Kreativ Blogger Award

Thank you, Judy King, at Mexico Insights: Facts, Figures, Folklore & Fiestas for awarding me The Kreative Blogger award! Judy has lived at Lake Chapala since 1990 and from reading her blog, she really loves living there. Maybe I'll pay you a visit, Judy!
In keeping with the requirements for accepting this award, I have agreed to mention my seven favorite blogs and to bore you with a few details about my life:

SEVEN THINGS You Wish You Didn't Know About Me:
1. I am not, nor ever will be, the kind of cook my mother was (that honor goes to my sister Ester), though I am trying very hard.

2. Since I grew up speaking Spanish, learning French was just a hop, skip and a jump away. I'm not as fluent as I used to be, but I can still converse in French with my French and Belgian friends.

3. I love classic British literature and poetry, especially Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and The Bronte Sisters. Still, I wish I could write like Isabel Allende.

4. Besides blogging, I have a real passion for art, gardening, sewing, knitting and, of course, cooking. And collecting books--tons of them. Everything from art books to reference books, books on knitting and sewing, novels, and of course cookbooks.
5. I love it when my husband cooks for me. But, I have to shake my head whenever I hear someone say, "My husband/significant other does all the cooking at home because I hate to cook [as in "ha! ha! how's that for role reversals?, and my what a fine joke on him."]." Mira, chiquita, you can't have your pastel and eat it, too. Any intelligent, relatively healthy adult who eats should learn to cook at least something homemade, no que no?
6. I have a great deal of respect for people who work hard for a living, people like hotel maids, restaurant workers, field workers, janitors, etc.--and am not at all crazy about those who treat these harding working people with a condescending sense of their own perceived superiority, which only betrays their smallness of mind (and of heart).
And finally . . .
7. As much as I love Mexican food, I cannot say that any cuisine is superior to the rest—just as I cannot say that my culture is better than all others. Regardless of where we come from, regardless of our position and experience in life, we all need love and good food and understanding—isn't that what life is all about?
SEVEN BLOGGERS who deserve to receive a Kreativ Blogger Award:

I don't as a general rule write any restaurant reviews. I leave that to the experts like my bloggy friend, Barbara Hansen, former "Borderline" columnist for the Food Section of The Los Angeles Times, my favorite newspaper. Her delicious and informative blog, Table Conversation, serves up a cornucopia of delicious reviews of eateries in and around my hometown of Los Angeles, California, not to mention of the amazing food she encounters on her many travels around the world. If her name sounds familiar, she wrote the very popular Mexican Cookery, a down-to-earth guide to cooking everyday Mexican food. Thank God it is out of print, because if it weren't, you'd buy her book and say adiós to my blog!

Emma Álvarez Gibson, this "whip smart media maven" is my go-to gal for anything having to do with social networking and thinking out of the box in terms of getting the most out of your business and brand. She just deactivated her Facebook account—the wave of the future perhaps?
I cannot not mention my little friend Jenny, whose blog, Jenny Draws, features her whimsical childlike drawings. She is a sweet and shy, but with a little encouragement she will fly.


I'm jealous of Leslie Limon who is living the ex-pat life in Mexico with her husband and children. Trust me, Leslie, I wish I was at that little ranchito with no internet (!) and other "modern conveniences" right now.

Color Informal, Virginia's blog of her photography and colorful artwork, is a cerebral, but oddly heartfelt, little artistic masterpiece.

Of course, I have never personally met Kobico, the urbane gardener by way of San Franciso, California/Lorraine, France, who feels right at home with mole and picked pig's feet as she does with Cervelles au Beurre Noir (Calf's Brains in Brown butter Sauce). I've never met her eyeball-to-eyeball, but I feel that I know her, especially when she writes at her blog, The Mindless Meanderings of a Middle-aged Maniac.

You gotta love Dariana and Dariela, two Venezuelan sisters who head up Folkloreye. Their obsession with design and paper yields some beautiful results.
Elizabeth Rosas has a singular talent for taking the smallest flower and using it to inspire her to create her one of a kind silver jewelry. She represents what is possible when one decides to create something beautiful and handmade.
Next Post: Tamalera Tales: Or, How To Get Even With Your Mother-in-Law. Then it will be time to cook a little fish!

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I loved learning a few more things about you, amiga. Reading your blog is one of my favorite ways to re-charge. ¡Muchísimas gracias por mencionarme!

Clementina said...

No ay de que, " you whip smart media maven" you!

canadiangrl said...

Oh Clementina, it was lovely to read your post today. Thanks for sharing a little more of yourself with all of us!

virginia said...

I'm responding as I attempt to recover from eating way too much good food (Easter dinner).

Thank you for the award! I like the way you notified me, and I will pay it forward.

This is what my sister-in-law wrote to me after I sent her a link to your tamale post:
"Yep, making the tamales is hard work alright. I am glad i got the chance to do it in the middle of a family crisis though...that made it all the more real. K making L cry and J telling her she is going to have to move out and L's aunt's sister dying while her son came to the funeral. It was an "all in la familia" moment. That crisis is past now though and so have the tamales, but the story is still like a movie in my mind."

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for mentioning us Clementina! Que linda!! And we're so out of the loop in blogging, I feel ashamed :( We need to get inspired again.
Felicitaciones for your award!!

Unknown said...

I feel very honored for the mention, Clementina. Thank you!

By the way, I don't know if she still does them, but Elizabeth Rosas designed cute little purses a few years back, so she's a multi-talented designer!

Unknown said...

Thank you my adorable Clementina for the little plug. I love you.

Lorena said...

Funny you should mention liking The Bronte sisters. Your blog reminds me so much of the book and movie "Like Water for Chocolate" a real favorite of mine, and I felt a real Jane Eyre streak in "Like Water for Chocolate" Thanks for visiting my blog

Leslie Harris said...

Congratulations on your award. Te mereces ese y muchas mas! You have such a magical way of writing. I've enjoyed your blog from the day I found it and have missed reading your posts. Hope you'll start writing again, soon.

And thank you so much for passing the award on to me. :)

Clementina said...

Hola, Virginia!
What can I say about tamales, never has the expectations of family togetherness, drama, and everything about being family been so wrapped up in making of such a little bundle of ground corn and pork meat.
Dariela--Can't wait to see how you will surprise and inspire us!
Kobico--j'aime lire ton blog, et un de ces jours de voudrais aller a France a manger un peu de cervelles au beurre noir avec toi!
Hi Jenny!--hope that you are doing great!
Leslie Limon--gracias por tus linda palabras. Como me encantaria visitar a tu ranchito. Al fin de este ano visitare el ranchito donde nacio mi mama.
Hi Lorena--I have read Jane Austen and the Brontes since I was 14 years old. I never get tired of reading them. Their books occupy a permanent place on my night stand. I read Like Water for Chocolate in Spanish a very long time ago, and although I don't think I can write as well as that, I thank you very much for the compliment.

elizabethrosasjewelry said...

Congrats Clementina...and thanks for sharing your favorite blogs, I will head over and check out each one. On a side note, I know Kobico (San Francisco is a small/big town) and am jealous of your french connection ;)

Clementina said...

Hola, Elizabeth!
Somehow I am not surprised that you know eachother. The internet is sometimes smaller than you think. I just have to say that I love your work and creativity.