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otherMEME - The Cook Next Door!
Sunday
June 12th
2005

EDIT: If you'd like to directly jump to the map click right here.

I have been thinking about this for quite a while now, the idea is almost as old (or young) as my blog. But especially in the beginning of my blogging existence and being the new kid on the block, it didn't feel right at the time to start a meme like this ;) But with a few months on my back, my confidence is growing, ha!

Because I see cooking primarily in the context of people connecting with each other and having been inspired by Anthony's cookbook meme not so long ago, I thought it would be a nice idea to share some tidbits about one's cooking related history. Even though some blogs and sites have an about/profile page - this is where I typically stop first -, more often than not, they don't portrait the bloggers personality very well! So who is it, that spends so much time on both cooking and blogging, sharing their experiences with everyone else?

MEME - The Cook Next Door!

Some of these questions may have been answered already by posts that are now buried in the depths of an 12 or so month old archive...and not easily accessible for curious souls like me :) If all the above doesn't work for you, then it is a least another good excuse to do what all foodbloggers enjoy so much, write about food and cooking...

The concept follows the established standards; with this post, the first three invitations will go out to three blogging cooks/bakers (via email), who will post their answers and then in turn forward the invitation to another three (food) blogs they know and would like to include in this meme (more info on memes can be found here>>).

Please let me know once your post is online and I'll include it in a summary, which will be a continuous process. Send your permalinks to meme(at)deliciousdays(dot)com or simply add a comment. You can directly access this post via the available button at the top of the right column of delicious:days.

This meme is not a self-activating meme (it'll be great to see how it developes); so in the first round, I'd like to pass the stick on to Sam (Becks & Posh), Chefdoc (A Perfect Pear) and Zarah Maria (Food & Thoughts).

EDIT: Because of the ever growing, multi-cultural food blogging space, I thought it would make a nice contribution to also include the non-english speaking blog scene. Bending the "rules" a tiny bit, I extended invitations to Sigrid (il cavoletto di bruxelles) who will translate and forward to three Italian blogs/cooks, Petra (Chili und Ciabatta) for the German food bloggers, Clea (Clea Cuisine) for the French version and Sao Mai (Cocinalia) for the Spanish one.

EDIT2: Any takers/translators for missing languages etc.? Just send me an email ;)

Long story short, here are the questions and my responses...meme away... N.

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?

Without hesitation, it would be the Advocaat Choc-Chip Cake (very little amount of alcohol, no worries ;), which I baked at the age of 10. No kitchen scales, all ingredients were measured by eye - thinking about it, I can hardly imagine it ever tasted good...(always got yelled at for making the kitchen a mess...)

Who had the most influence on your cooking?

That'd be granny, she was definitely a passionate cook. Her brother owned a little bakery in the countryside where she helped out on a regular basis. She was such a sweetheart, that even when I had asked her on a Sunday night at 10pm (way past my curfew!), she would bake a full cake for me. I would barely manage to eat a piece and fall asleep right after. And not to forget the mini dumplings she made for me, whereas all the grown-ups had their real ones. While my mom perceived cooking more like a duty, my grandma simply loved it. She always had answers to my many "why's" and when she prepared my favorite dishes (wild mushroom soup, plum dumplings, roast pork, ...) I became her assistant.

Do you have an old photo as "evidence" of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?

See picture above. I had to decide between pictures of myself and ones showing my mom slurping her soup from the plate...guess who won? This also proves where I got may eating habits from ;) By the way, I find those old black and white pictures much more charming, even a simple picnic (my grandma and her kids) in the field looks quite elaborate...

Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?

Whenever I try to convince myself to buy a whole fresh fish and prepare it from scratch, I hesitate, and finally give in at the fishmonger and order filets - I wonder if I ever will overcome my deep rooted fears and just do it?

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?

Good appliance: A chili mill (WMF) for dried chilis. No crying anymore.
Bad appliance: KitchenAid Grater Add-On, it basically gets never used, not very practical at all.
(For a meme specifically on kitchen appliances, please visit Sam at Becks & Posh!)

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!

I could write a book about it, including banana (lengthwise cut) with crème fraîche and lemon juice and dressed salad on a pizza, which I only dare to eat at home.

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don't want to live without?

What I always have in stock is parmesan. Most of the year I'm craving for fresh strawberries (ones that actually taste like strawberries) with whipped cream. And I do need a hot curry once a week (at a minimum!) - or I might get grumpy!

