On Saturday, October 3, 2026, I celebrated one of the biggest milestones of my career, actually my life! The official launch of my very first cookbook, Easy Sourdough on Any Schedule. And while the book itself was the reason for the celebration, the evening was about so much more than sourdough bread.
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It was about family, friendship, community and the rather unexpected journey from teaching myself to bake sourdough to helping millions of people around the world bake their very own sourdough bread. I don’t think I could ever have imagined that a jar of flour and water would lead me here. But here we are!
I wanted to share a little glimpse of this very special evening with you, including some of my favourite photographs and a few behind-the-scenes moments. Because whether you’ve been baking with The Pantry Mama for years or have only just created your very first sourdough starter, you’ve been part of this journey too.
I chose to officially launch my debut cookbook in Harvey because it’s my home, it’s where I went to school and it’s where I’m raising my boys. It’s so important to me shine a light on regional Western Australia. So many events happen in bigger cities, but often it’s smaller towns that miss out. I wanted to make this event something truly special. We were so fortunate to be able to have our event at Geovino Wine Bar. It’s such an amazing space and was absolutely perfect for a book launch!
The Food!
It was really important to me to serve my guests a selection of recipes from my book, Easy Sourdough On Any Schedule. I created an abundant grazing board featuring loaves of sourdough bread, seeded sourdough crackers, whole wheat grissini, mini sourdough focaccia muffins, sourdough parchment crackers and a sneak peak of the delicious savory sourdough granola (that’s a book exclusive). I also treated all of our guests a selection of mini sourdough chocolate chip cookies and mini sourdough ginger molasses cookies. They disappeared so fast!
All of these sourdough recipes were acommpanied by delicious dips and condiments from including my whipped ricotta with honey and herbs, my famous tomato chutney and red pepper relish.
And to top it all off I created a beautiful butter board featuring whipped cinnamon honey butter, whipped herb butter and a chili and black pepper butter (this one will be published soon). I made over 20 loaves of sourdough bread to dip into the flavored butters. It was one of the highlights of the evening!
I also treated all of our guests to giant sourdough chocolate chip cookies in the gift bags they received as they were leaving. It brought me so much joy to shower all of my guests with food from my kitchen, and of course, all baked with recipes from my book!
Sourdough Starter Station
I treated my guests to a sourdough starter station, where they could take a little bit of my own sourdough starter home with them! They were able to weigh flour and water into a jar and add a little of my dried starter, which would kickstart their own sourdough journey. It was so well received and everyone loved the interactive nature of it. Making a sourdough starter is where it all begins!
Library Donation
A very special part of the evening was gifting a copy of my new book to my local library. When I was a little girl, I loved visiting our local library. Our librarian, Ruth Campbell-Hicks was there when I was 9 years old and she’s still the senior librarian now. She’s seen all of my boys grow up, coming to Rhyme Time at the library and learning to love books just like their mama. It was such a special moment to present her with a copy of my book to place into the library. From reading books in the library to actually writing one … how cool is that!
Questions and Answers
We had a question and answer session where I was able to share some of the background to writing my book, the challenges I faced along the way, the realities of raising 3 kids while running a business and writing a book and the huge involvement of my husband in bringing all of this to life. I also answered sourdough questions from my guests which was so fun! I could honestly do that all day! You can see some snippets of the questions I answered on Instagram.
A Few Special Moments
I thought I would share a few special moments from the evening that really made me smile and that I haven’t shared on social media.
Before the evening began, my husband gave me a beautiful gift. He had a special Waterman pen engraved with my name, especially for signing books on the evening! It made me so teary!
I also loved the moment captured with Waz, Marissa and myself … it was a moment where we got to step back and take it all in. My husband, who actually made this book launch evening happen through months of careful planning and Marissa, who had flown from New York to be there with us, not just as our social media manager, but as our friend.
I also love this moment of me, actually enjoying myself at the microphone. I was so nervous and this photo captured me actually in the moment, enjoying every second of the night I worked so hard for!
A Little Personal Note From Me
I wanted to take a moment to share just how grateful I am for the evening of my cookbook launch. The night was everything I could have hoped for and so much more!
I’ll admit, I was incredibly nervous about standing up and speaking in front of everyone. Which seems a little silly when I think about it, because every single person in that room was there to support me and celebrate this milestone. But you know what? Once I started talking, I absolutely loved it!
I loved sharing my experiences as a self-published author, entrepreneur, mother and wife. I loved reflecting on the journey that brought me to that moment. The challenges, the unexpected opportunities, the things I’ve learned along the way and, of course, the people who have made it all possible. Because while this cookbook might have my name on the cover, there were so many other people who contributed to making my book a reality, especially my husband, Warren who works along side me at The Pantry Mama.
And perhaps that’s what made the evening so special. For once, I got to stop, look around the room and really appreciate what we’ve built. Not just a cookbook or a business, but a life that I genuinely love, surrounded by people who have encouraged me every step of the way. If there’s one thing I hope my story reminds you of, it’s that you never quite know where following something you love might lead. Even if it all starts with a humble jar of sourdough starter. ❤️
Shout Outs
I wanted to shout out the people who contributed to making the evening such a success. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!
- Geovino Wine Bar – Thank you for hosting our event, you know how much we love you guys!
- Ester from Karlique For Hair – Thank you for taming my curls, you know what you mean to me!
- Gemma Collins – Best make-up artist a girl could ask for … and I didn’t melt my eyelashes off this time!
- Pané Marketing – Marissa flew from NEW YORK to be there for our event and capture social media footage. Seriously, the best!
- Aleisha Jean Photography – thank you for capturing all the beautiful details for us!
- Zalia Joi from Big Sky Media – Thank you for being the MC for the evening. Loved working with you.
- Sweet Grace – Most amazing cupcakes and cake made to look like a sourdough loaf.
- Casey from Pop! Culture – Thank you for creating the amazing balloon garlands!
- Juice Print – All the signs, banners, our media wall, invitations. We are so grateful you always print everything so fast for us!
