I have recently discovered a lovely blog called Sophie's Foodiefiles. So worth checking out!  Sophie's dishes look and sound so yummy, plus she lives in the lovely city of Brussels, Belgium.  Well, she recently did another lovely food post, as well as mentioning she had been "tagged".  At first, being new to this blogging world, I was not sure what this meant.  So in checking her post out, discovered what this was.  She also "tagged" me in her list of blogs.  What a great way to discover new blogs, and wonderful food!  So to follow along in this fun adventure, here are Sophie's questions, and my answers:
1. What is your most memorable meal you ate in your life and why?
This is an easy one.  All of my Mom's food.  Seriously, she was an amazing gourmet cook.  She could really work magic in the kitchen, at any given moment, with whatever she had on hand.  I miss her food.
2. Why did you start blogging?
I am a late bloomer to the computer world, but, the lovely Karen at Heal Balance Live suggested a few times that I should start a blog.  I had shared some of my recipes with her, which she posted as guest posts on her blog.  Plus, I thought, what a great way to share recipes, and also have a record of recipes for our children, who are now starting to cook in their own kitchens. As well,  it can really be a challenge when first going gluten free, I wanted to share with fellow Celiacs, Gluten Intolerant folks, my successes, and mishaps in the kitchen.
3. What is your favorite restaurant, where, and why?
My favorite restaurant hands down, and you can check out the review I did, is called The EdGe - just down the street from where we live, on the beautiful West Coast of Sooke, British Columbia.  Chef Edward's food reminds me most of my Mom's food.  He is gifted in the kitchen.  And the EdGe was voted one of the 10 best new restaurants in all of Canada!   How amazing is that?  And justifiably so!
4. Which are your 3 most favorite chefs in the world and why?
Number one, absolutely, totally, Jamie Oliver.  I love his passion, his rustic approach to food and flavor, and absolutely love that he gives back. I love his Revolution Food Movement, how he strives to get people cooking, with fresh local ingredients.  He touches my heart and soul when it comes to food.
Number two: I have just discovered Annabel Langbein and her new show called the Free Range Cook.  She too is all about fresh local food, with a simple easy approach to cooking.
Number three:  This is getting tough, there are so many wonderful chefs in the world....gonna go with Chef Michael Smith.  I love his diversity, his openness and wonder in his approach to food.  I have made a few of his recipes - they always work, and again, he too uses fresh local ingredients, and a simple approach to cooking wonderful meals.
5. What is your favorite recipe on your blog and why?
Wow.  This constantly changes with new recipes I make. To answer why to these recipes, they all have one thing in common...depth of flavor.  I love "levels" of flavor and texture in food.  But here are a few - too many to choose from!
A Most Sinful Warm Salad
Adapted Recipe for Gluten Free Fish and Chips
Chicken Cacciatore
Turkey Ranch Burgers
Marinated Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Saffron Risotto
Gluten Free Lemon Poppyseed Cake
My Family's Favorite Pie
6. To which music do you  listen to when you cook and bake and why?
I absolutely love to cook, listening to my husband play his guitar. He noodles away on his gorgeous 5 stringed guitar in a way that touches my soul.  He had this beautiful custom made instrument created with 5 nylon strings. He is actually a Mandolin player, which is tuned in fifths. And so is his one-of-a-kind mando-guitar. You can take a sneek peek here.
7. What is the strangest food you have ever eaten and did you like it or not?
Okay.  I know a lot of people out there are going to think I am crazy....but I will say Sushi.  My kids are probably groaning now because they love Sushi.  I just can't like it, no way, no how.  And, I have tried it a few times.   Don't like Seeweed, and refuse to eat raw fish!  Sorry Sushi lovers!
8. What is your most lovely food destination in the world and why.
I have two places...tough to decide which to put first.  But, first, would be Italy.  The various regions of Italy's food fascinate me, and sound so amazingly delicious.
Second:  I would love to cook with Jamie in his most amazing Kitchen at his home in Essex, England.  Have you seen his wonderful garden?  And what a gorgeous kitchen he has too!
