Ever Since I was a little girl the kitchen has been my sanctuary. I can remember lazy summer days, meandering through our humble garden with my basket, foraging for the evening meal. I thought of it as a treat to be able to pluck juicy cherry tomatoes, pull up crunchy funky carrots, and finding small crisp cucumbers hiding under the shade of its leaves. I would take the bounty inside and mum and I would make something wonderfully delicious for supper. I created a cookbook when I was ten, highlighting all my favourite things to make and bake, full of tips and tricks I had learned from my mum and grandma.

My favourite kitchen tip from my grandma was how to measure by feel instead of using the measuring cups. This paved the way for my cooking skills, however made it very difficult to share my recipes since I never knew the exact measure amounts of any of my ingredients. I grew up to be a very talented cook. Even in university, two-minute noodles never took two minutes. I had to add my own personal touch, taking much longer and tasting much better.  I ended up using this talent as I travelled around the world. I would trade my nourishing home cooked meals for a warm place to stay. As I travelled, I learned even more about cooking and various cousins. I adapted to cooking with what was available and was intrigued to learn new worldly cuisines. One thing I learned as I started traveling was using what was in season. In New Zealand tomatoes went from $3/kg to $10/kg; in season to out of season respectively.

As a budgeting traveller this meant that if tomatoes were not in season, they were not going to be on the plate. I gained a new appreciation for eating what was in season and further, what was local. I learned that some fruits were being shipping across seas just to make them available. I did my research and learned that not only was this bad for the environment, but I was cheating my health from the nutrition of fresh produce. Since living in Australia, I have made many changes to my diet. It was a slow process to ween myself off imported goods, and I’m not 100% there yet, but I feel better knowing that I’m undergoing a transformation for my health, the community and the environment.

Running Denmark Homegrown gives me the platform to learn and share with the community about the importance of eating seasonal, fresh and local produce. I feel vary passionate about supporting farmers, growers, and makers who are doing their best to produce top quality products. 

It is with great pleasure to use these delicious goodies in my own kitchen and it warms my heart that families in the community are also getting on board with filling their kitchens with this nourishing food.