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Meet Martina Dorkinová: a self proclaimed dreamer, chocoholic, schizo Gemini, nature lover, food photographer, blogger, triple author and also… OUR RECIPE DEVELOPER. We’ve been drooling over her amazing Instagram page for a while, and are THRILLED to be working together since 2018! Martinka’s personality is just like her photography style – original, lovely, fresh and sprinkled with a healthy dose of quirkiness.
Check out our Q+A below and get inspired.
Scroll down for Slovak version of the interview 😜 | Slovenská verzia sa nachádza nižšie 😜
White, milk or dark chocolate?
Oh my! Dang! All of them… How about a mini choco burger made out of white, milk and dark chocolate? :D
Instagram or Pinterest?
Pinterest :)
First thing you do when you wake up?
I start my mornings by first checking the weather outside and then I immediately turn all of my attention to my phone. Terrible I know…
3 objects you can’t live without?
Chocolate… obvi. And then a close human and honesty. :)
Favorite place on earth?
I adore the Nordic countries with their cold climate and beautiful nature… or Italy <3
Savory or sweet?
Sweet! That’s a no brainer! I could eat nothing but sweets all day, every day.
Emoji that best describes you?
👽
Any pet peeves?
When someone lies to me or uses kind-hearted people to get what he/she wants. I used to always forgive them in the past but the last time this happened I decided that enough was enough. 🙅♀️
What is your go to song when you want to cry?
Roads Live by Portishead, Breathe Me by Sia or So Sad So Sexy by Lykke Li. There are so many other songs I love though. I am the biggest musicophile.
What is your fave happy banger that always gets you movin‘?
Hmmm… Florence + The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
What kinda food could you eat all day every day?
Crêpes and ice cream… Crêpes with ice cream… :D Tiramisu… :D I can go on and on and on. And on.
What kinda food always makes your foodie heart happy?
Anything and everything that reminds me of good ol’ times.
Hi Martina! Thanks for chatting with us. Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Also we are super curious what’s the story behind your nickname piškóta (piškóta stands for a biscuit in Slovak.)
Hello Mati! (read Martina) :) Thank you very much for having me. Let’s jump right into it. My name is Maťa (interesting fact: in Slovakia we often use different variations of names; Mati, Maťa, Martinka etc. all stand for Martina) but everyone knows me as Piškóta (a biscuit in Slovak) aka a crazy Gemini. In short, I am a child trapped in an adult body.
My nickname Piškóta became a thing when I was still in high school which was a looong time ago. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how or why I got this particular nickname but my friends and family adopted it and it’s been a thing ever since. :) There are also people that know me only as Piškóta. :D
Tell us how it all began! What inspired you to create your blog Stvory z Kuchyne (Kitchen Creatures in Slovak), and what were you doing before?
I started a blog with Adel (note: Adel is a sister of Martina’s ex boyfriend). She approached me one day with words: “Let’s start a blog together!” My answer: “Let’s do it!” I rolled up my sleeves and our blog was up in two days. :) Stvory z Kuchyne could loosely be translated as kitchen creations or kitchen creatures, kitchen phantoms or spooky kitchen spirits.
Before the blog, I used to work in marketing. I love marketing so much. I’ve been away from it all for the past four years but I do miss it sometimes. :)
Blogging sounds easy but it’s tons of work. First, you have to come up with a recipe, then prepare it, style it, photograph it, then edit it with one of those fancy softwares, come up with a meaningful blog description and then finally post it onto social media along with relevant hashtags. Phew!!! Which one of the above mentioned activities is your fave and which one do you really dread?
You know what it depends… :) Sometimes I am really into one of these aspects, some other time it’s the other one. :) Truth be told I am not that type of blogger who has a daily ‘what I’ll post on social media’ schedule to be relevant. If I feel like it then I blog and I come up with social media posts but if not, I am not forcing myself to do it. :) My end goal is to have fun with it and enjoy what I do.
On top of cooking, baking, taking beautiful food photography pics and coming up with great captions that always make us LOL, you also help create content for companies such as Smartbite Snacks. How did you start this particular gig and what is one memorable experience that you will never forget?
Creating content for companies is currently my bread and butter. My main goal is to make enough money through client content creation so I don’t have to rely on blog promotions and thus turn my blog into one big ad. :)
When it comes to client work, it happened gradually. It all came about naturally. I was approached by an advertising agency that needed some recipes for a client’s website and it took off from there. I am lucky that my clients come to me so I don’t want to jinx it. :D
And regarding the collab I won’t ever forget, I guess that would be the time when Redbull reached out to me. :) I always admired Redbull for their marketing strategy. I wanted to work for them so badly in the past so I was beyond excited when they wanted to work with me.
