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FOOD WINE DINING

MOTI-IERS JOIN

BY ALLISON REDMAN

The evening meal can be a stress{ul event {or parents

when it should be about putting {ood on the table {or

the family, so how can you ease your dinner time stress?

'If someone in the group hasa new baby we often cook upa freezer fuII of food for them,'Karen said. 'There is oftensentiment behind what we do.'

The Canberra group producesmainly gluten-free fare but tobe involved with MamaBakeCanberra, Karen said you don'thave to cook gluten-free.

'There are no hard and fastrules,' she said, although'three tofour people is the magic numberfor a group, as any bigger thanthat, while doable you tend toneed a bigger space'.

At its heart thougll Karen saidMamaBake is about breaking themyth of the perfect mother andhome, instead saying it is abouthelping one another. Quoting WaItWhitrnan, Karen said it is also

about curiosity without judgemen!so that women feel comfortable tohave others in their home.

'I think the appeal ... the food ispart of it but it's probably the lastthing,'she said. 'I think MamaBakeis about smashjng that belief ofthe perfect house, or family, andit's about accepting people forhowever they come and the samegoes for their parenting.'

MamaBake Canberra is onFacebook, where people cantouch base and flnd out if thereis anything on, alternativelyvisit mamabake.com for moreinformation.

said theappeal

endaspect.

ne concept that is startingto thrive is MamaBakgwhich, at its grassroots, is

women in the kitchen together.MamaBake Canberra has been

running for about two years, andaccording to community managerKaren Swan, is a thriving gnoup

with almost 60 women involved."The whole idea of MamaBake is

to create communib/ and a supportnetwork for mothers as well as to free

up time,'Karen said. "There's benefitfor the children as well because theyare seeing allthe mothers workingtolbUr"c showing that there is value

in the work of the home.'

The basic concept behindMamaBake is simple: mothers get

together once a week, fortnigh! orwhatever works in their local area,and each one cooks a big batchmeal which is divided up amongstall at the end. Each mother thengoes home with a range of freshlycooked meals for the weel givingher some well needed time off atthe end of the day.

'There is an undercurrent inMamaBake that we are healthconscious so we focus on healthy,fresh, nourishing meals, as it'sabout finding options to feed yourchildren,'Karen said.

MamaBake Canberraoccasionally holds social events toallow members to meet and g,ree!

while some cooking sessions aredriven by a need to help others.

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