pumpkin and peach salad with lemon grass dressing

This is salad that definitely got me out of a rut! The Paperchef challenge this month made me put together ingredients I would not have thought of combining before. But the results were brilliant. The challenge required that I use pumpkin, peach, capers, and lemon grass. Capers, mostly from France or Italy, and lemon grass, from Asia, do not seem like obvious friends. But they taste great together, and made a delicious main dish salad.

blogs I love

Wow--my first blog award. And it couldn't come from a more lovely blogger. I've enjoyed No Love Sincerer since I stumbled on it a few months ago. We have great chats about organic veg boxes and food reading. Thanks so much for the award!

Ten things I love:
1. Fresh veg boxes--yes, I am a veg addict.
2. Juicy oranges to eat at my desk in the afternoon
3. Crunchy, sweet apples--a take-anywhere snack
4. Hearing Ant's reaction to my strange meal concoctions
5. Reading cookbooks--my leisure hobby
6. Leafing through cookbooks in a book shop
7. Learning about food photography, and trying out new ideas
8. Dark chocolate after a long day at work
9. Reading food blogs and meeting new online friends
10. Enjoying a refreshing gin & tonic with a slice of lime

Ten bloggers who inspire me:
1. David at David Hall
2. Chele at Chocolate Teapot
3. LK at Healthy Delicious
4. Ele at Kitchenist
5. Hilary at Let Her Bake Cake
6. Nora at Nora the Kitchen 'Splorer
7. Deeba at Passionate about Baking
8. Alessio at Recipe Taster
9. Sunita at Sunita's World
10. The Urban Spork

There are also many more bloggers who have helped and inspired me. It's a pleasure to while away every evening reading their thoughts and salivating over their pictures. And I love the friendly blogger family in which I have now found myself.

The rules associated with the award are as follows: post the image, list ten things I love, and then pass the award on to ten more bloggers. Easy.