You live, breathe and create amazing things in Bratislava, Slovakia. What is the best thing about living in Europe?
Ooh, you are showering me with so many compliments that it made me blush. Great thing is that I currently sit at my computer and not in front of you. :D
I am not sure whether there is a special advantage of living in Europe. Maybe that you can travel places with just your car or you don’t need a passport. You experience different cultures wherever and whenever. :) It doesn’t take long to get to Italy where you can meet uber optimistic people, enjoy the warm weather and eat pizza on every corner. Or you can go to Iceland and experience the Northern Lights and beautiful nature. :)
A Latin motto “dum spiro spero” you mention in your Instagram bio caught our eye. It says: "While I breathe, I hope.” What is your personal meaning behind it?
:)))) That motto is very close to my heart because it accurately describes my life. It means that even if everything goes to 💩, I will keep going because it will always eventually gets better. :) Also I am a hopeless and naive optimist that believes in humanity. I constantly believe that everyone has lots of good inside. :)
Let’s chat about the gram a bit more. What are some of your favorite Instagram accounts that inspire you and make you click that little heart each and every time?
I don’t have any particular favourite Instagram accounts I would religiously follow. In my opinion you can find inspiration through each IG account and get inspired by different Instagram content each day. It can be a quote, a photograph or an inspiring story. :) So for the above reasons I won’t be dropping any specific account handles. ;)
We are hopelessly in love with each and every food post you share and always end up drooling all over our phone or laptop. Where do you find inspiration and how do you prevent a creative burnout?
Creative burnout is a frequent topic among us bloggers. :) Possibly everything has already been done so it’s very hard to come up with something new. For me personally going into extremes is not an answer. It helps not to take this whole thing too seriously, at the end of the day it’s just Instagram. :) This outlook also helps me be more present in the real world which in turn sparks ideas and then I am able to come up with new concepts without any issues. I like browsing Pinterest, you can find tons of inspiration there and also I love old recipe books. :)
I recharge my batteries through various means. I love to learn new things so you can always find me in “let’s learn more about this” mode. Oh and also I love nature. There are also days where I do absolutely nothing and I can spend hours watching Netflix and just chill. :D
We recently saw a sneak peak of your most recent, and let me add very beautiful, project you are currently working on. The story behind it is very powerful (and had us in tears) and so is the fact that a chunk of the profit will go towards a valuable cause. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?Oh yes, that recipe book project is my baby. :) I put lots of emotional energy into making it so it’s very personal to me. There are two main messages contained in this recipe book.
The first one has to do with the fact that we live in the digital age and we use bookmarks to save URL addresses for future reference. Everything is stored on the web and can be gone within seconds. Everything important ever bookmarked can be lost.
When my mommy was dying, she started a recipe notebook for my sister and I where she scribbled down our favourite recipes. And now that she is not with us anymore, I am forever thankful for this gift. I know I can always find these precious recipes in one exact spot, they are not going anywhere. I can reference back to them when cooking and they are saved on a piece of paper that nobody will take away from me. :) I believe that people should go back to writing down their recipe faves to preserve them so they can return back to them one day when they want to bake granny’s famous cake or pass them down to their kids. :)
And the second reason behind the recipe book relates to one little girl that has autism and fights the best way she can while being cheered on by her family. I want to put a smile on her face because this world can be a strange place. :) In my opinion everyone who blogs and manages to build some social media following should keep in mind that he/she can use his/her influence for good and help someone this way. So I hope I would be able to be of help at least a bit. ♥
What does the future hold for Martina Dorkinová? Where do you see yourself in 5ish years?
I don’t think that far ahead. :D Martina Dorkinová is happy to know what she will be doing in the next 24 hours. And as I know her she is going to change those plans at least five times… ;)) I hope though to be someplace where I’ll be happy and to be doing something that will put a big smile on my face. :)
Thank youuu for this looong Q+A… :))) It was my pleasure answering all of the above questions and I hope you did not fall asleep while reading my answers. :))) ♥
Keep up with Martinka’s aesthetically pleasing and yummy world by drooling all over her blog, liking her Facebook, following her Instagram, finding inspiration on her Pinterest and also subscribing to her YouTube or Podcast (daaamn, when do you sleep homegirl?)
