Baranduda cook focuses on whole foods

"I love warm desserts,” she said.

“I reckon if I had to have a last meal on earth, it would be apple pie or something warm like that."

Kelsey found this recipe online a few months ago and liked its natural sugars, such as the maple syrup and rice syrup.

"I've sort of moved that way, I guess it's quite in vogue at the moment, but I prefer that whole food stuff," she said.

Recently she tested the cake out with success on a friend.

"She really liked it because she's lactose intolerant so it's a good one for that," she said.

Kelsey moved to Albury-Wodonga nine years ago to study occupational therapy after growing up on a dairy farm at Finley.

"You get used to fresh food, so like fresh eggs, meat, fresh milk,” she said.

“Buying milk was a big thing for me when I moved away for uni."

She stayed on the Border for work and now lives in Baranduda.

Travel to the US, Canada and Europe opened up a whole world of whole foods, where produce is more readily available and affordable than in Australia.

"It's getting better, but it's still pretty pricey if you're wanting to buy your not-so-standard ingredients," Kelsey said.

She continues to search out new dishes, these days mostly online.

“There's a bazillion recipes, you don't really need to buy books anymore," she said.

More into baking than main meals, Kelsey likes the interactive nature of cooking.

"Giving it to people," she said.

"People get a lot of enjoyment out of food and it's quite a nice social thing.

"It's that whole doing-task sort of thing, get a lot of fulfilment out of completing a task."

Wanting to develop her baking, Kelsey took on the project of a friend’s wedding cake and dessert table and admitted it was stressful.

“I was nearly rocking in front of the oven the day before," she said, adding that it all finally came together.

And the experience has not dented her ambitions.

 "It will be something nice to get into in the future,” she said.

“Just doing a bit of baking outside the realms of OT land." 

Six things I can’t cook without: Coconut oil, self-raising flour, cocoa powder, butter, tomatoes and red wine.