Name: Bridget Oland
Blog name and URL: Bridget’s Green Kitchen www.bridgetsgreenkitchen.blogspot.com
Where were you born? Saint John, NB
Where are you living now? I live just outside of Saint John, in a little town called Rothesay. I live down the street from the house I grew up in.
Why did you start your blog? I started a green living blog as a place to park the columns that I write for our local paper. But I found that I was adding more and more recipes to the blog because how we eat is such a huge aspect of green living. So with some encouragement from a good friend (cookbook author and Food Network host, Laura Calder) I started the Green Kitchen blog.
How did you decide on your blog name? Since I already had Bridget’s Green Living it seemed like a logical name, and I liked (still like) the friendly feel of the name. It’s a real kitchen, after all.
What do you blog about? I blog about healthy food, and comfort food made healthier with good ingredients, especially wholesome flour. It’s pretty much all vegetarian on the savoury side and has a good dose of baking. I also share family recipes that I grew up with (content from another column I write in our local paper) and the stories behind them. It’s like cataloguing my family’s food history and a fun way to recall great times in my mom’s kitchen. I’m from a big family (six siblings) and food is central in our family lore.
What post are you most proud of and why? I wrote a post about why I think it’s so important to teach children about good food, whole food and the farm-to-table journey.
It’s like an intro to my food philosophy and the foundation of how I’m raising my family. Eventually I’ll add more to it, like the bit about my son using an Arby’s flyer as a bookmark for months when he was in grade one, and my daughter telling me “You know mom, sometimes I like to eat food with chemicals in it.” (She was five). Kids who eat well are still drawn to processed stuff but they know good food when they see it and will likely make good choices when they’re older (fingers crossed). In the meantime my daughter said when she gets her first job she’s going to go to Tim Horton’s every day.
Which post do you wish received more love and why? People often ask me for healthy meal ideas that are fast and kid friendly so I featured a simple, speedy cauliflower cheese soup recipe. I got tons of feedback on the actual print column because it really is a brilliant recipe -- lots of veggies, an exquisite texture and so tasty. People were telling me how their kids couldn’t get enough of it and they were packing leftovers in their kids’ lunches.
Which post’s success surprised you and why? Let’s just say that I don’t get a lot of comments and I don’t track analytics for my personal blogs. But my beet hummus recipe did generate a bit of interest last year which surprised me since it’s nothing but a recipe—no story, hardly any intro and I don’t think that I even shared it anywhere. I suppose food blogs aren’t teeming with beet recipes so Google search was in my favour.
What is one (non-kitchen) gadget you can’t live without? I am so non gadgety that the only non-kitchen essential I can think of is my toothbrush and my yoga mat I suppose, if that constitutes a gadget.
What is one kitchen gadget you can’t live without? I love my rasps. I put citrus zest in and on just about everything and a good rasp make it that much easier to remove the zest and not get any pith. I travel with my rasp.
Favourite food, care to share a recipe? Veggie side dishes are my favourite and we’re hooked on an avocado dish that my husband discovered. It’s like avocado on the half shell (so to speak) broiled with lots of lime juice and extra sharp cheddar. We eat it as a starter or alongside our main.
What else should we know about you that may or not be in your “About Me” page? I have a Le Creuset addiction. When I graduated from university and got my first real job the first thing I bought was a 10 piece set.
What makes your blog unique? I suppose the fact that I try to combine eco-friendly eating with everyday food makes it a little different. I’m not hard core though. I just want more people to cook whole food and to know that it’s okay if they don’t have spelt flour in the cupboard. Eating well is a journey.
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Bridget, congratulations on being featured! It was nice to read about what inspires you to blog. I’m currently reading Laura Calder’s latest cookbook and came across your name in the acknowledgements; I wondered if that was you or someone with the same name. Now I know!
It was lovely to meet you at FBC2013. Happy blogging!