How About This presents Elizabeth aka mama_ezekiel

Twitter's Mama Ezekiel stops by as a treat!

Today’s Atlantic Canadian interview is with Elizabeth aka @mama_ezekiel on Twitter. I’ve always marveled at her pictures of delicious food and decided I had to learn about her. I was surprised to learn she has roots in two different provinces: born and raised in Newfoundland and Labrador, now living for well over a decade on Prince Edward Island, ticking off half of the Atlantic Provinces in one life!

Here’s her interview!

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When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? And how does that compare with what you are doing now?

When I was home on a visit a few years ago, my mother showed me my Kindergarten scrapbook, where I had drawn a picture of myself in a Starfleet uniform, bravely defeating an enemy. My teacher had written the caption under the picture: When I grow up, I want to be a Star Trek so I can catch the bad guys. (I started watching Star Trek with my dad from a very early age.) Sadly, that didn't really pan out for me.

After changing what I wanted to be a few times, by the end of high school I finally ended up choosing a path and got a Bachelor Of Fine Arts in theatre (majoring in Acting). However, I made the decision to be a stay-at-home mom when my husband and I found out we were expecting, and that's turned out to be about as rewarding as being a "Star Trek", I'd imagine!

When did your relationship with cooking begin and how has it progressed?

I'd never really been very interested in cooking. I took Home Economics in junior high, and I was more fascinated with the sewing section of the class, rather than the food side. It wasn't until August of 2018 that I made the conscious decision to learn how to really learn how to bake. I was already pretty comfortable with boxed cake mixes and canned icing and I made decent cinnamon rolls, but trying to make anything more than that really intimidated me.

Anyway, one day in August 2018 I had seen a recipe floating around Facebook- you know the ones that just randomly show up in your feed and you don't know why they're there? It was a recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough bars. I thought it would be fun to try to make them with my daughter...but I messed them up so bad...they were a complete disaster. It was in that moment that I decided to challenge myself to learn how to bake.

I started off slow, with just learning how to follow recipes and now I have evolved into exploring a more creative side of baking. In terms of cooking meals, that has been more of a slower progression. About a year ago, I decided to start studying spices and seasonings and different cultural dishes, and I think I've fallen in love with cooking almost as much as I love baking. I wish I had discovered my love of food earlier on in life, but at least I'm there now.

What led you to start posting pictures of your baking on Twitter?

I started posting pictures of my baking on Twitter because I was making a recipe book/scrapbook as a gift for my daughter's 11th birthday, and I was using the platform to keep track of what I had baked, and to store the pictures I had taken. 

How do you feel about the "modern conveniences" of cooking, i.e. microwave ovens?

As far as "modern conveniences" of cooking go, I think that if it makes your life easier, then go ahead and use it.  I don't use a microwave that often, but I'm a big fan of air fryers.  I have so much fun discovering new things to cook in it.  

What's something about growing up in NL (Newfoundland and Labrador) that an outsider wouldn't understand or appreciate?

I think growing up in Newfoundland teaches strength and resilience. I remember some really bad snow storms when I was a kid- storms that would probably close down a lot of places now. But school was never cancelled. We walked to school in weather like that...I remember one year trick or treating in my snowsuit, with zero visibility. Nothing could stop us!

How did you wind up in PEI?

As to how I ended up on Prince Edward Island...my boyfriend (now husband), and I were working jobs in Newfoundland that weren't really making us feel as fulfilled as we thought we could be. We decided to move away from Newfoundland, but where we went depended on where we could find work. We knew we wanted to stay in Atlantic Canada to still be close to home, and I was really drawn to PEI. Growing up, we spent some summers here and I remembered the island very fondly.

As luck would have it, my husband was able to apply online for a job on Prince Edward Island, and he ended up getting a one-year contract. 14 years later, we're still here!

How does living on PEI compare to living on NL?

Living on PEI is a little different than living on Newfoundland.   Being a very small island, it never really takes long to get to where you need to go.  It only takes 3 hours to drive from tip to tip.  The landscape is quite different- especially the beaches. The summers can get quite hot, and the winters can be quite cold. 

I really have to say that I love both islands equally, but I always look forward to going home to Newfoundland for a visit, as that is where all my family lives. 

Back to Star trek for a moment: Are you still a fan?  If so, how do you feel about the number of Star Trek shows out today?  We went from 1 for 20 years, then 4 more released over a 15 year period, then a drought, and now we've had five more in the past 5 years!

I still love Star Trek!  While it's nice to see a Star Trek resurgence, I think I'm always going to love The Next Generation the most...with the original being a very close second!   Of all the new series, I'd have to say "Strange New Worlds" would be my favorite.   I'm really looking forward to seeing the second season!

I don't really keep up with other science fiction or fantasy, but I love the horror genre.  Mystery/true crime is a huge favorite as well.  

Imagine you wake up one morning and the Internet has been destroyed.  What's the first thing you do?

If I woke up one morning and the Internet was destroyed, I'd probably ask my husband to fix it for me.  I'm not so great with technology, so I'd probably think it was something that I'd done wrong.  Then I'd call my family back home.  We use the internet daily to keep in touch, so I'd have to go back to the old-fashioned way.   It would be quite an adjustment for a while, but I think it would force me back into a simpler way of life, which might not be a bad thing.

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Thanks to @mama_ezekiel for agreeing to be interviewed!