Two Tags

I've never been tagged, and then suddenly I was tagged twice!  I must say, these both required some thought, but not so much that I couldn't manage.

First, Suzana from the ever wonderful Home Gourmets tagged me with a challenge to choose three of my favorite cookbooks (I'm assuming cookbooks because opening it up to all books would turn it into a herculean task).  Now, understand that I live in a very small Manhattan apartment and I have literally over 1,000 books stacked and crammed and shelved.  They tower over every available space, they sit with me on the couch, they lay in piles on the bed until they're scooped up and laid lovingly right beside so that we can actually sleep.  They're stacked up on the floor and they easily fill all 5 of my bookcases.  The vast majority are on art, but a substantial (and ever-growing) part are cookbooks.  

Some might say I have too many, as though books were all interchangeable objects and accumulating more were akin to buying repeats.  But books live with you in a way few (if any) other objects do.  I have always been most comfortable in a room filled with books.

So here are my three current choices, with the caveat that choosing favorites is impossible.  But for today, these three caught my eye:

1.  Tessa Kiros: Apples for Jam.

I've cooked a few recipes out of this book for the blog.  Her books are filled with beautiful photos of food, family, landscape and ingredients.  These are the kinds of books that transport you.

2.  Sue Style: A Taste of Alsace.  

I've never been to Franco-German influenced area of France, but if I were to visit, I'd forgo a guidebook and bring this instead.  Part history, part travelogue and many parts cookbook, A Taste of Alsace presents the intimate connections between food, culture, land and people through an historian's insatiable curiosity.  

3.  Rick Bayless: Mexican Everyday.  

I love this book for a number of reasons.  Mexican is one of my favorite cuisines, I  have easy and inexpensive access to many obscure latino ingredients because of where I live, and it was a gift from my sister.  My sister lives in Chicago and works in advertising, a job with many perks.  One of which was a visit to the famed Frontera Grill, where she got to meet Rick Bayless himself.  When she asked if she could buy a cookbook to have signed, he let her pick any book off the shelf for free, and agreed to sign it for me.  We are lucky girls.

You can choose to participate or not, but I'm interested to see what these bloggers will choose. So for this meme, I'm tagging:

1.  Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté

2.  Alejandra of Always Order Dessert

3.  Anjuli of A Smart Mouth

And second, Esi from the beautiful Dishing Up Delights gave me the Kreativ Blogger award and tagged me with the Seven Things meme! So here goes:

Number 1:

Seven Things I Say Most Often

1. Butt-pie (picked this up from a 6 year old, but it perfectly describes both my fiance and my sister)

2. Burn (I'm very mature, and very behind the times)

3.  This song: Panchie wanchi, Panchie Panchi wanchi... you know you sing to your pets!

4.  I have to read

5.  I have to write

6.  I'm hungry

7.  Pancha, get out of the trash!

Number 2:

Seven Things I Did Before

1. Swam on the team in college

2. Interned at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver

3. Associate Professor of Art History 111 at a local college

4. Skied a lot when I still lived in Colorado, now it's just a little

5.  Took my dog snow shoeing, again while living in Colorado

6.  Practiced yoga (too expensive in NYC)

7.  Drove a car (don't have one here!)

Number 3:

Seven Things I Do Now

1.  Work on my PhD, no end in site!

2.  Do Ironmans, but only once a year

3.  Play the spinning game with my pup, she lays on her back and I spin her until she's dizzy (she asks to play, I swear it's not abuse!)

4.  Go to lots and lots of museums, lots.

5.  Travel to Norway (the fiance is Norwegian)

6.  Visit the farmers market every chance I get

7.  Keep it real

Number 4:

Seven Things I Want to Do

1.  Finish this PhD

2.  Write the best art history book ever

3.  Read more for fun

4.  Own (at least) one great painting

5.  Travel more, much more

6.  Have a library in my house with floor to ceiling book shelves, all full

7.  Get a real job (does professor count?)

Number 5:

Seven Things that Attract me About the Opposite Sex

1.  Being Norwegian ;-)

2.  Being super smart

3.  Being a feminist 

4.  Loving dogs (this is a big must)

5.  Having a sense of humor that matches mine

6.  Being adventurous

7.  Having an interest in politics 

Number 6:

Seven Favorite Foods

1.  Key Lime Pie

2.  Persimmons

3.  Mexican food - all of it

4.  My mom's stuffed cabbage 

5.  Norwegian fajitas (don't ask)

6.  Perfectly ripe strawberries

7.  Chocolate

Number 7:

Seven People I'm Tagging

1.  Sam, at Antics of a Cycling Cook

2.  Maris at In Good Taste

3.  Annie at Yes, I want to See the Dessert Menu

4.  Hanne at Supper in Stereo

5.  Sala at Veggie Belly

6.  Robin at A Chow Life

7.  Jackie at Toxo Bread