Tuesday 8 January 2013

Welcome to my kitchen and my blog!



Hello, my name is Ida Skivenes, and I started to make food art on Instagram under the username idafrosk in June 2012. The response has been incredible, and I really appreciate and enjoy communicating with my followers. I've just crossed the 10 000 followers mark, and this blog is my way of giving back a little bit. Below are some samples of my food art work, with pieces directed both at children and adults.


My purpose for starting this blog is to provide a bit more background for the food I make, so it will not feature instructions for every single Instagram food art piece but mostly more general posts. I plan to show you some ’behind-the-scenes’ photos, post recipes, make a few tutorials, feature inspirational photos made by others and things along that line. I hope this will be of interest to you! For the full range of food art pieces, it’s best to head over to my Instagram account, instagram.com/idafrosk. I’ve also added a selection of my favorite photos under ”Food art gallery” by the header. 


I start off by showing you where the ’magic’ happens, my tiny kitchen! It’s situated in a rented apartment in Oslo, Norway and is an authentic 50s mint colored dishwasher-less setup. Quite cute, quite small but a surprisingly workable space once you get used to it (dishwashing by hand will probably never really be a pleasure though). 


I focus on trying to keep the essential tools for cooking (any kind, not just breakfast) available quite freely so I don’t have to dig into the large cupboards and drawers all the time. Fruits that don’t require refrigeration are usually kept on a tiered glass plate just as you enter the room. Tomatoes, garlic and onion are in a bowl on top of the fridge.


Otherwise the fridge top holds a milk steamer and various bowls, among them this funny frog one. Idafrosk means ’the ida frog’, so it’s quite appropriate for me.  


A work table was added when we moved in because of the limited surface area. I do most food preparations here. 


The top of the table houses various vitamins, teas, oils and of course my Moomin tray. 


I usually keep a box of homemade granola available at all times, pictured here is a variation with walnuts and figs. My absolute favorite is roasted banana nut granola, perhaps I’ll post the recipe later on.


The table also has shelves where I keep my collection of grains, legumes and beans in addition to various nuts, seeds and dried fruit. The latter come in quite handy when I make food art.
 

A small collection of cookbooks rest on the lower shelf, however they are rarely used, as I find most recipes online nowadays. For food art cook books are pretty useless, I haven’t come across any really. I love cooking, and do quite a lot of it. I became a vegetarian 2 years ago, and focus on preparing healthy and delicious meals with seasonal ingredients when possible. This applies to both my breakfasts and the other meals.


The kitchen leads onto a sizable balcony and I simply love how the French doors allow so much light to stream in. When it’s possible (i.e. not in Winter when it’s dark until 10 am), I take most of my photos in front of the doors. Some of you will probably recognize the white floor.
 

Both the morning and afternoon sun visit my kitchen, and provide beautiful shadow play. I keep fairy lights up all year round, it adds such a homely glow to the room.



That was a quick tour of the premises, I hope you enjoyed it. A note at the end: this is my kitchen in its "ideal" state, most times it's a complete mess, haha. Next time I’m planning to show you what is useful to have in a basic food art pantry.

Love, Ida

41 comments:

  1. This blog gonna be great. I always enjoy your instagram's photo.

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    1. Thank you, you're always so sweet, love your feed too! :)

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  2. å, hurra for blogg! det blir spennende å følge med :)
    og hei, for et superfint kjøkken du har. fint gulv, også.

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    1. Mange takk! Det blir nok ikke daglige poster, men satser på å gjøre noe innimellom. Greit å utvide litt. :D

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  3. Vilket fantastiskt fint kök! Och roligt med din blogg! Just som många andra verkar ha tröttnat på att skriva i sina bloggar. Glad över något nytt spännande! Ser fram mot vad du kommer att visa här! Är det ok att jag länkar till dig från min blogg?

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    1. Tusen takk for fin tilbakemelding, jeg håper jeg kan få til noe bra her! Det er selvsagt bare hyggelig om du linker til meg. :)

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  4. JA! Så kjekt at du har utvida "prosjektet" med blogg. Gleder meg til å følge deg her og. :)

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    1. Hyggelig å høre Hege! Det blir nok ikke daglige blogginnlegg, men kommer nok noen drypp her og der. :)

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  5. Fantastisk!
    (Hadde bare blitt kjempeglad hvis du aktiverte RSS-feed)

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    1. Takk! Så vidt jeg kan se skal RSS være aktivert. Det ligger også Feedburner-link i menyen til høyre. Dette er ganske så nytt for meg, så fint om du gir meg noen tips om hva jeg må gjøre dersom det fortsatt ikke funker.

