
They’ll prove invaluable when hungry kids are circling. Whether it’s a stockpile of pepita-crumbed schnitzel, homemade falafel mix, or a ball of cookie dough, keep a few partially-prepared meals and snacks in the freezer. They’re buying fresh ingredients, finding joy and developing a life skill that I think is so important.” “There have been so many positives – people are discovering cooking, people who didn’t think they liked it, never wanted to do it, or didn’t have time to do it. “My social media was flooded and I was blown away by all the emails,” she says. Hay’s weekly kids cooking classes notched up over 11,000 registrations through the latest lockdown, and queries to her recipe team skyrocketed. High among them is the proliferation of the home chef. There are, however, aspects for which she’s deeply grateful. Seeing her boys return to their normal teenage lives, and spend less time hovering around the kitchen, is another boon. In the wake of Freedom Day, Hay is eager to reinstate one of her great loves – cooking dinner for friends. Making a cake can be as simple as melting butter in a frying pan, and stirring in the rest of the ingredients.” I want to see people continue to enjoy baking out of lockdown, but not to the level where you’re doing it all day. The way they lift together is quite magical. Lockdown saw first-time chefs attempt ambitious cooking projects, what Donna Hay describes as the ‘zero to sourdough tribe’. One pan dinners are saviours that you can throw in the oven while you run to do pick-up from sports training.”
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“We’ve got to figure out how to do this all again. “I’ve had friends say “I’m trying to take it easy” – it’s not excitement, it’s apprehension,” she says. Returning to a life of social engagements, sports runs and after-school activities can be equally taxing, and Hay presents one-pan cooking as a coping strategy. It was all about big breakfasts, healthy muffins and protein ball snacks on rotation. “I had the same challenges as everyone – home school, home uni and boys that didn’t want to get out of bed. “My two boys eat like four normal people,” she remarks. Batch cooking and freezing became key to managing their perpetually hungry, hovering presence. Living in Sydney with sons Tom 16, and Angus, 18, Hay’s lockdown experience involved being a non-stop home caterer. A refreshed, one-dish version of the traditional zucchini slice is among the fuss-free recipes in Donna Hay’s new cookbook, One Pan Perfect.
