About Relish Mama

“Laughter is brightest where food is best.”     — Irish Proverb

I absolutely love cooking and relish good food! Cooking, for me, is a love and pleasure. It is such a beautiful way of giving and sharing.
I grew up with a serious love of food but now with my own family – a beautiful husband of 13 years and three young and very gorgeous daughters, it has never meant more! When a meal is shared at our table or around our bench, the hectic pace stops! Not only do we enjoy the food and it’s many flavours but we stop and enjoy each other and all of the things that make us a family. Catching up around the table, with extended family and friends is also very special and extremely noisy and great fun. I make it a priority to make the time to share good food with family and friends. It brings a very special richness to my life.

Generally my days take on a very hectic pace! I think many are in the same boat. As the days get busier (& they seem to even more so as our girls grow), I am thankful that I have the skills to make a meal that is fresh, fast, healthy and full of amazing flavour. I love the rare days where I have the time to make a lovely golden stock or slow cook a beautiful piece of meat or to make my own relish. Most of the time however, time is at a premium and simple food that is full of flavour is the key. I am not at all adverse to taking shortcuts when the days have been busier than usual.  Some pretty wonderful meals can be ‘whipped up’ with what stores most of us have at home. I guess the key is in knowing how to put it all together. Cooking is a life skill for good health, happiness and well being.

Several years ago now, my loving husband and a very dear friend encouraged me to take the leap to start sharing my recipes and my passion for cooking with others and we opened the doors of Relish Mama early 2009. The classes are enjoyed with amazing people who come to Relish Mama cooking school and who want to expand their menu, make the recipes their own and then enjoy the pleasures of sharing a lovely relaxed meal with those around them.

Growing and developing ‘Relish Mama’ cooking classes has been a joy, to say the least. I have had the pleasure of meeting and cooking with some wonderful people and I feel really fortunate to have shared a kitchen and a table with you. I sincerely look foward to sharing it all again with you in 2013 in our stunning new cooking school, kitchen and dining space. Thank you for your wonderful feedback, your compliments and in so many cases, the great recommendations to your friends and family.

I look forward to cooking with you soon!

Nellie