“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
– Aristotle
I was 13 years old when I decided that working in live television was going to be my calling. I don’t remember the exact moment. But at this point in my life, I can’t ever remember a time when meeting people, learning more about them and sharing their stories on television wasn’t part of my past, present or future.
Sure, some days I’m sleepy. Or overwhelmed. Or stressed out. Sometimes I’m criticized for my appearance. Other times I’m hard on myself for not performing like I think I should. Like anything in life, there are ups and downs.
But even on the worst days, I absolutely love my job. And on the best days, I leave work feeling like I introduced our viewers to someone they needed to meet. I want to take what I learned on television and practice it in my home. I spent a few minutes with someone I admire and soak up their incredible energy and success.
These are a few of the moments that I’ve been delighted by lately at my day job:
(click the names for video)
Lidia Bastianich is the epitome of Italian cooking. The director of Twin Cities Live gave us her new cookbook as part of his wedding present to us. Lidia was booked to appear on the show just weeks later. Coincidence? I think not. Her love of food and family is positively infectious.
Amy Thielen is a Park Rapids, Minnesota native with an outstanding cookbook and a new show on The Food Network. Her book gives Midwestern cooking the cred it deserves and rarely receives. Plus, she’s authentic, lovely and very cool.
I started mixing flour, water and yeast within about five minutes of walking in the door to my house after meeting Zoe Francois and Dr. Jeff Hertzberg. They are the authors of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
Thanks to their inspiration, my house consistently smells like fresh baked bread and I have a vat of dough in the fridge at all times. Not a bad boule, eh?
And finally, meeting Roswell the painting horse reminded me just how important having a purpose is, no matter who or what you are. Clearly, he takes pleasure in his work and it speaks for itself.
Home to Homestead 
Beautifully said Elizabeth. No mater our age or what we do it is great to really love what we love. My husband of 36 years try everyday to live simply.
It was so fun to watch you in these moments. They are also people I admire and enjoy and had a great time watching your true enjoyment. Also, p.s. love the blog, the show, the radio, all of it. I’m a stay at home mom and it makes my day.
You do a fantastic job of making things interesting and fun. TCL is a wonderful oddity in the usual run of the mill TV.
Thank you to all of you that put out a really great show every day!!
I also watch the show every day mostly when it is replayed later. It is interesting every day and it shows that you love what you are doing. I hope it stays on the air for many more years.
I so enjoy the show, even my husband watches, I’ve yet to try the artisan breads, but I do love to bake my own, right now I’m making home made cream of mushroom soup, it’s easy, doesn’t take all day, and is the best tasting soup I’ve ever tasted, I will never again buy a can of it, it cost too much, the flavor can’t compare to the home made variety, and it gives you a good feeling to make something yourself.
What! Criticized your appearance, You are so lovely and always look great. Your joy shows through, makes listening and watching you so fun.
Love to read your blog! Watched the show all the time until we moved back to Austin, TX after my husband retired last May. You are an inspiration! We even took the chicken class after I started reading your blog! Love your attitude about life and living! We miss TCL but enjoy your blog!
Elizabeth, you always look great……………none of this b.s. about your appearance…………love the show and you have such a great personality
Elizabeth, I love watching TCL. You are always upbeat with a smile on your face. I can’t imagine that anyone would criticize your appearance-how incredibly rude. Keep up the fantastic work that you do and ignore the haters.
Hi Elizabeth, I loved the segment on TCL about Roswell the painting horse. I have already purchased 2 of Roswell,s paintings. One is called ” Forget Me Not ” and the other is ” Johnny Cool “. I don’t like abstract art but I like the idea of having paintings painted by a horse. If not for TCL and you, I wouldn’t know about Roswell. Thanks, Ginger
great seeing you again yesterday! love your “real talk” in this post. i too can be quite hard on myself. it’s so awesome that you love your job, and it really shows. ps- i’ve got amy’s book on christmas list, have been wanting it since the day it came out!