The cook at a massive cattle station in Australia’s Northern Territory has launched her own recipe book with all proceeds going to help flood-stricken farmers in the area.
Working as the cook on Tipperary Cattle Station, which covers over 300,000ha near Daly River, is quite different to what Wendy Cox was used to when she ran cafés in the big city of Brisbane.
However, it is a way of life she has gelled to over the past two years keeping up to 50 staff at the station well fed and watered.
This region of Australia is well used to its wet season from December to April, but this year it has been particularly wet with many roads and infrastructure succumbing to heavy rain and floods.
Many farms are under water and some have been cut off as floods surround them.
Livestock have been lost and farmers are desperate for fodder supplies to keep the remaining cattle fed.
Oz cattle station
That’s when Wendy came up with the idea of launching her own ‘station styled’ cook book to sell around the world to help raise money for the local flood funds.
Wendy said: “I’ve been the cook at Tipperary Station since 2024, and this is the start of my third season.
“Before coming here I owned cafés in Brisbane for 15 years, so cooking for people has always been a big part of my life.
“Moving to the station was a bit of a life change for me, but I absolutely love it.
“Feeding a big crew every day and being part of station life has been an incredible experience.”
Floods
The Northern Territory is a vast rural area, home to many cattle stations and communities.
Many areas have been badly affected by the floods, as has the driveway of Tipperary Station that is 30km long, a current challenge to negotiate.
Seeing all the destruction and communities crying out for help prompted Wendy to take action, and hence the cook book idea was born.
Wendy said: “The cookbook idea actually came about because of the floods affecting so many rural communities.
“Like a lot of people, I was watching what was happening and feeling pretty helpless.
“I thought the one thing I could do was cook so I put together a simple digital cookbook made up of the kinds of recipes I cook every day on the station, feeding the crowd ‘smoko’ favourites (small meal between breakfast and lunch) and hearty station meals.”
Aussie favourites
If you follow Wendy on social media you will immediately see the mouth-watering meals the Tipperary staff eat every day.
She has accumulated quite a following online (Wendy’s cooking adventures) which has driven initial sales of the book.
Some of her smoko favourites – including delicious sausage rolls and Thai chicken patties – feature in the book, as does her mouth-watering main course of brown sugar and garlic slow roasted beef.
And then to finish all that off comes desserts, including Aunty Kim’s carrot cake and chocolate brownies, which should be temptation enough for customers to reach for their credit cards and support the cause.
Wendy said: “The book can be purchased online anywhere in the world via Etsy and downloaded as a pdf link.
“All the proceeds are being donated to Rural Aid to help flood-affected farming families.
“The response to date has been unbelievable, and in just a couple of days since launching, we sold over 1,100 copies and raised more than $13,000.
“It has been really special seeing how people from all over the world have jumped in to support rural Australia,” she said.
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