Just a Mum's Kitchen is more than a recipe collection
The blogger's name raises a few eyebrows, but it was just a “flippant comment” she made when people asked what she did.
For blogger and cookbook author Anna Cameron, from Taupō, the waft of scones baking and the citrus scent of freshly squeezed orange trigger memories of life on the farm. Now she wants to make sure the essence of those memories is treasured.
“I think that's what started to trigger my love of food, but also looking back at food, looking back at recipes and wanting to collate them and keep them sort of forever, which is what I've turned into a business.”
To store the legacy of decades of beloved classics, Cameron has written Just a Mum's Kitchen – a cookbook with the same moniker as her blog, which has raised some eyebrows.
Anna Cameron says there was no big meaning behind choosing the blog name "Just a Mum's Kitchen", but it gives her license to be creative without calling herself a professional baker or cook.
Supplied / Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand
She told Nine to Noon the name was merely a “flippant comment” she made when people asked what she did. But it would also give her permission to do what she liked in the kitchen without having to be a professional baker or cook.
“I do get comments from time to time, people saying, ‘oh, you're more than just a mum' or that they find the concept of it bothers them, but not a lot. But from my perspective, I think most people know that when you're a mum, you are everything to everybody at all times. So it's more saying, ‘yeah, I'm just a mum, but we know the truth’.”
Anna Cameron: the cook behind 'Just a Mum's Kitchen'
Dedicated to her own mother, Just a Mum's Kitchen aims to show food is “love on a plate” that brings everyone together, she says.
“I think that's been one of the nicest things about sharing recipes online is people are like, ‘oh, this was my nana's and I remember it’ and ‘I can remember when she brought it along’.”
Cameron’s childhood plays a pivotal part in the favourites she’s selected to share – like her grandmother’s apple shortcake, her mum’s vanilla biscuits and her great aunt’s Weet-Bix and date loaf. But she’s also excited to share new takes on iconic treats.
“I spent several months researching and perfecting recipes for pavlova. I've got custard squares in there, cheese scones, a Swiss roll. So there were lots of failures. I dropped lots of eggs. I think we did about 16 versions of the custard square until I was happy.
“It's really important to me that - while some of these can be quite technical - they are actually really easy once you break them down and that they're not going to fail.”
Her “perfect pav” involves a “completely different technique”, she says.
“I didn't want it to weep. I didn't want it to crack … I want it to look pretty and then I'll smash it so I can load it with cream and berries.”
She now looks forward to delving into all the old gems passed onto her by her family – including recipes haphazardly written on the back of chequebooks, magazine cutouts, handwritten ones from her nan and mum.
“It's very special and I feel very honoured to have them and now I need the time to be able to go through them.”