Any question you missed in this meme, that you would have loved to answer? Well then, feel free to add one!

Three quickies:

Your favorite ice-cream...

Cookies and Cream, Basil Sorbet

You will probably never eat...

Oysters (edit: forgot snails!)

Your own signature dish...

Classic lasagna

Other cooks from next door:

The brave, not yet tagged cooks ;-)

Comments

Little pieces of your mind
Sam

What no oysters? I had 4 last night.
delighted to be tagged by you!
give me a few days

sam

June 12th, 2005
Dreska

Fantastic idea! really enjoyed reading your post, made me laugh at times - like those bananas with creme fresh! ( and I thought I was weird, hehehe) :)

June 12th, 2005
Ana

Great idea. Love reading your answers and I think the idea about the photo e priceless.

June 13th, 2005
Hande

ha ha, Mageiricophobia and you. I will have to invite you to a whole fish dinner sometime. Lovely idea this meme, will keep on following it.

June 13th, 2005
Sigrid

Yupieeee!! A meme!!!
I know I should be invited to do so, as I am not, I wnated to ask... do you mind if i translate the meme and post it on the italian blogger connexion?? :-))

June 13th, 2005
Melissa

Great idea!
Love the family photos! I'm looking forward to reading what all my favorite fellow-bloggers are all about! Lots of fun!
Melissa

June 13th, 2005
jillian

Great meme! :-)

And I do know what you mean about the "new shiny" cookbooks gradually taking up space in the shelfs. I find my Donna Hay's and Martha's books coming to the forefront in my reading and usage.

But, I have always found the older books interesting in terms of food and societal history. What ingredients were popular then. Accoutrements used. What food was "hip" I remember the Kennedy's affect on the food world...and everyone was running to attempt Beef Wellington.

I LOVE your blog. And....thanks for stopping by mine!

June 13th, 2005
Angelika

Dear Nicky, dear Oliver !
Having watched the food blogging scene now for 3 months I must
agree with you that in many cases it would be nice to read more about the food blogger personality. Thus "meme" ist a really good idea.... On this occasion may I tell you that your blog ist one of my two favourite ones (the other one is thepassionatecook, of course not only because Johanna is a fellow-Austrian ;-)
I appreciate the very special design and so far two recipes I have been quite successful with - chocolate heaven and smoked trout mousse. I hope to start off with my own food blog in a few weeks, it will be also in English though I regret that I won't be able to express myself in such a subtile way as you do.
Congratulations - and all the best to you from Vienna to Munich !
angelika

June 13th, 2005 subscribed
Lyn

I love this idea. You're totally right about finding blogs more interesting if you get to know the person through their blog. It's so much more interesting to read the human story that happens to be about food as well. Kudos to you for your brilliant idea.

June 14th, 2005 subscribed
petula

a meme!!!! fantastic idea!
thanx to sigrid: she traslated the questions in italian...

June 14th, 2005 subscribed
Zarah Maria

Fantastic idea Nicky, and I loved reading your answers! You know, dressed salad on pizza is sold everywhere around here!;-) I'll be putting up my answers pronto!

June 14th, 2005
petula

I passed the stick ....sorry and look the blog.

June 15th, 2005 subscribed
Gracianne

Great post and wonderful idea. A shame I can't read German though. You could bend the rules further and extend an invitation to someone from the French food-blogging scene, I am sure it would be welcomed there as well!

June 15th, 2005
Clea

Hi! I'd love to translate it into French and send it to other French bloggers. Would you send me an invitation?

June 16th, 2005 subscribed
clare eats

Hi Nicky:)
Here is my permalink.
http://eatstuff.blogspot.com/2005/06/cook-next-door.html

I have passed the torch to Reid at onokinegrindz, alberto at il forno and the pieman at noodle pie

Thanks for a great meme. I will get a photo up to ASAP

June 16th, 2005
Lyn

Nicky,

I am slack. here's my permalink. I see Clare got hers into you before I did! She's very quick, that one.

http://gorgeoustown.typepad.com/lex_culinaria/2005/06/_nbsp_nbspnbsp_.html

June 16th, 2005 subscribed
Clea

Hi again Nicky!
You've been faster than me, but here is my permalink :
http://clairejapon.canalblog.com/archives/2005/06/17/578387.html
And you already know I passed the stick to Manoue (Les gamelles d'Emmanuèle), Aude (Epices et compagnie) et Nawal (Les casseroles de Nawal).

