Memories of mum’s cooking

My mum was and still is a great cook. Coming from a family with six older brothers, mum had to be creative to feed the family and watch the dollars at the same time. This is where I learnt a lot from mum in the kitchen.

There was never any wastage. I’ll never forget waking up in the morning to chicken stock being strained after it had simmered overnight, and it was then used to make vegetable soup for dinner.

Our food was mostly shared soups, stews, casseroles, pies and trifles. The food was put in the middle of the table and we all dug in.

Food for us at home was simple, healthy and hearty and that’s something I’ve stuck by with my home cooking.

Mum was always cooking to feed such a large family but even going off to the footy on a Saturday mum would make the best toasted sandwiches with ham, mustard and cheese. Sounds so simple but simple has to be done well and that’s what she did best.

I have many memories of mum as a kid but one was of us making cakes and bread after school or on the weekends. To this day mum’s pavlova and trifle are my favourite recipes, and today I’m sharing her trifle recipe with you!