About

Yours truly, having been coerced into having my photo taken at one of my knowledge sharing sessions!

Raised in a small community on the western edge of the Golden Triangle in Victoria, Julie was brought up in an environment where they grew what they ate and they ate what they grew, they hunted, they gathered, they preserved, they baked, and all meals were cooked from scratch. Takeaway was a rarity, generally fish and chips after her parents had finished shopping, and she recalls her mother asking the gentleman to double wrap the bounty, so that it would still be warm when they arrived home! Going to a restaurant was unheard of, and the occasional meal at a pub was a rare treat for the family.

Life revolved around food – full breakfasts early in the morning, hot meals at midday, hot meals at night for the family. Food was regularly prepared for sporting events, fundraisers, dances, weddings, funerals, celebrations, etc., it was all homemade, it was all cooked from scratch, this was normal.

During her working career, Julie continued to cook and garden, growing what she could in the spaces available, she baked and preserved, creating hampers for family and colleagues as Christmas gifts. She baked and decorated cakes for special family occasions, and she and other family members would work together creating memories and preparing feasts for family celebrations, mostly from standard home kitchens, sometimes over campfires in the middle of paddocks, and very rarely, but sometimes, where there was a little more space! She and her sisters even catered for two of their son’s largish weddings.

After leaving corporate and city life, Julie and her husband moved to Maffra to live the quiet life. Julie then become a volunteer at what is now, Segue – Stratford’s Neighbourhood House and Arts Café, from where she was coerced into leading the catering for the Bard’s Banquet at the annual Shakespeare Festival, two years running. From this she was encouraged to begin cooking gluten free food (having been diagnosed with Coeliac’s disease in 2010) for a local café, and began cooking from the kitchen of the Heyfield War Memorial Hall, in 2018. Just prior to COVID, after approaching the local council, the kitchen in the family home was registered, allowing her to continue to work during the pandemic and beyond, providing goods for the café, farmgate stalls, catering for small events, meetings and more.

During the pandemic she also took the opportunity to apply for, and was lucky to receive, a Latrobe Valley Authority Business and Industry Capability Grant to develop a business plan. Prior to leaving corporate life, Julie had been growing a dream to run Knowledge Sharing Sessions – she did not want to use the term Cooking Class, but sometimes it is necessary so that people understand what it’s all about. She now had the opportunity to explore this idea/dream further, and in June 2022 she set up and ran her first Knowledge Sharing Session “Let’s Make Sauerkraut” from the tiny Community Kitchen at Segue, Stratford’s Neighbourhood House and Café.

Finally closing down the catering side of things in 2025, Julie now concentrates on her Knowledge Sharing Sessions / Cooking Classes, travelling throughout the region, running sessions primarily in conjunction with Neighbourhood and Community Houses, and working with small farms to create “Paddack to Plate” sessions, She has also had the opportunity to run a series of corporate sessions, and also offers private sessions for individuals, families, community groups, etc. as well

These are small group sessions, where those participating are encouraged to “Learn, Cook, Eat & Relax”. Drawing on her lifetime of experience, travels, passion for all things food and researching, themes for the sessions are curated around what communities, groups or individuals want to, or need to, learn, where they are located, and what they have access to.

Adult sessions have seen people aged from 15 years to over 80 attend, and it gives Julie a great deal of joy to hear of friendships being made, recipes being prepared at home, and shared with friends. It is common to see familiar faces turning up on a regular basis, she likens it to being with family. People are even growing more herbs and vegetables at home as a result of the sessions which she finds very exciting. Kids don’t miss out either, with sessions prepared and run through a local Neighbourhood Houses and for a group of home-schooled kids.

As a result of growing interest in what Julie does, and its alignment with the issue of food security, she is also now being invited to attend events and share her knowledge of growing, cooking, preserving and more with anyone who will listen.