A community of passionate Macedon Ranges cooks and foodies has formed to share ideas, recipes, tips and tricks, and swap food.
Three mums who parked next to each other to drop and pick up their kids from school are the women behind the Facebook group ‘Macedon Ranges Food, Foodies, Wine and Cooking’.
Joni, Anita and Maree got chatting and discovered a shared love of food, cooking and fresh homegrown and locally grown produce.
“We started swapping our own recipes, stuff we had made and any excess fresh food,” Joni said.
“Then this group got bigger.
“So we set up a Facebook group, as many curious others were wanting to get involved, so we thought it would be handy to have a little group set up.”
Overnight the group had 500+ member, of all ages across Macedon Ranges.
Then lockdown 1.0 hit, and more people were at home cooking up a storm.
“It’s crazy active, many food swaps, hints and tips, old tightly guarded handwritten recipes and of course amazing food being cooked every day by people in the Ranges,” Maree said.
“I have endless private messages thanking us for creating the group, older women who live alone with years of home cooking under their belts, but because of the loss of the farm, their husbands, were not cooking, but are now actually cooking again, feeling truly connected, with skills to share with other younger cooks.
“People from diverse backgrounds posting up their meals and teaching others how to cook things special to them.”
The group also features ‘Business Friday’ allowing lots of small businesses in the area to share their goods.
“We are spoilt for choice in the Ranges for beautiful seasonal produce, amazing cooks and an abundance of producers,” Anita said.
“Local producers have been very generous with their knowledge and time too.”
Find the group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/macedonrangesfoodandcooking
