Inspiring Mum: Alida of My Little Italian Kitchen
Her delicious recipes always give me inspiration whenever I’m low on ideas as to what to feed the hungry mouths of my ravenous family. Alida blogs about her foodie adventures and provides gorgeous photographs of the finished result and details of how to make it yourself. As you can probably guess from the title – My Little Italian Kitchen, her cooking has a strong focus to her Italian roots. From rustic risottos to scrummy seafood, here’s a little food for thought….
I am Alida, mum of two young children and I grew up in Friuli in the north east of Italy. My mum, was a typical Italian mum: always in the kitchen bringing to the table amazing dishes; the house always smelt nice and that was so comforting! When I was at school I used to cycle home 15 minutes for lunch just to have my mum’s pasta as I was not happy with “industrial” school dinners. Food was already in my mind back then.
Then as a teenager I started cooking seriously and my favourite books were cookery ones. My favourite hobby was baking during the long Italian school summer holidays. There was a time when I baked a cake every single day. My family, having always been a voracious one, would polish it up within a couple of hours and that was certainly rewarding. When I moved to England in 1999 I did different jobs, mainly office work using my Italian until I had my first baby. The long commuting time and the genuine desire to be with my daughter made me decide to stay at home to raise my baby. This gave me enough time to do what I loved most: cooking. Then a few years later it all came together as My Little Italian Kitchen, a website about rustic, every day Italian cooking and Italian culture.
1. What inspired you to start My Little Italian Kitchen?
Being a full time mum has helped me improve my cookery skills. Weaning my two babies was when I really began putting all my beliefs into practice. I took great pleasure in making little meals from scratch. Sourcing organic and fresh ingredients daily, quickly became a job on its own along with an extraordinary euphoria and excitement for cooking, which was growing stronger and stronger; I just could never get enough of it. Fresh and healthy meals turned into little projects for me! As the children grew out of the weaning stage, I began cooking different meals every week so I decided to start a website about Italian cookery that would allow me to share my recipes and get feedback.
2. Where do you get ideas for your amazing recipes?
My recipes are a mixture of my own ideas but I often get inspired by magazines, the web, books and newspapers. I often start a recipe and then change it altogether as I go along. Cooking is an expression of who you are and your personality. You have to put your whole self into it: your passion, feelings and experiences all go into the food and you become part of the recipe. There is also lots of pleasure when plates are wiped clean and every stomach is satisfied.
3. How do you manage your time between work and family life?
It fits very well around family life. Working from home gives me the time to look after my children. In fact its certainly helping them get used to a variety of different meals. Everything I cook goes on the plates of the whole family with no excuses. This is the Italian way. We all eat the same and children gradually get used to it and learn to appreciate different foods.
4. What is your favourite thing to do with the family?
I love to involve the children in cooking . We often bake together and children are so keen on learning especially when there is pastry, cakes and pizza, a little bit like play-dough! Also we enjoy days out to farms and places to show them where food comes from.
5. If you could self-indulge for one whole day, what would you do?
I would go on a food conference, taste different foods and learn about new cookery techniques and food trends, whilst drinking espresso coffee, of course.
To find out more about Alida’s lovely food, you can also find her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
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Caitlin January 14, 2013 at 11:49 pm
Oh I just love this write up, and her food looks amazing!
admin January 15, 2013 at 7:04 am
Doesn’t it just. Glad you enjoyed it!
Katie January 15, 2013 at 5:12 pm
What an interesting article and Alida seems so passionate about her cooking that it has inspired me to try some of her recepies. Risotto with radiccio really grabbed my attention. Alida, good luck with your adventure!
admin January 15, 2013 at 8:15 pm
The risottos are my favourites from her blog too. As well as some of those gorgeous cakes! :->