Most of you don’t know this, but I really love getting awards. I’m fairly extrinsically motivated, and was always that kid who wanted the gold star, A+, compliment from the teacher, word of encouragement, or public recognition. (I can’t tell you how often I was called Hermione after Harry Potter was released – total Teacher’s Pet!) I’m still that kid in a lot of ways, only now it’s likes, blog comments, shares, and people telling me they have loved my recipes. (Seriously, y’all, it makes my day to hear about recipes of mine that you’ve tried and enjoyed!)
So today my extrinsic little heart is very happy because I’ve been nominated for the Liebster award!
The award is all about kindness and getting to know other bloggers. The word ‘liebster’ means sweet, kind, or lovely. There are many iterations of the rules that go with this award, but basically when you are nominated you’re supposed to:
- Nominate 5 other bloggers who have fewer than 1,000 followers and let them know they’ve been nominated
- Answer the questions given to you by the person who nominated you
I was nominated by Natalie over at A Tiny Traveler. (Okay, to be technical, Natalie nominated “anyone who has never been nominated before” and I volunteered. But she then said it counted and nominated me specifically.) Natalie blogs about her travels and adventures along with some DIY and recipes too, so you should go check her out.
I’m nominating:
Elizabeth @ Elizabeth Lives
Deborah @ Mommy Crusader
Julie V. @ Somebody’s Dinner
Kylee @ Kylee Cooks
And You! Yep, you right there who secretly wants to be nominated.
Here are the questions:
1. How did you decide on the title of your blog?
I went through a lot of iterations of the name because naming a blog is a big deal. It came down to Chef Steph, Tex-Mex & Turmeric, or Sustaining the Powers.
Chef Steph was taken, so it got crossed off the list (plus I’m not actually a chef).
Tex-Mex & Turmeric was a bit hard to spell and style (a hyphen and an ampersand gets tricky pretty quickly). I was going for alliteration, and trying to play off of the little bit of Texas and little bit of everywhere else that inspires my recipes, but it seemed like it would define my niche a little smaller than I was hoping for. Especially if I ever decided to branch out into lifestyle/mommy blogging once we grow our family.
So, Sustaining the Powers it is! My name is Stephanie Powers, and I really love the last name of Powers that I married into. (Thanks Hubby!) Sustaining is as in sustenance (aka food), but it’s also a reference to everything that sustains our family – our home, our faith, our marriage, etc. so it seemed like I could branch out if I decided to in the future without changing my blog name. Plus SP are my initials, the initials of my blog, and salt and pepper, so that’s how my logo was decided on as well. As a bonus, there weren’t any other names like it on the internet, so I didn’t have to worry about infringing on intellectual property rights, brand confusion, or fighting over user names.
2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
Sustenance. The definition is: food and drink regarded as a source of strength; nourishment; something that gives support, help, or strength. I want to make cooking accessible to everyone, no matter the skill level, because we all need it to survive. I also want to share what nourishes our family, and give you some ideas from my “test kitchen” to mix things up and support your busy lives. Starting in January, I’ll be posting ideas for weekly meal plans (since they were so popular in Crocktober!), and a weekly series for both the tech side of blogging and photography to give back and help other bloggers. You may also see some posts about my faith in Christ now and then too.
3. What’s your favorite pastime other than blogging?
Dancing!! I LOVE to dance. You used to be able to catch me out swing or blues dancing every night of the week. It’s slowed down a bit since I married a man who wants to go to bed at 10pm each night, but I still manage to get out once a month or so here in Denver. Plus, I dance often in my kitchen because I always listen to blues or soul music while I cook.
4. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?
I really love writing, cooking, creativity, photography, web design/technology, community, and social media. My favorite aspect of blogging is that I get to combine all of these things that I’m passionate about into 1 single outlet. That’s actually incredibly hard to do, and I think I’ve been consistent for so long because it’s all things I absolutely love!
5. Which recipe, project, or idea on my blog would you most like to try yourself? (What is a post you have liked written by the person who nominated you?)
I really love that Natalie does a recap and goals post every month. I think it’s relatively new on her blog, but I really like seeing what she’s trying to be intentional about each month and I think I’d enjoy doing it too. Here are her goals for November that you should go check out.
6. Where does your blog inspiration come from?
Recipe inspiration comes from anywhere I’m around food. Maybe it’s the grocery store, food network, a restaurant, a friend’s post on Facebook, or the next vegetable that’s slowly turning wrinkly in the fridge and needs to be born again in some new dish before tomorrow. My favorite is probably the random ingredients that need to be used or the time crunch of being hungry and not planning ahead. (necessity is the mother of invention after all!)
7. What is one country in the world you would like to visit? Why?
So I’ve actually been to every single one of the United States except Alaska and Hawaii (I can’t easily drive there.) so they’re high on my bucket list, but country-wise I think I’d love to go to Japan. It just seems like it would be so incredibly different from anywhere I’ve been before.
8. If you have children, what are their names? If not, what are your favorite boy & girl names?
No kids yet, but hopefully we will have them soon! I’m not going to give away my absolute favorites because Hubby and I have pretty much decided on the names we love for future kids, but I do really like the names Abigail & Joseph. We may seriously give a future kid the middle name of Super though. “Joseph Robert Super Powers”. Cool right?
9. A long lost relative leaves you a large sum of money. What do you do with it?
To be honest, we would probably be incredibly reasonable and each splurge a little bit on something for ourselves, and then put the rest towards paying down the rest of our student loans or our mortgage.
10. In your opinion, what is the best blog post you’ve written so far? (Include the link!)
This is like trying to pick a favorite child. I only post recipes I love! If we’re going by popularity, my post on How to Make Your Own Kettle Corn gets the most views per month. Plus I make it almost weekly.
Photo-wise I love the photos I took for my Chicken Tortilla Soup
11. What is your favorite food?
I am a very big fan of cheese. Especially if it’s paired with a carb of any sort. So bread and cheese, pizza, quesadillas, cheesy fries, mac and cheese, lasagna, cheese on cheese, baked brie, beer cheese chowder, etc are all top on my favorites list. I do try to temper my cheese addiction with healthy food though. And avoid turning my blog into Cheese: 500 Ways.
So, there you go. If you made it this far, you now know a lot more about me and my little corner of blog land. I’m off to go find some cheese-all this food talk made me hungry.
The last town we lived in had swing dancing every week for a $5 entry. I loved going! Dancing is so fun for me, but I wish I had lessons so I could get better at it! And I think the name you ended up with for your blog is pretty much perfect.
There was a time when I went out dancing every night of the week, ran one of the weekly dances, and Dj’d and taught lessons at another. It is so, so fun and worth taking lessons if you can find them. If you’re ever near Denver, I’d be happy to give you some lessons! There’s also a huge and awesome swing dance scene in Beijing and a smaller one in Shanghai if that’s anywhere near you. (I know China is huge, but just in case.) I know dancers in each of those scenes, and they’d be great at teaching lessons.