WHAT IS SMARTBITE COLLECTIVE? Smartbite Collective shines a spotlight on changemakers in our community that live according to Smartbite principles. We started Smartbite Snacks because we want to live our lives on our own terms while creating a positive change around us. We don't wait for things to happen, we get up and happen to things. Roadblocks don't discourage us, they fuel us. We believe that life is what you make it, how you impact it and also how you look at it – rice cakes are just rice but wine is just grapes. To us simplicity, boldness, kindness and giving a shit (yes, we said it) are everything and when we meet someone who embodies all of the above, you bet we'll ask tons of questions.
Ak ju ešte nepoznáte, tak po prečítaní nižšie uvedeného interview sa do nej zamilujete rovnako (ak nie viac) ako sme sa do nej zasrdiečkovali my. O kom hovoríme? No predsa o Martinke Dorkinovej z food blogu Stvory z Kuchyne. Všetci ju poznajú ako piškótu, je to večný snílek, tak trošku šiši a tak trošku schizo blíženec ktorý je buchnutý do čokolády, balónov, marketingu, prírody a JEDLA (hlavne sladkého). Táto sympatická stvora kuchynská pre nás vytvára a fotí receptíky už nejaký ten piatok a preto sme sa konečne rozhodli ju vyspovedať. Ako sa dostala z marketingu k foteniu jedla, podľa akého životného kréda sa riadi a o čom je posledný projektík, do ktorého vrazila nie len celú aortu ale aj kopec času sa dozviete nižšie.
Biele, mliečna alebo horká čokoška?
Nooo… ježiši... Všetky zaradom. Taký malý čokoládový burgrík z troch kociek :D
Instagram alebo Pinterest?
Pinterest :)
Prvé čo urobíš keď sa zobudíš a rozdrapíš tie pekné modré kukadlá?
Pozriem aké je počko vonku a potom telefón. Hrozné ja viem.
Tri veci bez ktorých si nevieš predstaviť život?
Čokoška to je jasná vec. Blízky človiečik a úprimnosť. :)
Najobľúbenejšie miesto na tejto našej planéte?
Severské chladné krajiny milujem s krásnou prírodou… alebo Taliansko <3
Slané alebo sladké?
Sladké to je jasné. Dokázala by som žiť len na sladkom!
Emoji ktoré ťa najlepšie vystihuje?
👽
Čo ťa vie poriadne nahnevať a otvoriť všetky tvoje (imaginárne) nožíky vo vrecku?
Keď mi niekto klame a využíva dobro ľudí navôkol. Voľakedy som každému odpustila, ale pri poslednom raze som si povedala, že stačilo. 🙅♀️
Akú baladku zapneš, keď si chceš kvalitne poplakať?
Portishead – Roads Live alebo Sia – Breathe Me, Lykke Li – So Sad So Sexy, ale mám ich kopec. Ja som hudbofil najväčší.
Aká obľúbená happy pesnička ťa vždy roztancuje?
Hmmm… Florence + The Machine – Dog Days Are Over.
Aké jedlo by si dokázala papať každý deň 365 dní v roku?
Palacinkyyyyy a zmrzku… Palacinky so zmrzkoooou :D Tiramisuuuuuuuu.. :D no stačilo.. Lebo tu budeme do večera…
Aká hamka je tvojmu srdcu najbližšia?
Všetko, čo mi pripomína pekné chvíle :)
Ahoj Mati! Ďakujem, že si prijala pozvanie s nami takto e-skecnúť. Môžes sa na začiatok našim čitateľom predstaviť? Kto si, čo si a ako ti prischla prezývka piškóta?
Ahoj Mati! :) Ja veľmi pekne ďakujem, že si sa ma takto rozhodla vyspovedať. Takže poďme k veci. Som Maťa ale všetci ma volajú Piškóta, taký navždy šibnutý blíženec. Jednoducho večné decko. :)
Piškóta vznikla niekedy na strednej, takže straaašne dávno. A poviem pravdu, že vôbec neviem ako k tomu došlo. Ale odvtedy sa to ujalo medzi kamošmi aj rodinou. :) Dokonca sú ľudia, ktorí ma poznajú len ako Piškotu a ináč o mne nikdy nepočuli. :D
Poďme rovno k tvojmu blogu. Čo ťa inšpirovalo začať s blogovaním a prečo názov Stvory z Kuchyne? Čo si vlastne robila predtým, ako si sa stala stvorou kuchynskou?
