Thank you much to everyone for all the lovely emails and messages congratulating me on being awarded a medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

(When I was first notified about this I wasn’t at all sure it was true, suspecting it might be a scam. Before long however, it became evident that it was genuine after all).

I feel hugely privileged to have been recognised at this level, I am truly humbled and honoured.

I am very happy that there are places and circumstances where my cooking has been of some benefit.

I believe that cooking is so much more than the food on the plate, in its ability to encapsulate a great deal in the social sense.

It is a catalyst to communication between generations, cultures, individuals and groups within our community.

It is a common denominator in that we all need to eat, and to do so as healthily as possible. Besides, there is a great deal of fun to be had, a lot to be learned from each other in the process.

So wherever there might be a need, a place or a circumstance where my style of easy every day cooking (or preserving) might be of some use, I will continue do my very best to be there!