I was desperately excited this week to be nominated for The Sunshine Blogger Award by Cooking With Kids. If you haven’t discovered her blog yet, please do pop over and take a look. Louise is a mum of 4, works part-time and yet still finds time to cook great meals for her family. And write a blog.

With all those plates that she’s spinning, I have no idea how she finds time to read anyone else’s blog. And certainly not to read them, appreciate them and nominate them for a blogger award. Is there a Superwoman Award somewhere? I think I have a contender!

So, a huge thank you for nominating me and also for all the lovely recipes that you post. You’ve given me some amazing ideas of things to cook for, and with, my kids.

The way The Sunshine Blogger Award works is that the person nominating you gives you 11 questions to answer. Then you nominate 11 bloggers whose work you admire, or find inspirational, and give them 11 new questions to answer.

My questions from Louise at Cooking With Kids are:

Why did you start blogging?

The name of my blog, Empty Nest Mummy, is the giveaway here. When the second of my two children started Big School this year, I was lost. Didn’t know what to do with myself. And, don’t laugh, I cried every day for the first week.

Then I gave myself a stern talking to, and decided I needed to get a life. And part of that was going to be starting a blog, which involves teaching myself all sorts of new tricks. Which, I think, is going to keep me busy for a while!

What is your favourite food? And your least favourite?

I love a really good risotto and am, according to my husband, very good at making them. Unless we’re going to an amazing restaurant though, I tend not to order risotto when we’re out as I have had enough of bland, or over-salted, risotto. Or something called ‘risotto’ which is actually just rice with some stock and a few veg thrown in. If you can’t be arsed to hover over your risotto and tend it like a newborn, just don’t bother making it. Simples!

One of my favourite that I make is my take on Risotto Primavera (Spring Risotto). It’s buttery, silky, smooth, with a hint of lemon and really lets the spring vegetables sing out. I generally use peas, broad beans, mint, asparagus. Great with a lovely glass of Italian Falanghina.

Least favourite? The easy answer here would be meat. I have been vegetarian since I was around 13 or 14. But I’m going to say Dim Sum. I’ve only had it twice, and couldn’t bear its slippery, claggy mouthfeel. Makes me want to vomit just thinking about the texture.

What do you do in your spare time (apart from blogging)?

Before I had kids, I worked almost obsessively (husband would probably question the need for ‘almost’ here), and had no time for hobbies. Then I had kids and have hovered and mauled and obsessed over them, and had no time for hobbies.

I think this year is going to be the year I really discover hobbies, perhaps helped by blogging.

I have taken up running fairly recently and, until illness and snow days scuppered me, was actually starting to enjoy it. I plan to get back on this when the snow melts.

…follow my blog to see as other hobbies appear!

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Ooh, this is a really tricky one. I’m so very nosey that I’d love to be invisible and have a good poke through people’s houses (the ex-estate agent in me will never die!). Or maybe the power of mind control. I thought I was pretty good at this with the kids but,, as they get older, I can feel my control slipping away!

No, let’s go with invisibility. I could have lots of fun with that.

What is the best place you’ve ever been to and why?

Pre-kids, we were lucky enough to go to India on a couple of holidays, including once on honeymoon. And I’m really struggling between Pondicherry, an amazing mixture of India and Colonial France, and Brunton Boatyard in Fort Kochi, Kerala.

But I also have a huge soft spot for Italy, where we have spent so many holidays, and where we recently bought a house in a small mountain village in the North of Italy.

Actually, do you know what? I’m going to go for the Amalfi Coast. That way, I can include Amalfi and Positano, and the whole stretch of jagged coastline between them. The views are to die for, the food is divine and the scent of lemons wafting towards you in the warm air is heavenly.

Yes, the Amalfi Coast.

How do you relax?

I’m actually a really laid-back and relaxed person anyway, so I don’t really do anything to relax as such. That said, I have found that going for a run makes me feel exhilarated, exhausted and relaxed in equal measure!

Should pineapple go on pizza?

No. Nay. Never.

If something is perfect, why mess with it? Pineapple should just go, in cubes, on sticks with cheese and small pickled onions.

What is your favourite TV programme?

With our habit of bingeing on box sets, I don’t really have a favourite TV programme anymore. I do have a favourite genre that is my default option. I love watching Italian food and travel programmes, perhaps with a little bit of history or art in there too. I have been loving Alex Polizzi’s Italian Islands – check it out at this youtube link.

What is your proudest achievement?

It sounds really trite, but my two beautiful little children are my proudest achievement. They’re so positive and inquisitive, kind and generous. And I feel that I, in part, can take some of the credit for how they’re growing up. And I’m so very, very proud of them.

Would you rather be too hot or too cold?

Too hot. And then strip off. Or sit in the shade. And have an ice-cold drink.

You’ve won the lottery? What’s the first thing you do?

I’d pay off my mortgage, and those of my three sisters. And then book out the whole of a small independent hotel on the Amalfi Coast for a holiday for all of us.

We don’t spend nearly enough time together. It would be great to reconnect, glass of wine in hand, looking out over Positano coastline and enjoying the warm lemon-scented breeze wafting over us.

(If you want to know even more about me, please stay and have a look at some of my blog posts. Or check out my nomination posts for The Versatile Blogger Award, Post 1 and Post 2.)

My 11 nominations for the coveted Sunshine Blogger Award are:

Hamster McKenzie – he’s funny, he’s furry, and he can be found just here

Mummy Miller – click here to read the 4 lessons she’s like to teach her child

The Mammy Bog – start off with her great post, Get in the Picture Mammy

A Maltese Mouthful – mouth-watering food photography; I’m keen to try her Cauliflower Stew Recipe

Tin Box Traveller – great holidays, days out and travel inspiration. Looking forward to reading about your forthcoming trip to Tuscany

From Mum to Tum – reviews, recipes, days out and all done super-stylishly. Visit her here.

Slummy Single Mummy – some travel, some recipes, a bit of all sorts. But I really really like her rants.

Italy Chronicles – some great insights on Italy. A must read if you are planning a trip to Italy, or just if you love Italy! Read more here.

What my Fridge Says – Funny and motivational posts, there’s always something to make you pause and think. I love this one on celebrating the little wins.

Hashtag Momfail – Really amusing real-live ‘mom’ issues; this one on potty-training made me chuckle

The Baby and The Boardroom – If you don’t follow her already, start here on how to survive the first year of parenthood

And, my dears, here are your questions….

What’s your earliest memory?

What 5 adjectives would you use to describe yourself?

What are your goals for 2018?

If you had a magic carpet, where you go?

What’s the thing that keeps you awake at night?

What’s your favourite board or card game?

What’s the best restaurant you’ve ever been to? And what did you eat?

If you could travel back in time, where would you go?

What do you sing along to in the car?

What’s the last text you wrote?

What would you like to be remembered for?