Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Annie Watson.
Lisa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up with my mum cooking 95% of our meals. We rarely ate out and when we did it was usually a chain restaurant or a buffet. My favorite memories as a child are birthdays at home, as mum would cook our favorite meal and bake a cake or cupcakes for us. My mum made these cupcakes with pudding in he base of ice cream cones and cake batter at the top, added a little frosting and sprinkles and voilá. I hope my son loves them as much as I did. Although the meals were homemade, they were simple. Mum didn’t venture much from American, English, or Italian cuisine. My mum is from England, dad is Italian and my brothers and I were born here. So we are first-generation English and Italian.
I didn’t enjoy being in the kitchen until I was in my mid-twenties, living on my own and trying to impress my boyfriend at the time, now my husband. He really introduced me to different cuisines and pushed me to try new foods. He also got sick of me ordering off the kid’s menu at restaurants and refused to take me to nice places for a while. It sounds harsh, but it was what I needed to push me out of my comfort zone.
I gradually started cooking more and fell In love with being in the kitchen. It is now my zen spot. I speak to my Nonna and Nana Kathleen as I cook and my heart is so joy-filled. I have found it is also a creative outlet for me and I am much more confident in my abilities to whip up a meal on the spot with random ingredients in the fridge. My husband and I enjoy finding new places to eat and have several favorites around town. I thoroughly enjoy capturing pictures of food I cook, eat, and the adventures along the way.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was 100% not a smooth road. Learning the basics was harder than I thought. Not burning everything I cook, time management with meals, and learning to clean as I go. (Which I still struggle with lol) I once tried to make my own curry seasoning for a chicken curry dish and basically made cinnamon chicken that was absolutely awful. Needless to say we ordered pizza that night and I stick to buying curry seasoning now! Maybe in the future, I’ll try my own seasoning mixture again, but I’ll have to do more research on it first.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was employed at a local bank for years and started food blogging on the side 5 + years ago. I don’t blog anymore but will still post to Instagram and my Facebook page.
I am most proud of the hard work I put in over the last three years. I graduated nursing school and cooked my way through. Cooking was one of my outlets for stress relief and ensuring I still had quality time with my family. I am a nurse now and couldn’t be happier with my change in career.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Not being too upset with myself if a meal doesn’t go my way. Not being too upset when I didn’t do as well on a test at school as I wanted. However, that was a lot harder for me than messing up a meal. Making mistakes in the kitchen taught me to have grace for myself and learn more so I could do better the next time.
Contact Info:
- Email: Olivefooddoyou@gmail.com
- Website: www.LisaaAnnie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thyme4breakfast/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Olivefooddoyou%20/
- Twitter: @thyme4breakfast
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCrh0qCFSSY3Kd8UXBj7b3JQ