Blog som zakladala ešte s Adel (poznámka: Adel je sestra Matkinho bývalého priateľa). Ona jeden deň prišla, že poďme založiť blog, tak ja že dobre. Sadla som k tomu a za dva dni sme fičali. :) Stvory z kuchyne teda znamenalo stvory ako výtvory a stvory ako potvory alebo nejaké tvory, strašidlá. :)
Predtým som 10 rokov robila v marketingu. Ja marketing milujem. Už som síce 4 roky preč z toho, ale občas mi to ozaj chýba. :)
Blogovanie znie jednoducho ale je to poriadna makačka. Najskôr treba recept vymyslieť, potom ho navariť/napiecť, potom to veľdielo pekne nastajlovať, nafotiť, upraviť, vymyslieť textík a nakoniec to zakončiť capnutím post-íka na sociálne siete a doladiť to všetko hashtagmi. Aká z týchto vyššie uvedených činností je tvoja najobľúbenejšia a naopak ktorú naozaj nemusíš?
Vieš čo? Ako kedy. :) Raz mám náladu na jedno a raz na druhé. :) Ale ja zase nie som ten typ blogera, čo má presne nalinkované, že každý deň musím niečo postnúť, aby som bola populárna. Ja keď mám chuť tak blogujem a postujem a keď nie, tak sa do toho nenútim. :) Chcem, aby ma to hlavne bavilo.
Okrem toho že varíš, pečieš, krásne fotíš a chytľavo píšeš sa ešte venuješ aj vytváraniu content-u pre firmy akou je aj Smartbite Snacks. Ako si sa k tomuto celému dostala a aká je jedna zo spoluprác, na ktorú nikdy nezabudneš?
Áno to je moja hlavná zárobková činnosť momentálne. Snažím sa mať hlavne príjem z vytvárania obsahu pre iné firmy, aby to nemuselo stáť na promo na blogu a aby nebol celý blog o reklame. :)
Dostala som sa k tomu postupne. Asi to prišlo nejako prirodzene, oslovila ma reklamka, že by potrebovali nejaké recepty pre klienta na jeho web a tak to šlo. Zatiaľ mám to šťastie, že to ide samo.. Tak dúfam, že to nezakríknem. :D
A spolupráca, na ktorú nezabudnem? :) Asi keď ma oslovil Redbull :) to bola z pohľadu marketingu moja lovebrand.. Chcela som tam voľakedy strašne pracovať, takže ma to nesmierne potešilo. :)
Žiješ, dýchaš a vytváraš eňo ňuňo content v Bratiske. Aká je podľa teba najväčšia výhoda života v starej dobrej Európe?
Joooj ty mi v každej otázke dávaš toľko chvály, že sa červenám… ešteže sedím za PC a nie pred tebou :D
Neviem, či je nejaká špeci výhoda života v Európe. Možno to, že to máš všade naskok autom a nepotrebuješ pas… hýbeš sa kam chceš, kedy chceš po rôznych kultúrach. :)
Môžeš byť zachvíľku v Taliansku kde máš mega optimistických ľudí, teplo a pizzu na každom kroku a taktiež môžeš byť zachvíľku na Islande, kde uvidíš polárnu žiaru a krásnu prírodu. :)
Na Instagrame máš v bioške trefné latinské motto: “Dum spiro spero“ čo v preklade znamená „Pokiaľ dýcham, dúfam.“ Prečo práve toto krédo?
:)))) To je taká moja srdcovka. Vystihuje asi trefne môj život. Také to, že aj keď je všetko naprd, tak kráčam ďalej, lebo však vždy príde ten okamih, kedy je znova dobre. :) A zároveň ja som taký naivný optimista v ľudí. Že stále verím, že všetci majú v sebe kopec dobra… :)
Keď už hovoríme o Instagrame, tak pri ňom aj chvíľku zostaňme. Aké sú tvoje top obľúbené Instagram profily, ktoré pravidelne sleduješ a srdiečkuješ?
Nemám vôbec nejakých obľúbencov, ktorých by som neustále nepretržite sledovala. Skôr si myslím, že u každého sa dá nájsť nejaká inšpirácia a každý deň ťa môže inšpirovať svojim postom niekto iný. Či už myšlienkou, obrázkom alebo svojím konaním. :) Takže asi konkrétne mená zo mňa nedostaneš. ;)
Ochkáme a achkáme (a ěste k tomu aj slintáme) vždy keď pridáš nový recept. Kam chodíš po inšpiráciu a ako si dobíjaš baterky, keď ťa začína atakovať kreatívne vyhorenie?
