“It’s an honor to be nominated.”

Writing Buen Provecho Amigos has been a privilege and a reward onto itself. It may seem silly, but I get such a thrill from completing each post, sharing it with the world, and getting your feedback. However having been nominated for the Liebster Award 2017 by Kasia Olszewski, blogger of the Beauty for the Brain, has been a special honor.

The Liebster Award is a virtual award presented to bloggers by fellow bloggers, as a way to recognize fledging bloggers with less than 200 followers. Its purpose is to give the novice blogger visibility in the blogging community in hopes to spur more people to follow the blog. Check out the criteria for the award here.

I want to extend a special thanks to Kasia Olszewski who nominated me and four others for the award. She is a lovely young woman who is currently a student at my alma mater, the University of Maryland College Park, and is the author of the Beauty for the Brain blog. If you get a chance, please check out her work, especially as she’s in the midst of the Blogmas challenge. She has a bright future ahead of her. In keeping with the award criteria, Kasia has asked those she’s nominated to answer the following questions.

My answers are as follows:

1. If your life was based on the last TV show you watched, what TV show is it? And which character from the show would you want to be?

The last TV show I watched was Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from the creators of the Gilmore Girls. It’s got the same fast-paced, witty dialogue that the Gilmore Girls was known for, but it’s set in late 1950s New York City. The soundtrack is beautiful as is the clothing. The character I most identify with is the titular character, Midge Maisel. Like me, her marriage has ended, and she has chosen to reinvent herself. In the process she develops her natural talent for stand-up comedy, just as I am trying to find my talent for writing.

2. Why did you start blogging?

I have had this blog on and off for years, but I only started dedicating myself in earnest since July to help give me focus and something to look forward to when other elements of my life have been beyond my control. If I had time and money, I would go to culinary school, but writing about food is a natural progression. Instead of being the next Maricel Presilla, I can aspire to be the next Ruth Reichl.

3. Besides blogging, what are some of your hobbies?

I enjoy cooking and baking; running and exercise—to keep the food that I cook and bake off my hips. I also enjoy reading, but I never seem to have the chance to do so.

4. What kind of computer do you use?

I have a Mac desktop.

5. If you were to win $1,000,000 what would you use the money for?

I would put the money towards a town home with enough space for me and my kids, and an updated kitchen.

6. Have you ever traveled to another country besides the one you reside in? If so, which countries, and which was your favorite?

I have traveled to Ecuador, Curaçao, Belgium, France, Canada, Mexico, Martinique and the Grand Bahamas. Ecuador was probably my favorite place to visit because it is my mother’s birth country.

7. What is your favorite childhood memory?

My favorite childhood memory took place on June 22, 1980. That’s the day my parents became naturalized citizens, the day they became Americans like me.

8. Do you have any pets? If so, what kind, and how many?

I have one cat, Israel (Izzy for short). I named him after a Cuban bassist, Israel “Cachao” Lopez Valdés. He (the bassist not the cat) is considered co-creator of the Mambo, but his bass playing is absolutely gorgeous, very sensual.

9. Do you have any siblings? If so, how many?

I have one sister who is 13 years younger than me—same parental units. Because of our age difference, there were many years when we were not peers. It was not until she got married that we became more like sisters. Like many siblings, we can drive each other crazy, but I can’t imagine life without her. She keeps me in stiches recounting her adventures in teaching.

10. What is your favorite quote?

“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” — Mae West.

A second criterion of this award is to share 10 random facts about me.

1. My favorite champagne/sparkling wine is Domaine Carneros Brut.
2. I hate cilantro. Can’t. Stand. It.
3. My favorite children’s book is “The Velveteen Rabbit”.
4. My best Easter basket treat that I received when I was a child was a Pane di Pasqua—an Italian Bread with a colored hard-boiled baked in the center.
5. My traditional Christmas breakfast is hot chocolate with a slice of Panettone.
6. My mother used to let me have ice cream every night as a child, but I’ve come to learn that she did so because she believed it would get me to sleep faster.
7. When I was 10, my mother enrolled me in Montgomery Wards’ Wendy Ward Charm School.
8. My favorite flavored cake is a toss-up between red velvet and almond.
9. I am thanked by name in a book authored by Pulitzer Prize winning author James Glanz about the construction of the World Trade Center.
10. My favorite book about Cuba is Tom Gjelten’s “Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause”

Another criterion is to nominate five to eleven blogs with a following of less than 200 and to write about your favorite blog. These are actually two separate criteria but my favorite blog is also a nominee.

I encourage you to check out a blog penned by my friend and fraternity brother Carolyn Ross. She writes Family Music n’ Arts, a blog focused on the family-friendly art and music scene in the Washington, DC-Baltimore area. For those of you who follow my blog regularly, Carolyn and her family were featured in my post on taste tasting my recipe for Banana Peppers Stuffed with Ground Beef Two Ways. Most recently she and I worked together to promote the Brady Rymer and the Little Band the Could concert. Like many bloggers, Carolyn has developed an expertise through her writing apart from her day job as a public defender in the juvenile court system in Baltimore. Her passion for kid-friendly music and theatrical shows started nine years ago with the birth of her daughter, Alana, and all us parents are lucky to have such a well-written resource to go to for ideas for live, family entertainment. I am nominating Carolyn and Family Music n’ Arts for a Liebster Award 2017.

In addition to Family Music n’ Arts, I am nominating the following blogs:

BookWyrm

Ramya Recipes

Fearless India

Born Free

As stated in the criteria for the award, each nominee should answer the following question if they choose to accept the nomination and award:

1. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
2. What was your first paying job?
3. What is favorite dessert?
4. How many states in the U.S. have you visited and which one would you visit again?
5. What actress/actor would play you in your biopic?
6. Which individual has had the greatest influence in your life?
7. What has been the most meaningful gift that you’ve received?
8. What was the last book that you read?
9. What is your favorite beverage?
10. Which historical figure would you want to meet for coffee or cocktails?

Thank you all for following my blog!