June 16th, 2005 subscribed
Mel

Here's my permalink:

http://cookingshow.blogspot.com/2005/06/all-about-cooking-along-with-ode-to.html

Thanks for posting this! A lot of fun!

June 19th, 2005
clare eats

Hi Nicky & Oliver
I would really like to tag Michele of Oswego tea... pretty pretty please with a cherry on top :)

June 19th, 2005
clare eats

Thanks so much :) sorry for being a hassel.

June 19th, 2005
Nicky

Dear Sam,
I really have a problem with oysters' consistency, it's just to flabby-slimy for me - at least in my imagination ;) Oliver loves them though...His only constraint is, that wherever he has them he has got see the ocean :)

Dear Dreska,
If I dig deep down, more more weird food preferences would come to light, I guess I'm just trying to block them out... I think, you would have had to laugh even more, if you had seen Oliver's puzzled face, the first time he saw me eating the creme fraiche banana thing... Still have to try your peach puff pastry and I think I need some whipped cream, too...

Hi Ana,
I, too, love these pictures. Actually, my grandpa has them stored in his "holy" basement, it took me some time to talk him into giving me some of them. I really treasure them :)

Hi Hande (or shall I write "neighbour"?),
glad you like it! And about the whole fish thing, don't talk about an invitation - or you might find us right at your door! What a nice idea ;) Maybe we should start of with a coffee or cocktail at some of our treasured places in MUC?

Ciao bella Sigrid!
Thanks for translating the meme to Italian, Altavista helped us to read your lovely entry ;)

Dear Melissa, jillian, Lyn, petula, clare eats, Mel,
I'm so happy, you like the idea of the meme. I'm curious each time I come across a new entry - makes it a little easier to picture, what kind of cook/personality stands behind a certain blog (& stove)...
You find the summary of all participants (at least of those who let us know) at the end of the original post, also accessible through the green button on top of the right column.

Dear Angelika,
a big HELLO to Vienna! Thanks for your kind words, and I'm glad to hear you were happy with the tried out recipes! And now you made me very curious about the start of your own blog!!! Please, drop me a line and let me know! BTW I've had some email contact to Johanna (needed a restaurant recommendation) and love her blog, too :)

Dear Zarah Maria,
you really get dressed salad everywhere around in retaurants? That's just not fair! In Munich you may have the chance of getting (undressed) arugula on your pizza, but the dressing would make all the difference. I even converted Oliver, he likes it, too. 'Bout the meme, I'm already curious for your answers, but no need to hurry ;)

Hi Gracianne,
great idea, thanks to clea's translation (Clea Cuisine), the meme is now also on its way through the french-speaking blogosphere ;)

June 19th, 2005
manoue

Hi everybody !
Thanks for the funny and sublimous idea !
Here is the page where the stick appears in "Les gamelles d'Emmanuèle" : http://manouecuisine.canalblog.com/archives/2005/06/19/index.html
I received the stick from Cléa ( Cléa cuisine :
http://clairejapon.canalblog.com/archives/2005/06/17/578387.html) and I passed it to : Gloria (la cuillère en bois : http://lacuillerenbois.canalblog.com/), Coco ("Pause Café" :http://coco28.canalblog.com/ ) and Clochette ("le chaudron de la fée Clochette" : http://clochettemarmitt.canalblog.com/ )
See you, I'm sorry but my english seems to be very far !
Manoue !

June 19th, 2005 subscribed
sarah

hello hello! thank you so much for such a great getting-to-know-you meme! i loved reading everyone's history and experiences so far, and am looking forward to this meme's little orbit around the food blogging planet...

so here is my silly little post:

http://thedeliciouslife.blogspot.com/2005/06/knock-knock-cook-next-door.html

June 20th, 2005
Melissa

Hi Nicky, here's my post, finally: http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/journal/2005/6/20/meme-the-cook-next-door.html

I've tagged Julie, Santos and Meg!

Great meme! Thanks for all the fun...

June 20th, 2005
maria

oh my gosh ... i'm just catching up on blogging after my trip. this is wonderful!!!! wonderful. mav

June 22nd, 2005
Cris

Hi everybody ! :)
I received the stick from Elvira (http://tascadaelvira.blogspot.com) and Megara (http://ptitespoulettes.canalblog.com)...
Here are my answers : http://blogderiz.over-blog.com/article-494721.html
This was a great and very funny idea !