Kreatívne vyhorenie je ináč častá téma medzi nami blogermi. :) Každý už spravil všetko, už je ťažké niečím novým zaujať a zase pre mňa ísť do nejakých extrémov, ktoré vyniknú, to asi nie je cesta. Takže pomáha nebrať to celé vážne, veď je to len instagram. :) A tým pádom mi pomáha aj byť viac prítomná v tom reálnom svete, to ti potom napadne kadečo ani nevieš ako. Rada si browsujem pinterestom, kde je kopec inšpirácie a milujem staré kuchárske knihy. :)
No a baterky dopĺňam kadečím. Ja sa stále rada učím nové veci. Takže robím naozaj všetko od výmyslu sveta. Ozaj a milujem prírodu ale dokážem aj kvalitne nič nerobiť a preležať hodiny pred Netflixom. :D
Prednedávnom uzrel svetlo sveta projektík, na ktorom momentálne pilne pracuješ a ktorý je tvojmu srdcu veľmi blízky. Je to receptár, ktorý ma za sebou veľmi silný príbeh a posolstvo. Mohla by si nám o ňom povedať trošku viac?
Och receptárik je srdcovka… :) Je v ňom z mojej strany naozaj veľa emócií, ale keď to tak mám nejako zhrnúť tak má dve línie.
Prvou je, že žijeme v digitálne dobe a všetko si ukladáme do bookmarkov, všetko máme na webe a neuvedomujeme si, že to môže hocikedy zmiznúť v priebehu pár sekúnd a my o to všetko prídeme. Keď moja maminka zomierala, tak nám so sestrou spravila zápisníky, kde zapísala všetky naše domáce obľúbené recepty. A teraz keď už nie je, tak som za to nesmierne vďačná. Mám ich tam. Viem si ich opäť navariť a proste zostali tu zapísané na papieri, ktorý mi nikto nevezme. :) A teda si myslím, že by si ľudia mali znova tie ozajstne najobľúbenejšie recepty zapisovať, aby nezmizli a aby si znova mohli upiecť koláč od babky alebo odovzdať neskôr tie recepty svojim deťom. :)
A potom tá druhá vec je, že receptárik pomáha jednej malej víle, ktorá ma autizmus a bojuje ako vie aj so svojou rodinou aby sa usmievala aj ona v tomto čudesnom svete. :) Myslím, že každý kto bloguje a sleduje ho nejaký počet ľudí, by mal myslieť aj na to, že ten svoj vplyv dokáže použiť aj nejakým dobrým smerom a pomôcť tak niekomu. Tak ja verím, že pomôžeme aspoň trošku. ♥
Aké sú tvoje plány do budúcnosti? Kde sa vidíš o takých cca 5 rôčkov?
5 rokov dopredu nepremýšlam. :D Ja som rada keď bude Martina Dorkinová vedieť, čo bude robiť zajtra. A ako ju poznám… do zajtra to ešte 5 krát zmení… ;))
Ale dúfam, že budem niekde kde budem šťastná a budem robiť niečo, čo mi bude vyvolávať pravidelne úsmev na tvári. :)
Ďakujeeeeeeeem za tento dlhočizný rozhovor. :))) Bolo mi potešením a dúfam, že si nezaspala pri čítaní. :))) ♥
Dobrého (jedla) nikdy nie je dosť a preto silno odporúčame, aby ste kukli Martinkin blog, lajkli jej Facebook, stlačili follow na Instagrame, inšpirovali sa jej Pinterestom, dali odber na YouTube a a vypočuli si jej podcast (kočka kedy ty spávaš?).
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Have you been wondering who is behind all those eye-catching videos we've been sharing on our Instagram Reels and TikTok during the past three months or who is that blonde femme fatale popping on our feed lately? Her name is Genni, she's into healthy + plant based snacking just like we are and we absolutely adore her. Scroll down to get acquainted. 👋
What’s handmade, cute, sustainable and keeps your hair out of your face? The answer is Siena Vida scrunchies. Who knew scrunchie can do so much? We caught up with Vanessa who started Siena Vida in the midst of pandemic after she learned to sew from her Nonna (talent clearly runs in Vanessa's family).
So stop what you’re doing, make yourself a cup of whatever hot you fancy, grab a snack and get ready to be inspired. 💭💭💭
