I started cooking vegetarian food at the Theosophical Retreat in Mt Helena mid nineties.
My yoga teacher Isobel asked me to cook for an Easter Retreat for the Theosophical Society.
I was curious as to why she would ask me to do such a weekend when Isobel didn't really know if I had a talent for cooking.
At that time I was picking pears and apples at a local farm. Isobel was impressed that I would take on a variety of jobs and didn’t question my ability to deliver.
It sounded quite appealing and an honour to be asked to do such a task. I hadn’t had any training in cooking. My experience in the food industry was as a waitress and a love for cooking and eating interesting foods. I like a challenge so I said yes. An apprentice chef that I had worked with at a local Restaurant had just had a baby and was keen to do some work and help me out. Thank goodness. Well little did I know that the original 25 people would turn out to be 40 people for 7 meals.
The time flew by I wasn’t sure if I had eaten, sat down, drank any water and which meal I was actually preparing. All I knew was to keep working. I called on a couple of mates to come and help. My head was spinning.
My day would start about 6am and would finish about 8pm and had to be back for a 6am start. I loved it, lost 2 kilos and felt great. Everyone was very happy with the end result.
That's where my career in cooking at retreats began.
Over the past 12 years I have gained much experience not only in food preparation but food combining which is vitally important for good health.