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    2. Der funket det :) Fikk bare melding om at ingen feed ble funnet tidligere i dag. Men da er jo alt fint :)

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  6. Congratulations with such great success in such a short amount of time. I wish you good luck on your blog, which I'll be following regularly. Cheers, Tim.

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    1. Thank you Tim, I'm very happy that you find it interesting enough to follow! I will do my best to provide some additional content to my Instagram feed.

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  7. Juhu! Jeg glæder mig til at følge dig her på bloggen også :) Altid dejligt med vegetarisk madinspiration, og din er af den fineste slags!

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    1. Takk, det blir nok gode muligheter for vegetarmat. Jeg vil i første omgang legge ut frokostoppskrifter, så får vi se etter hvert. :)

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  8. så gøy at du har begynt å blogge! blir bra med oppskrifter og inspirasjon, er veldig glad i å lage mat jeg også, men ikke halvparten så kreativ som deg. :P er vegetarianer selv så gleder meg til å fortsette å lese! og jeg må bare si at jeg eelsket kjøkkenet ditt!

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    1. Og så gøy at du liker bloggen! Jeg skal gjøre mitt beste for å legge ut bra ting, satser på et par innlegg i uken i første omgang. :)

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  9. What a fantastic idea to start a food blog! Thank you for giving us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into your kitchen/food art studio - that is always my favorite part! Enough, in fact, that I started another site called Pantry Confidential (www.pantryconfidential.com) that explores just that. :)

    Keep up the great work, Ida! If I'm ever in Oslo, you MUST be one of our features! ;)

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    1. What a lovely site you have, I would be very honored indeed to be featured if you swing by Oslo. The photos are divine, and the interviews interesting, well done. Great idea, I love seeing how other people live too! :)

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  10. Hei idafrosk!
    Du er fin og jeg elsker bildene dine! Gleder meg til å følge bloggen :)

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    1. Takk Jane, som jeg har nevnt tidligere er jeg en stor fan av din blogg. Nøttesteksoppskriften din ble også årets julemiddag (som i fjor), til stor suksess! :D

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  11. Du er fantastisk og er sikkert super god til blogs også! Jeg glæder mig i hvert fald til at læse den og se mere fra dig ;)

    Kram Marie

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    1. Takk takk! Det er første ordentlige forsøk på blogging, så vi får se hva det blir til. Blir nok ikke innlegg hver dag, men et par i uken burde kunne gå.

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  12. Så spennende med blogg! Og for et utrolig sjarmerende kjøkken du har. Elsker hvitt gulv! Og headeren din var veldig kreativ :D

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    1. Mange takk Tine Katrine, liker godt din blogg også, bra å se at du sakte, men sikkert returnerer til bloggingen. Hvitt gulv er en gave for fotografering og lyset, men ikke så mye for vaskingen, hehe. ;)

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  13. Yeah! Endelig kom bloggen din også! Utrolig moro, jeg blir fast leser! Blir alltid glad av bildene dine på Instagram og er alltid litt spent på hva du skal vise frem.

    Hilsen melissa i spania :)

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    1. Takk Melissa, hyggelig å høre at du vil følge med. Jeg satser på et par innlegg i uken, vil ikke gå for ambisiøst ut i starten. Jeg er fast leser av din friske og inspirerende blogg også, veldig bra stoff og fine bilder.

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  14. Huzzah! Thanks for starting this blog, Ida - I love your creative food art and look forward to recipes and behind-the-scenes stuff :)! Love x

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  15. Flotte bilder både her og på instagram! Gratulerer med ny blogg.

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    1. Hyggelig å høre, jeg er veldig spent på hvordan dette blir, men følte det var på tide å utvide litt.

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  16. Wooow I am stunned! Have been following you on Instagram for a while now, I love it and I am really excited about your blog. Your home looks beautiful. I'm very jealous!

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    1. Thanks for commenting, very happy to hear what you say. My home is only a rented apartment, so unfortunately it isn't completely mine either. ;)

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  17. Så herlig at du har laget en blogg for alle oss som følger deg! Her skal jeg følge med! Kjempekoselig kjøkken du har. Elsker fargen på skapene!

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    1. Takk, jeg tenkte det var på tide å utvide litt, så får vi se hvordan det går. Fargen livner veldig opp, liker den kjempegodt selv også. :D

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  18. I'm so happy you started a blog! I love the white floors.

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    1. And I'm happy to please! Hope to provide you with some interesting stuff here. :)

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  19. Aloha Ida! Loved this little peek into your kitchen to see where the magic happens :)I absolutely adore your Instagram feed

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    1. Thank you Cobi! I love your Instagram feed too, so many inspirating and colorful dishes to try out.

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