From Baking with Biscuits to Boyup Brook

When Rhonda Parker was four years old, her grandfather crafted her a miniature stove made out of wood. Fashioned in the style of the latest electric models, it was painted yellow, with black hobs and little dials at the back. ‘It was the bee’s knees,’ says Rhonda.

The eldest of four children, Rhonda grew up in the southern Sydney suburb of Jannali. She loved cooking even before receiving the wondrous gift, although she is not too sure how that passion started. It certainly didn’t come from her mother, Joan Mason. ‘Mum cooked so we had something to eat. She didn’t enjoy cooking, and she didn’t like entertaining. It freaked her out even when relations were coming for a meal. She thought it was fancy if she made coleslaw!’ Rhonda recalls.