Back from vacation, and an award to pass on!

Thanks go to Debinhawaii over at Kahakai Kitchen for passing on the El Premio Arte y Pico Award to yours truly. Please visit her blog when you can to get a glimpse of her cooking and her life in Hawaii. This award is passed on by fellow bloggers and recognizes creativity and design. I am very honored to have received this, and technically should pick 5 others to spotlight. At the moment I really have 4 blogs that I love to read that I don't think have had this passed on to them. The others that came to mind have already received the honor, so here are my 4:

Ever been to a Blog Party? Well then you must check them out at Dispensing Happiness, by the Happy Sorceress. She hosts these great parties, throws down some awesome cooking and by the look of her bookshelf, loves to read! I really have fun with the retro feel of her blog and the Blog Party posts. Maybe they will inspire you to throw a Block Party of your own.

Jennie at Straight From the Farm has the most appetizing recipes and photos. You can just jump right into the screen. She is all about fresh, local ingredients. I love the stories and the unique recipes. Oh, if there were only a few more hours in the day.

Another beautiful blogger is Helen with Tartlette. The page is clean, the photos pristine and the food divine! She inspires me to stretch my baking imagination. Helen's background information is also very interesting. Just beware, if you have a wicked sweet tooth, her site is oh, so addicting!

Living and eating in a healthy, organic manner never looked better than at Parker's Vanilla Bean Cafe. She cooks a wide array of tantalizing recipes that look effortless. Parker is involved with the health industry which is reflected in her cooking. Looking for something new for dinner, you won't go wrong at the Cafe.

So, again, my thanks to Debinhawaii. I hope you will visit those listed above and enjoy them as much as I do. Pop them into your reader so you never miss a post!

Well, I am back from a week off. We had a very nice, restful break. I have no "vacation" stories or photos to share, we stayed right at home and enjoyed our house, garden, critters and each other. That's the best type of vacay in my book, lots of R&R! I will be posting with a fury these next few weeks, so much to catch up on. The garden is throwing out a bounty of beautiful tomatoes of assorted varieties, pole beans, peppers and lemon cucumbers, what fun!

The best thing to report on today is the weather! It has been in the low 70's the past few days with a great north breeze. If you could close your eyes when you walk to the lake you would swear it was the end of September. I think I see some fresh, warm tomato soup in my future...............