Granny Jela Bio

Granny Jela said in an interview that she had been cooking all her life, and wanted to share her traditional recipes with a larger audience, which turned her towards the internet about a decade ago. At first, she did not even know how to use the mouse; however, she learned the basics of using a computer and the camera on her phone from her grandchildren. She further spent countless hours reading online resources via Google searches and went through hundreds of tutorials to fine tune her understanding of the medium she was about to use. During that time, she launched an online forum to share her recipes, which immediately drew attention from people of all ages from around the world who were mostly intrigued at what the 60-plus woman was doing on the internet. Within a couple years, she gained over 36k fans on Facebook, and also spread over almost every social media network. She then launched a blogging website titled 'My Youth' (www.mladostimoja.com/), on which she has regularly made blog posts on her cooking over the past ten years, surprising not only her online fans, but even her family and friends. She eventually started a YouTube channel titled 'Bakina Kuhinja' (Granny’s Kitchen), on which she uploads videos every day.

Granny Jela has become a local celebrity in her town and an internet sensation largely because of her recipes of home-made dishes, which range from soups to cooked meals, meat, sweets, home-made bread and pastry. She prepares all the food in her own kitchen, and only uses ingredients that can be found in local shops and markets in Serbia. She prides herself in making food the way generations have done before her, stating that "I make things my mother or grandmother used to make." However, the other aspect of her popularity is that despite her age, she was not only open to learning new technologies to share her recipes with the world, but has also mastered the whole process of filming and editing her videos with her husband, Milan, which can put even teenagers to shame.

She gets up early in the morning, and after a cup of tea, she and husband go to grocery shopping, following which she prepares the food as her husband films it, and in the end they sit down to edit and publish the videos. According to her, working from morning to late evening, it has become as exhausting as an actual job, but what gets them going is the fact that her numerous fans wait for her recipes every morning. They even begin to worry about her wellbeing if she is late to post. Likewise, she has a strong army of loyal fans who all too enthusiastically defend their 'granny' from occasional mean comments on posts. She also streams live on a weekly basis, which even fans from Australia watch at 3 a.m. in the morning due to differences in time zones. Also known for her good sense of humor, she regretfully stated that the only people missing from her long list of followers are the "Chinese, Japanese and aliens".

Granny Jela is the online alias of Jelajelena Petrovic from Despotovac, a town located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. She is 69 years old and previously had a career as an agricultural expert. She has been married to her husband, Milan, for over four decades. Her husband films her videos, helps in editing and publishing those, and also fills in as her assistant, economist, and even the consumer. Because she is forbidden from eating sweets, Milan gets to eat all the food she makes which, she fondly adds, results in him gaining weight. She also gifts extra food to neighbors and keeps some sweets for her grandchildren.