Featured member blog: Life on Manitoulin

Name: Christine McNaughton

Blog name and URL: Life on Manitoulin http://www.lifeonmanitoulin.com

Where were you born? Scarborough, ON (but spent most of my life in Montreal, QC)

Where are you living now? Manitoulin Island, ON

Why did you start your blog? The blog was a way to keep in touch with family, friends, and students after I moved to "the Island". It eventually took on a life of its own and has turned into a blog about everything from living in a small rural Northern Ontario town, to life with a preemie, and because we own and operate a beef farm, the blog has turned into a place to chat about food grown locally. The fact that I've got a multicultural background and love international cuisine also makes for some great blog fodder, since I have to use what ingredients I can find locally.

How did you decide on your blog name? The name of my blog basically refers to "My" Life on Manitoulin. It's about a city girl living in the country and trying to adapt to a new lifestyle and environment.

What do you blog about? I blog mainly about all things family related - a lot of FOOD, because sharing meals and creating delicious dishes that nourish my family and friends is important to me. In my culture, sharing a meal is a social thing. It's a large part of who I am. It's  not really only about the food itself. It's more about the coming together and celebrating. Just sharing time together. Other than that, I blog about parenting, products for families, being of a multicultural background, raising a preemie, etc.

What post are you most proud of and why? Oh! This is a tough one! I have a bunch of favourites here  but I'd have to say that I love is one of the posts I wrote as an official Food Network Canada Recipe To Riches blogger. This post in particular was of Melaney Gleeson-Lyall's Hazelnut Bannock Pie. Writing about the winning recipes, I became friends with some of the contestants of the show. Melaney invited me to the taping of the Season Finale of Recipe to Riches (Season 1) as one of her guests. We also had Dim Sum in Chinatown with my family. I also had the opportunity to have tea and treats with Melissa Lam (Banana Chocolate Wow Cake contestant). She was so sweet to bake my daughter a BCWC and bring it on the plane!

If we're talking favourite non-foodie post, I'd say the one where we raised $1435 for Mount Sinai's NICU.

Which post do you wish received more love and why? None, really. I think each post gets the love it deserves. If that makes sense?

Which post’s success surprised you and why? It's actually a series of posts about our life in the NICU and the whole build up to Little One's birth that surprised me with comments. It shocked me that people around the world were keeping up to date and checking in daily, wanting to know how I was doing. The kindness and support I received from complete strangers was so touching. I even had a lovely blog friend from New Zealand call me while I was on strict bed rest during my pregnancy. Here's a post that makes me happy. It's our "Homecoming" post.

What is one (non-kitchen) gadget you can’t live without? Non-kitchen gadget? Does my BlackBerry Z10 count? That thing is attached to my right hand!

What is one kitchen gadget you can’t live without? This sounds funny, but my super amazing vegetable peeler from Switzerland. Swiss friends of ours went back to Switzerland for vacation and brought me back this "must have" peeler. I didn't understand why a peeler would be so amazing, but let me tell you, the Swiss are amazing when it comes to their tools and anything they create! Best peeler ever!

Favourite food, care to share a recipe? My favourite food is Pad Thai. Japanese okonomiyaki comes a close second place. Both recipes can be found on my blog, but I'd like to share a crazy meatloaf recipe with you. It is one serious meatloaf! The reason I have to share it is because my husband and 4 year old daughter told me to!

What else should we know about you that may or not be in your “About Me” page? I've got a few little quirks like the fact that I LOVE coffee, but can only drink it before bedtime. Coffee has an adverse effect on me and knocks me out cold within minutes. I know. Usually, most people can't sleep when they have coffee, but coffee makes me sleepy! Oh, and I LOVE green apples, but can only eat them if the skin is peeled. There's something about the skin on green apples that makes me mouth puff up. It seriously makes my lips swell so much that I look like a Platypus if I eat it!

What makes your blog unique? I guess my blog is unique because it's not often you find a Spanish-Filipina-Caribbean-Chinese person living in a small rural Northern Ontario town. The blog is largely about our life on Manitoulin (the largest fresh water lake island in the world), living on a farm (when clearly, I'm a city girl), and I'm originally an English teacher and former world traveler turned Social Media community manager. My husband says what makes my blog unique is the interaction and engagement with my readers. I think he's a little biased though. I'm really just a small fish in a big sea of bloggers.

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