I invited Celine, from "Le Palais des Delices" (http://palaisdesdelices.canalblog.com) and Brigitte from "Cafe Creole".

Cris

June 22nd, 2005
maryse

many thanks for including my blog in your list...
I have already answered the questions and passed them on to Valette, "récréapassions", Lorette "A la table de L" and Perrine "délices et caetera"

June 22nd, 2005 subscribed
David

Hey there,

I arrived via Culinary Debauchery. You've reached a cluster of Oceanic/South East Asian food blogs.

My post: http://bananaasian.blogspot.com/2005/06/ meme-cook-next-door.html

I've also invited: http://umami.typepad.com , http://www.aromacookery.com and http://tabetai.blogspot.com

June 24th, 2005
kathreen

interesting concept - loved your answers, fell in love with the images.
 

June 24th, 2005
Culinary Fool

Wow! I'm so impressed that you found my entry before I'd had a chance to tell you about it - you're good! :-) Very fun idea. And I love seeing the tree!!

~ B

June 24th, 2005
Fatemeh

How much do I love you for (a) putting together such a great meme abd (b) CREATING A ROADMAP!!

Seriously. You're too cool.

June 24th, 2005
Nupur

here is my entry! I had so much fun filling this out...made me nostalgic (tear!) :)
http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2005/06/meme-cook-next-door.html

June 25th, 2005
Sylvie

I was tagged by Culinary Fool. Here's my entry. I placed it on my Food Got To Love It Site. Preparing this made me look at my food journey. Enjoyed it.

http://spaces.msn.com/members/homecook/Blog/cns!1pcCReGMtjHa5fzSdF53KYag!815.entry

Sylvie

June 25th, 2005
umami

I was tagged by David of BananaAsian. My post is here:

http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2005/06/12/tcnd/

I've tagged bloggers from Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.
http://kokonuggetyumyum.blogspot.com/
http://piggyscookingjournal.blogspot.com/
http://chaxiubao.typepad.com/

Thanks, I've enjoyed the experience!

June 26th, 2005
umami

I am sorry, here is the correct link to my post:
http://umami.typepad.com/umami/2005/06/meme_the_cook_n.html

June 26th, 2005
Ana

Hi Nicky and Oliver
Thanks for a wonderful meme. I was dying to be tagged and thank heavens not only one but two people did it.
Please see my answers here:
http://pumpkinpiebungalow.blogspot.com/2005/06/cook-next-door-meme.html

June 26th, 2005
deccanheffalump

Hi, just found out what a meme was after being tagged by Indira of nandyala.org.This is a great idea and makes me feel part of the community.
Thanks Indira and Nicky and Oliver.

June 27th, 2005
Sao Mai

I like this meme!!! can i traslate to spanish this meme???? Would you send me an invitation????
thanks

June 27th, 2005 subscribed
J

Hi Nicky
I got tagged by The Baker, http://thebakerwhocooks.blogspot.com/, and had great fun filling it out. My post is up at http://brandoesq.blogspot.com/2005/06/meme-cook-next-door.html
Thanks for the terrific questions!
Cheers,J

June 28th, 2005
Sao Mai

Thanks!
This is my link for the cook next door in spanish:
http://cocinalia.blogspot.com/2005/06/meme-cook-next-doorel.html
Chau

June 28th, 2005 subscribed
Sao Mai

upsss!!!
this is the link
http://cocinalia.blogspot.com/2005/06/meme-cook-next-door.html

June 28th, 2005 subscribed
anthony

"inspired" was much to generous

http://spiceblog.blogspot.com/2005/06/cook-next-door.html

June 29th, 2005
Piggy

Hi!

Thanks for coming up with such a great idea!

Here's the link to my meme: http://piggyscookingjournal.blogspot.com/2005/06/meme-cook-next-door_112006019968209426.html

June 29th, 2005
Piggy

Hi,

Sorry, this is the correct link to my blog:

http://piggyscookingjournal.blogspot.com/2005/06/meme-cook-next-door_112006226185164846.html

June 29th, 2005
Louisa

Nicky - thank you for starting this meme - and for hosting it in your beautiful home. I love Munich