Say cheese for charity

Bronwynne Anderson is hosting cheese making classes to raise money for Hospice. Photo/ Stuart Munro

A Whanganui woman is hoping to spread the joy of home made food, all in the name of charity.

Bronwynne Anderson is offering two-day cheese making classes at her home with all proceeds going to Hospice.

The Whanganui nurse who is interested in self-sufficiency spends hours bottling, pickling, growing vegetable and even curing her own meats.

And she also makes her own cheeses.

It's a craft she learned from her parents while growing up in South Africa.

"Weekends are just spent in the kitchen or the garden," Mrs Anderson said. "If I go to the supermarket, I don't buy much. Most of it's made at home.

"Dad grew up sort of in the war years and his family went without so we were always brought up to share and give back to the community."

Mrs Anderson has been making and selling food for charity for about five years, putting all the money she makes from selling her goods into scholarships for Ucol nursing students.

But a while back she decided to do some volunteer work at Hospice Wanganui and from that she came up with the idea of running cheese making classes to raise money for it.

She can't sell cheese without making it in an approved kitchen but she could teach people how to do it themselves.

The classes are over two days from 10am to 4pm and students will learn how to make a range of types including mozzarella, ricotta, camembert, feta and halloumi.

"There's a bit of a science behind cheese making, but as I say, it's not that difficult. What I do is I teach people the easy way to give them the confidence so they can go out and experiment," Mrs Anderson said.

"And because I don't like to waste time, while we're waiting for the cheese to do its thing we do things like yoghurt, mascarpone, butter and bread.

The two-day cheese making course costs $225 with all equipment and ingredients included.

"Most of the people who have done the course, they all say it's relaxing, it's fun and it makes them realise it's actually not that difficult to do."

Classes run when she can get six people together at the same time. To register your interest, phone Bronwynne on 342 7801or email kiwiboks@ihug.co.nz