Name: Elizabeth
Blog name and URL: Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary http://www.elizabethskitchendiary.co.uk
Where were you born? I was born at CFB Chilliwack, British Columbia where my parents and maternal grandfather were stationed, but I was raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where my grandfather was born and raised.
Where are you living now? Shetland, Scotland (60 degrees North; a little rock in the North Sea between Scotland, Iceland and Norway)
Why did you start your blog? I started my blog towards the end of 2011 for myself, as a private website to store recipes I'd found online, cooked and wanted to keep. I could have bookmarked the recipes, but I'd lost too many recipes to broken links in the past, that I wanted a quick place to store them with my own photos to accompany. Since then, I've learned so much from observing and reading other food blogs, that I opened my blog up to the public, began putting more effort into learning how to take better photographs and started including stories along with the recipes.
How did you decide on your blog name? When I started blogging I just used my email address (tangolikeraindrop). Not very inventive, I know. I've very recently restyled my blog (and blog name/url) because the photos, stories and recipes I share are very much like a diary from my kitchen.
What do you blog about? I blog mostly about food and recipes, some crafts and throw in an adventure or two for good measure.
What post are you most proud of and why? I am proud of my ...and we danced... blog post because I wrote it in such a way that I think makes the reader feel like they've been part of the experience.
I think it's one of my better pieces of writing. The story is about my first time performing in theatre, and to be part of such a beautiful, surreal performance (ballroom dancing in a car park in boots?!) with the National Theatre of Scotland was truly something amazing. Home bakes and tea featured prominently! I never want to forget it, and I hope, in the future, when I re-read my post I will be transported back to those days when we danced.
Which post do you wish received more love and why? I would like my Skoki Health Bread (and that time I was lassoed) post to get more attention because, despite the fact it is a recipe fail, I would like to apologize to that cowboy who lassoed me.
I'd like him to read the post and to know that I am really very sorry! Isn't it funny how we can feel guilty about our actions decades after the event?
Which post’s success surprised you and why? The post about my first attempt working with sugar paste for our youngest's Angry Birds Birthday Cake surprised me.
As soon as I shared the link on Twitter it went absolutely crazy and the number of views shot it up to my most viewed blog post within 48 hours! It's been in the top ten most viewed posts since I made it in March 2013 and gets a steady stream of traffic every single day.
What is one (non-kitchen) gadget you can’t live without? I could not live without my laptop. I am addicted to being online. I live in a very rural area and my laptop gives me the virtual social interaction I need to make me feel like I'm not the last person left on the planet!
What is one kitchen gadget you can’t live without? My food processor. I use it for so many things that I would be lost without it (or at least stronger, as I'd need to use elbow grease instead!)
Favourite food, care to share a recipe? My favourite food right now is homemade ice cream. I've recently discovered the wonderful world of condensed milk ice cream and I just can't get enough! I still love a traditional custard based ice cream, but the condensed milk ones are so quick and easy to make it's far too tempting! You simply mix 600 ml double cream with a 397 gram tin of condensed milk, flavour it with whatever you wish (the more creative the better!) and leave it overnight to freeze. Voila! My latest ice cream creation, brandied cherry, went down very, very well!
What else should we know about you that may or not be in your “About Me” page? I am a mother of three and a final year Open University student. I'm currently researching the potential for mesenchymal stem cells in progressive multiple sclerosis as a final project module for a BSc (Hons) Life Sciences degree. I'm also training as a crew member with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute on an all-weather lifeboat. The RNLI are a life saving charity crewed by volunteers and funded entirely from public donations. I've got my pager on me at all times and when it goes off our volunteer crew drop everything and go out and help those in distress at sea. I also want to go home. I've been away from Canada for nearly fifteen years now, and it's calling me back. A return voyage is on the books; five year plan sort of thing. It's not as easy planning a trans-Atlantic journey as a family of five as it was when it was just myself in my early twenties!
What makes your blog unique? I'd like to think my stories help make my blog unique, and my remote location and limited budget mean I don't have access to and experience the same things many other people do. I'm pretty sure I am Britain's most northerly food blogger and I like to incorporate Shetland into my blog through the use of local produce, the landscape or even in blog props. For example, there's a slate in one of the brandied cherry ice cream photos. It's not a posh slate from a high street retailer, it's a broken roofing tile from a derelict ruin up the road from my house which was built in 1800!
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