About ten years ago, Mum gave me two of her old exercise books, which contained a lot of handwritten recipes she had collected since 1953. I transcribed these, to preserve them for posterity, as the ink was fading and was diffi cult to read. I remember using these books as a teenager on the farm, baking on weekends to fill the cookie jar and make some cakes for the farm hands. As a lover of good home baking, Mum’s recipes have always been there to produce some of those nostalgic smells of freshly baked cakes and biscuits. I loved baking for my kids when they were growing up, and they always preferred Mum’s baked cakes and biscuits over anything bought from the supermarkets.

Mum has seen it all whilst on the farm. She’s been through droughts and fl oods, good and bad times, and has had her share of adversities. She is a survivor of breast cancer and is currently cancer-free. She has been an inspiration to all of us growing up, and this is one way of giving a little of that back. I have three sisters, and we all cannot stress enough to all women to keep vigilant with self examination and mammograms, as early detection will equal early intervention and good outcomes. I use a lot of these recipes for fundraisers.