My name is Charlotte Oates. Welcome to my lively kitchen where I love experimenting with food, creating new recipes and cooking delicious and (mostly) healthy food for my family.
My Recipes
Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen is my own personal cookbook – A place to share my recipes for everyone to try. I originally set up the site just for me as a place to store my recipes, rather than keeping them all in my head or on scraps of paper (I have a terrible memory!). Over time, I’ve shared more and more and the site has grown significantly (and changed it’s name from My Recipe Book). It has turned into somewhere, not just for me, but a place to share my yummy recipes and other random cooking tips with as many people as I can.
Having fun with food
As well as creating recipes, I love to have fun with food. If there’s a possibility I can do something a bit fun or daft then I’ll give it a go. I’m always on the lookout for new ideas and challenges to have a go at and share with you. This is also a great way to get the children involved in the kitchen and hopefully teach them the same love of cooking that I have.
Food Photography
Let’s face it beautiful photography makes food look a lot more yummy than a quickly taken, poorly lit snap. When I first started out my photography was pretty appalling, certainly not showing off my food at it’s best. As I’ve developed my skills I started enjoying the photography almost as much as making (and eating) the food. I enjoy challenging myself to try new styles and techniques, sharing tips as I go.
Sharing my blogging experiences
As Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen has grown I have taken a lot of inspiration and ideas from other food bloggers. There are some amazing bloggers who share their experiences and tips. I’ve gained a lot from reading these sites and so to help others I also share my own experience of developing this website (the good and the bad), in the hope that it can help others in the way that other bloggers have helped me.
Well that’s me (with a few of the duller bits and pieces removed!). However, before I go I should also introduce you to the (mostly) silent member of Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen – my husband Jon. He’s been completely invaluable in growing my blog, helping me with all sort of dull things behind the scenes. You’ll even spot an occasional recipe from him popping up on the site, or some of his photographs on Instagram (and if you like them, just remember I taught him everything he knows!).
There’s also my two boys, Daniel & Joshua. They’re too young to write for the blog at the moment (give them time!), but they’re definitely the inspiration for pretty much everything you see here. Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen just wouldn’t be the same without them.
I hope you enjoy visiting Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen as much as I enjoy writing it. If you’d like to keep in touch then I’d love it if you’d join me on one (or all!) of these social networks. See you there!
