Erin Clarkson spent her youth in New Zealand, but her life turned upside down when she left her home country and moved to New York. She cured her homesickness by turning to baking, and her newfound passion later inspired her to start the hit food blog Cloudy Kitchen.
Clarkson wasn’t too crazy about baking before moving away from home. She studied geology and geography and spent some time working on an oil rig before leaving New Zealand with her husband.
Their initial plan was to only stay in New York for a year, but one year quickly turned into seven. She desperately missed home in the beginning and started baking her favorite New Zealand recipes to feel closer to her roots.
“That first year was exciting and amazing but at the same time I was quite homesick and missing my family and friends… Something that started out as a wee project for me to help with my homesickness has somehow turned into something that I am so lucky to get to do for my job,” explains Clarkson on her blog.
Clarkson now has a following of over one million people across TikTok and Instagram, and recipes on her blog are no longer inspired by New Zealand alone, but by international cuisines from all around the world.
