A little about me

By day I am a solicitor specialising in wills and estates, and a part-time environmental/bushfire risk consultant. By night (and on weekends and anytime I’m not at work) I dabble in all things baked, fried, steamed, iced, sprinkled, whisked… and check my recipes for more.

A lot more

I grew up in the seaside town of Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast. I grew up in a house in the middle of the hill, which my parents to this day are still renovating and repainting.

I am the eldest of three human children. I have a younger brother and sister, and I’ve always had an adopted brother/sister dog. First there was Bunk Bunk the Irish Wolfhound cross everything, then there was Gaia the Blue Heeler cross Alsatian and then came Max the Jack Russell - who is still around to this day.

On 13 December 2012, my own fluffy son was born. Yes, I now have my own puppy named Yuki. He is a Japanese Spitz. He is a smart, perfect little cloud who always has a cheeky smile on his face. He gets told he’s beautiful all the time by strangers on our morning walks. He is beautiful - he got it from his mumma.

My parents are both high school teachers who instilled a love of learning in all of us. Naturally, I loved school. I loved school work and homework. I loved mathematics, chemistry, biology, language studies and english. I was always going to go to university in Brisbane to study something and that’s what I did. I studied two years of Chemical engineering at University of Queensland, then changed to a dual degree of Laws and Applied Science majoring in Environmental Science. I graduated in December of 2016 with a distinction in my science major. I completed my practical legal training and got admitted into the Supreme Court in 2017.

So why do I bake?

The kitchen is my happy place. My sweet escape from my everyday is the kitchen. I love making a mess in my tiny kitchen with Yuki and a handy apron.

I run. I run far and sometimes fast. I love to run. I love to make food to fuel my runs. Whilst, I am a firm believer in a diet of 80/20 sweet to savoury, you might find the odd healthy recipe. But as Ms Christina Tosi says, “life’s too short to worry about how many cookies you ate today.”

My grandmother. Yes, this is the oldest tale in the book of my-nonna-taught-me-how-to-cook. I have two grandmothers and both have the gift of the whisk. My grandma died the day after my birthday on the 14 October 2017. We called her Mutti. My Mutti continues to be the biggest inspiration and influence on my cooking. My first memory of Christmas was family cooking day with Mutti, my mum dressed me in a handmade Christmas outfit, apron and armed me with a wooden spoon. I remember licking the empty condensed milk tin after scrunching weet-bix for rumballs. I remember Mutti would always get a slightly larger bottle of rum than what was needed so she could have a baker’s night cap. We had a special relationship built on baking. She was a sweet tooth like me and taught me the importance of always having a treat on hand for an unexpected guest or a sugar low emergency. She often had up to three tubs of cookies and cream ice cream in her freezer at any one time. My Mutti had this dream for me that I would one day open my own place called ‘Spring’. One day I will.

Finally, I am a nerd. I am unapologetically, and completely a nerd. I always have been. Whether it was 3 year old me obsessed with dinosaurs, to 8 year old me obsessed with all things birds, to university me naming all the plants by their scientific names - I always have been and always will be driving everyone crazy with my obsessions. I am passionate about the interests I have and I never do anything by halves. So when I find something I enjoy I challenge myself and immerse myself in it completely. Cooking is no exception.