I HAVE BEEN TAGGED!

I am sure you are aware of this fun game going around in the blogosphere: it is called the Seven Links Challenge!  Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading beautiful posts about this game, where bloggers choose 7 of their posts that deserve to be recognized and talk about them.  I was sooo excited and when Ray from Wok with Ray and Paolo from Quatro Fromaggio tagged me in their Seven Links Challenge post!  Ray is a fantastic cook and very talented photographer and I urge you to visit his site.  And what can I say about Paolo?!  He’s writing the most informative and well written blog about the misrepresentations of Italian food in the world, something that all Italians abroad experience in our every day life.  And he also blogs about delicious food and authentic Italian recipes!  If you don’t know these great foodies yet, you don’t want to miss out, believe me.  Being tagged by people you admire is a great honour! So, thank you so much Ray and Paolo! 🙂

How do you play this game?  The rules are easy:

• The blogger who is nominated must publish his/her 7 links of his/her own blog for the categories below (Only one link for each category).

1. The most beautiful post
2. The most popular post
3. The most controversial post
4. The most helpful post
5. The post that was surprisingly successful
6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved
7. The post I am most proud of

• The blogger then nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part in the challenge and it goes on.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?  So here are my 7 links:

The most beautiful post: Panna Cotta Tricolore

This was the dessert I created to celebrate the 150 years of the Unification of Italy last March.  I chose this post as the most beautiful because it includes MsM’s first picture to be accepted by both the most famous food photography sites: Foodgawker and Tastespotting.  So it must be beautiful, right?

The most popular post: Macarons with white chocolate and mint ganache

Both my macarons recipes have proven very popular, but I chose the first one I published – Macarons with white chocolate and mint ganache because its popularity was not biased by any giveaway and it won FoodFrenzy’s Recipe Challenge for May 2011, the first challenge I ever won.

The most controversial post: Cocoa gnocchi with mascarpone and walnut sauce

Oh… I do not think I have ever written a controversial post… or have I??  So, I’d pick my Cocoa gnocchi with mascarpone and walnut sauce for the unusual and innovative use of cocoa powder in the gnocchi dough.

The most helpful post: Focaccia 

I honestly think that the most helpful area of my blog is the Tips (link) section and above all the Techniques page (link) where I explain all the basic techniques on how to cook Italian food from cooking pasta al dente to make pasta, or pizza dough, or mayonnaise from scratch.  If I had to choose a single post though, I would choose my Focaccia recipe where I explain how to make authentic Italian focaccia with step by step instructions and pictures.  It is useful as it shows how real focaccia looks like… nothing to do with the bread-like, thick and dry focaccia we find overseas.

The post that was surprisingly successful: Fried Pizza

This will have to be my Fried Pizza recipe.  It is an amazingly tasty dish, but I was still surprised by the amount of great comments and visits it got as it is quite an unusual way of cooking pizza!  Thanks nonna! <3

The post that did not get the attention it deserved: Piadina and Crescione – Marco’s recipe

I think my Piadina and Crescione – Marco’s recipe would have deserved more attention.  I guess the fact that I had published another recipe for piadina a few days earlier didn’t help… but this was a much more authentic recipe as it was given to me by my friend Marco and his nonna who live in the area where piadine were invented!  So, please check it out! 😉

The post I am most proud of: Hello Kitty Cake Pops

This is easily done: my Hello Kitty Cake Pops!  I was quite happy both with the Cake Pops themselves and with the pictures I managed to take.  I had been worrying a lot about them before making them as they were my first attempt at Cake Pops, but in the end they looked really cute and both Victoria’s school friends and their parents loved them… so I guess I can be proud of them me!

And now, time to tag 5 more bloggers!!!  Here they are… have fun ladies! 🙂

Carsley at The Deep Dish

Kankana at Sunshine and Smile

Purabi at Cosmopolitan Currymania

Sawsan at Chef in Disguise

Tiffany at Como Water

And thank you so much once again Ray from Wok with Ray and Paolo of Quatro Fromaggio for thinking of me! 🙂