
A blogger my chocolate loving daughter discovered who promotes healthy desserts.

Peas and crayons – http://www.peasandcrayons.com/ -The first to befriend me on Food Buzz and she always reminds us to eat our veggies.

Chocolate Chip Uru – http://gobakeyourself.wordpress.com/author/chocchipuru
My Australian buddy who adores cookies as much as I do.

College Culinista who now blogs at: http://binomialbaker.blogspot.com/ Jodie is a young cook with a passion for creating good food on a small scale.

Butter Cream Blondie – http://butrcreamblondi.blogspot.com/ Pastry chef who makes everything look incredible!

The Dusty Baker – http://thedustybaker.com/ Jacqueline focuses on gluten free and dairy free foods and makes them look irresistible.

Chef Dennis – http://www.askchefdennis.com/ There is nothing like a chef and Dennis loves to answer all our questions and inspire us to reach higher.

Must Come Hungry – http://mustcomehungry.com/ Another very young blogger who is doing amazing things with food.

Iowa Girl Eats – http://iowagirleats.com/ Kristin is another Iowa woman with a very successful, fun blog.

Joy of caking – http://thejoyofcaking.wordpress.com/ Another great baking site. Who can resist a blog with the word “cake” in it?

She makes and bakes.com – http://www.shemakesandbakes.com/ Another friend from Food Buzz, Emily shows us a wide variety of culinary inspiration.

The Vanilla Girl – http://vanillagirl-blog.blogspot.com/ This pick is for my daughter-in-law Becky who adores vanilla.

A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn – http://www.acakebakesinbrooklyn.com/ Susan’s site is dedicated to heritage recipes, which I adore.

Brown Eyed Baker – http://www.browneyedbaker.com Michelle is a hard core baker and finds all sorts of yummy things to make.

Cookie a Day – http://www.thecookieadaychallenge.com/ Stephanie is a mom of three boys who is attempting to bake her way through 365 cookie recipes in a year. I applaud this because I adore cookies and find any excuse to whip up a batch.

OK, all this has made me hungry. I see some new neighbors have moved in. I’d better whip up a batch of something wonderful to share with them. Clare

So Peter, here is the list of seven things about me:
1. My Catholic faith is a daily living, breathing part of my life.
2. I have been married for 36 years and we have three grown kids and five grandkids. They all bring us lots of joy.
3. I was raised in Minneapolis with my seven sisters who all still live in the Twin Cities area.
4. I’ve been living in exile in Iowa for over 30 years. But I still consider Minnesota my mother country.
5. The only fruit I won’t eat is papaya.
6. If there’s no chocolate in the house, then ginger is my fall back. Gingerbread anything!
7. I would rather bake than cook, but I’m alwlays happy in the kitchen.

I’m off to bake. Thanks for the award Peter!