9. What is your most favorite food shop in the world and why.
Well I have not done too much travel, but to answer the question, I love shopping in the summer time at all of our lovely fresh organic farmer's markets.  This is always a day of pure happiness for me.  Also in the winter we have a lovely Farmers market where they sell fresh, local, produce, herbs, meats which is where I head to all winter long.  Markets make me one happy girl!
10. Which kitchen gadget do you love the most and why.
Ohhh, another tough one.  Can I include a few gadgets?  Number 1 - my Wusthof Classic Santoku knife. For years I did not own a good knife, what a difference it makes, Love love it! Number 2 - my Cuisinart 7 Quart Stand Mixer - such a marvel to stand back and let it whip, hands free!  Number 3 - my Paderno Pots, pans, and enameled cast iron frying pan. Besides a good knife, good cookware is a must.  Love love them I do!
Well, Sophie, there you have it - great questions,  this was a lot of fun, and thank you for sharing  the fun with me!  So take a moment to head on over to Sophie's Foodiefiles, you won't be disappointed!
So to continue this culinary game of tag, I invite you to play - (only play if you want to, absolutely no pressure) I tag:
Karen, Heal Balance Live
Katie, Thyme For Cooking
Erin, My Aspergers Girls Adventures
Tracee, Mrs. Ed's Research and Recipes
Here is my list of questions:
1.  What is your absolute favorite food? (this can be a tough one, so go ahead and include a few)
2.  Who is your favorite Food Mentor, or Chef, and why?
3.  What meal did you first cook, that inspired you to become a better cook, and to create new recipes?
4. What is your favorite cook book?
5. What kitchen gadget can you not live without in the kitchen and why?
6. Where in the world would you most love to eat, and what food would that be?
7. What are some of your favorite recipes on your blog?
8. What food, will you absolutely not eat and why?
9. Do you grow your own food? And if so, what is your favorite food to grow?
10.Who in the world, would you most love to share a beautiful dinner with?
There it is...lets pass the fun along!
And here is the recipe for GREEK ROASTED CHICKEN AND POTATOES
With this dish, I wanted to incorporate lemon, garlic, oregano, thyme....classic Greek Flavorings, simple but delicious.  I have mentioned before that I have a weird oven.  For some dishes, such as this one, I ended up really babysitting the meal, turning down the heat or turning up the heat, using two racks, so all I can say is if you use your oven a lot you will know what to do, but this is what I did based on my ever so weird oven.
4 free range chicken thighs, and legs
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
olive oil - a 3 to one ratio with the lemon
2 large, sliced garlic cloves
salt and pepper
5 or 6 onion slices
Combine all of the lemon, oil, garlic and seasonings in a bowl whisking to combine.  Add in the sliced onions.  Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces, and transfer to a zip lock bag.  Pour over the marinade, seal and marinate for 1 1/2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge 1/2 hour before going into the oven.
Roasted Potatoes
5 medium peeled Yukon gold potatoes, cut into halves then cut into 3 pieces
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tsp. each, garlic powder, oregano
1 large quarter inch slice of lemon, squeezed over the potatoes
Place the peeled cut potatoes in a bowl.  Drizzle liberally with olive oil.  Add seasonings and fresh lemon juice.  If you want a stronger lemon flavor, add more.  Toss to combine, and place on a baking sheet, on the outer edges of the baking sheet.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Then remove from the oven and add the chicken pieces to the center of the pan discarding the marinade and onions.  Return to the oven.  15 minutes later, turn over the potatoes to brown on the other side, rotating the pan, and return to the oven.
Fifteen minutes later, I removed the potatoes, and transferred to another baking pan, placing that pan on the top baking rack.  About 10 to 15 minutes later, I removed the potatoes from the oven, covered the pan in foil to keep warm, and continued to cook the chicken.  So in total the roasted potatoes took from 45 minutes to 1 hour to roast.  The chicken took about 10 minutes extra, to get good and crispy.  We had this with steamed vegetables - a simple yummy dinner.