When our North Shore Chapter celebrated its 10th Birthday in March, long-serving volunteer Louise Houltham shared something very special with attendees.

A recipe book filled with her treasured, tried-and-true baking recipes, collected and developed over more than 50 years. The book had been carefully typed up (and many recipes converted from imperial to metric!) by her late husband, John about eight years ago.

Louise has been baking for as long as she can remember. “I started baking with Mum when I was four or five,” she remembers, “just doing the stirring.”

More than 60 years later, Louise hasn’t put her mixing bowl down. She’s been collecting recipes for most of that period, from her mum’s delicious iced fruit bars to the gingerbread she now makes for her grandchildren. She bought a big yellow recipe book when she was taking cooking classes in school and it has become a treasure trove of memories and delicious treats.

Over the years, Louise carefully built her collection, starting with her mum’s recipes. About 10 years ago, John worried they might be lost and began digitising them (converting them from metric to imperial along the way!), creating a beautiful e-book.

“He did a fabulous job,” Louise says.

Now, three years after John passed away, she treasures it as a beautiful reminder of how much he loved her.

Louise first got into baking for GBB because of John. He saw an article in the North Shore Times and suggested she sign up. A box bitch for three years, she and John both loved meeting other GBs, having a chat and learning more about why they volunteered with us. John even helped Louise to create an efficient system to distribute the boxes, popping down to the local garden centre for a trough that happened to fit the boxes beautifully.

Formerly a special needs teacher, Louise is now semi-retired, filling in as a relief teacher at a local high school where she supports young learners with core numeracy. She has found baking is a great entry-point to show her students how “practical and reasonable maths can be.

“I’ll bring in a recipe and the ingredients for pikelets,” she says, “and the kids would have to work it out. How many of us are there, how do we scale up the recipe? How do we make sure we have enough for everyone?” Using baking to connect with learners who may be reluctant, or who simply may not have benefitted from the kind of dedicated attention she can provide, has resulted in some real break-throughs for her students.

Louise hopes the recipes she is sharing will create the same moments of connection and care for other GBs. Having raised four children on a tight budget, she knows the value of simple, affordable baking that can brighten someone’s day.

If you’d like your own copy of Louise’s recipes, you can download it below. A gift of love, now shared with all of us. Thank you, Louise.