Interviews Lifestyle People

Taking Five with Alena Prichystalova, Food Blogger and Photographer

We take five with talented creative Alena Prichystalova.

Exquisite images, beautiful baking and recipes and the perfect mix of garden and nature, Alena Prichystalova’s Instagram is our go-to when we need to be inspired by to get in the kitchen and bake. We catch up with Alena and find out more about her life and inspiration.

What is your favourite travel destination and why?

It’s a bit difficult to mention just one favourite travel destination. Here in my country, in Czech Republic, I return very often to South Moravia region with its wide vineyards, beautiful countryside, and nice people. Other regions which are close to my heart are Provence in France, Tuscany in Italy and regions with wild nature in Sweden, Finland and Norway.

What is your go-to recipe to cook at home?

To be honest, I love baking no matter the time I spent there but I don’t like cooking. I try to eat seasonal, and I love to make quick and tasty vegetable dishes.
Usually, I go for some soup, pasta or salad. But what I can eat all year long
are grilled zucchinis with goat cheese topping. During the autumnal season I just change zucchinis for pumpkins. I love these kind of versatile recipes.

What can’t you live without in the garden?

I live in a village, so behind the house we have a big garden where we grow many
vegetables. In the orchard we found a lot of apple trees, thanks to which I have a lot of supplies for the winter. But what I can’t live without in the garden are strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb and zucchini. Last year, I also started growing a large variety of flowers in one part of our garden, especially dahlias and peonies. I like how the garden changes in every season and I try to have always something to watch.

What inspires you?

Baking and photography are creative work and quite often new and new ideas are
expected of us. Of course, I don’t have infinity in my head, quite often I feel that
everything has already been created and there is nothing left to invent. I think most of us find some inspiration on various social networks and platforms. I’m no exception. I am inspired by recipes, techniques, I create mood boards with topics that interest me.

Most of all, however, I am inspired and driven by a community of food photographers, food bloggers and creatives, whom I have met there and who are incredibly versatile and talented. Another great inspiration for me is also nature, where I usually clean my head and refine my thoughts. And very often best ideas come while creating. I then write everything down in my notebook and gradually return to these notes. So maybe I’ll have time to meet them all.

Describe your perfect day.

I don’t need a lot to have a perfect day. A perfect day is a day spent with family
friends and it doesn’t matter where. But if I wasn’t limited by anything and someone invented teleport, I would go somewhere to a cosy cafe in France or Italy for breakfast, in the afternoon I would go to the sea or the mountains and have a glass of wine with friends in the evening. But since no one had yet invented the teleport, I would go to a cosy cafe for breakfast, go for a walk in the woods in the afternoon, and have a glass of wine in the evening. It’s a perfect day almost every day.

About Alena

Hello, my name is Alena. I would say that I am an optimistic and romantic dreamer who loves to travel, the smell of the forest after the rain, the murmur of the sea, the wind in her hair, the twinkling of the sun on my cheeks and the sunsets. I like to roam the deserted streets and nature and discover new places. I love small cosy cafes with a soul, where I like to enjoy coffee with friends and have something sweet.

I live in small village in Czech Republic (Europe) and I am behind the blog Mon Café Blog where you can find especially sweet recipes. I am also a passionate (not only food) photographer. The baking for me is not only to mix ingredients, but I enjoy a whole process which is linked with many stories, memories and scents. And this led me several years ago to enjoy taking pictures and capturing the moments to evoke emotions and stories. I love to tell stories, capture the textures and colours, and create an inviting atmosphere to make you slow down and enjoying the present moment.

To see more of Alena’s beautiful work visit here and to follow her on Instagram visit here.

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