A Mother’s Treasure

The background to The Quokka Logic and Baking Book by Karen McMillan

It was such a special experience to create The Quokka Logic and Baking Book, as the majority of the recipes are from the hand-written recipe book I inherited after my mother died. She was only 55 when she passed away, so returning to these treasured recipes around 25 years later brought back many happy memories of being in the kitchen with my fabulous mum during my childhood. Even more special is some of the recipes were from my nana and handed down to my mum, making these recipes truly multi-generational!

The genesis of this book was children writing to my publisher asking for a ‘Quokka Logic’ book – so a collection of Mrs Quokka’s quirky sayings appear in the Elastic Island Adventures chapter books for children. My publisher and I loved the idea, but we also thought it was too niche; only existing readers would know what quokka logic was! But then I rediscovered Mum’s handwritten recipe book when tidying and looked through the baking recipes and wondered about combining a baking book with the quokka logic – and thankfully, my publisher loved the idea.

So the baking adventure began! Each weekend for a year, I baked a recipe from my mum’s recipe book (and my nana’s handwritten recipe book as well). As there are no photographs, none of the recipes seemed familiar when I read them. But when I baked them, I immediately remembered them, taking me back in time to the tastes and delicious smells in our kitchen in Pinehaven, Upper Hutt, where I grew up. Baking these, I could even remember the way the sunlight slanted into the kitchen, the joy of being able to lick the bowl, the delicious aromas, and the desperate wait for the latest baking to cool down enough so my sister and I could sample!

My mum was a brilliant home cook; it was something she really excelled at. Me? Not so much. I am decidedly average in the kitchen. But as this was a baking book for children, I worked on the basis, if I could do the recipe, a child could. Not all of Mum’s recipes made it into the book, not that they didn’t work, but some were a bit complicated. And not all of my nana’s recipes made it into the book either – some seemed to have a gallon of dried fruit in them – it was clearly different times! So all the recipes in The Quokka Logic and Baking Book are tried and true family recipes that are simple and delicious. I also had some friends and family contribute to the book, so I decided to have fun ‘coding’ the recipes. All the recipes by Mrs Quokka are actually by my mum or nana, and all the recipes by her son, Jase the Quokka, are recipes from friends and family.

I had so much fun most weekends styling and taking the photographs in the book. The baking deliberately looks very ordinary – there are no bells or tricks or special lighting to make it look better than it is in real life. I want children to bake and be happy it looks like the photo. But I certainly had fun with the styling and creating photos I hope children will enjoy, as the main thing about this baking book is it should be fun!

So what should you expect from The Quokka Logic and Baking Book? It’s a little bit retro and a little bit modern. It has 40 baking recipes easy for children to make, a mix of delicious cakes, loaves, muffins, biscuits, slices, small treats and desserts. It’s also got Mrs Quokka and her son, Jase the Quokka, and their quirky quokka logic – fun sayings that will create a smile on your face due to being so illogical.

It’s wonderful the recipes my mum made with so much love for her own family can now be enjoyed by other families. This is one of my mother’s treasures, a beautiful legacy, a taonga!

The Quokka Logic and Baking Book by Karen McMillan, Duckling Publishing, RRP $29.99