Hey, I’m Miss Chardy
Hi there and welcome to Miss Chardy! My name is Dan and together with my husband, we manage a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australian – at bum truck nowhere. We have 3 strapping sons Tom, Harry & Clancy. Tom has finished school and is out in the world living his life, Harry is at boarding school and Clancy is finishing his last year of primary school here on the station through Mt Isa School of the Air.
Town is a 5 hour, 12 gates, 200km of dirt road and 200km of bitumen affair. To get to our good mates next door involves a 1.5-hour drive through the paddocks (well for me it is more like 1 hour and 45 mins minimum), 5 gates and into a whole different state and time zone. When it rains the only way in or out is by air. So during the wet season, we can’t really go anywhere. Cue massive food orders in October to get us through until March the following year.
I am a Mum, wife, bookkeeper (a really bad one), blogger, podcaster and author of 2 cookbooks but most importantly I am the station cook which, surprisingly to me, has become my passion – who even am I? Each day I cook for around 12 – 14 people. If someone told me 6 years ago that I would be cooking and loving it I would have laughed in their face, but it is funny where life takes you. My kids are growing up and leaving so this has given me the freedom to step into the kitchen. I absolutely HATE cooking with kids so this is probably why I found it so painful when they were younger.
We have been here at Mittiebah for about 15 years now and over all of our years on stations I have gathered many tried and tested recipes that just work. The hard-working crew on stations just want good old-fashioned hearty meals after a long hot and hard day’s work.
That is why I published my first cookbook – Miss Chardy’s Guide to Station Cooking. I wanted something that I could have to cook and say “here this is what we want”. I then thought that this kind of book would be helpful to anyone going to work as a cook on a station and also anyone leaving home who needs to learn how to fend for themselves. It is a basic guide to cooking and has all of the recipes that I use day in and day out.
A glimpse into my life in the Outback
I have just released my second cookbook
Miss Chardy’s Bakery
I have developed a real love for baking bread. If you can find it in a bakery I am there for it! This cookbook is full of my favourite baked goods and other random recipes. It also has a whole section on Sourdough which is my real passion at the moment. I have finally mastered it too and it actually isn’t that hard.
In 2019 I co-founded Wild Spark Rural Women’s Network with my gorgeous friend Edwina, who lives down in Brisbane. We are passionate about connecting rural, regional & remote women, helping them be the best they can be no matter where they live, and bridging the city/country divide.
I also co-host the Wild Spark Podcast with Edwina – just two crazy ladies who love life and love a good chat!
