Local gals, and reality TV favourites, Carly and Tresne, have had a whirlwind year since their run on My Kitchen Rules, and they’re set to share some of their favourite food and wellbeing tips on stage at the Newcastle Food & Wine Expo this weekend. We got the chance to have a chat with Carly about life after MKR, and their mission to spread happiness wherever they go…
You’re ready to grace the stage at the Newcastle Food & Wine Expo – What kind of tips and tricks have you got in store for us?
We have plenty in store for our lovely Novocastrian family and were so excited to share them with you. Not only will we be sharing tips and tricks for eating to positively enhance your mood, but also tips that we live by that are guaranteed to make you instantly happier. We’ll be cooking Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Eclairs- everyone needs chocolate in their lives right! Plus Dukkah Crusted Salmon with a beetroot relish and chive and horseradish cream. Both dishes have some sneaky little ray of sunshine ingredients to make you happier!
You have both been on quite a journey since you were catapulted into the spotlight on last year’s My Kitchen Rules, looking back over the last year, what has been your favourite ‘Carly & Tresne’ moment?
We sure have. We feel unbelievably blessed to have experienced so much success since the show. There are so many happy moments we could choose from, but I think our very first Happiness Mission positive education workshop has to be the favourite moment. Although, our first Happiness Mastery adult workshop comes a very close second.
Carly and yourself have set out on a mission to “change the world, one smile at a time” with your ‘The Happiness Mission’ workshops – Tell us a bit more about what this involves?
Tresne and I have studied the science of happiness for the last seven years. It has changed our lives so positively and lifted us to heights we couldn’t have even dreamed of. When we entered My Kitchen Rules we wanted to inspire people to believe that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. What we didn’t expect was the amount of people who reached out to us to ask for tips on staying positive and support. We decided we had to spread this message on a wider scale and so The Happiness Mission was born. We teach students and adults our 6 stages of success which includes changing your state instantly, removing self-beliefs which aren’t beneficial to you, tips for staying courageous and resilient, having an ‘attitude of gratitude’, feeding your body for happiness and setting goals to create a captivating future. It is truly the most rewarding ‘work’ we have ever encountered and we love it more and more each day. We set ourselves the goal to reach 45,000 people with The Happiness Mission before July 2016 and were slowly but surely reaching it.
And you will continue spreading your positive message with the upcoming release of your ‘Food 4 Moods’ cookbook – What is the inspiration behind this collection of recipes?
Food for Moods is all about real, everyday recipes with a few tiny alterations to enhance the purpose of the meal. The inspiration for the book came from talking to many people at our demonstrations who suffer with ailments such as depression, anxiety, difficulty focusing and memory loss. The book contains recipes which assist people to fight free radicals, behavioural disorders and concentration issues with the addition of extra ingredients like B vitamins, magnesium, omega 3’s and certain amino acids. The idea is to enhance the vitamins and minerals in your food so you can eat the meals you love, but they are better for your mood.
What is one thing you can’t live without in the kitchen?
I love a good spatula. So simple but it just is so good at its job and its essential when baking- which is my favourite type of cooking. Tresne can’t live without a good set of sharp knives and a nice non-stick frypan.
And lastly, if you had to pick one, what is your absolute favourite dish to make?
My absolute favourite dish to make would have to be the Raspberry and Rosewater Turkish Mousse that we cooked on the show. It has all my favourite elements and it’s tasty but not too sweet. Whenever we cook it for our family, they love it and raspberries are one of my favourite ingredients because they are so high in antioxidants.
Tresne’s favourite would have to be choux pastry- she has it down to a fine art now because she has been cooking her Granny’s recipe since she was 10 years old. We’ll be using the recipe over the weekend at the Food and Wine Expo in our Chocolate and Peanut Butter Mousse Eclairs. Hope to see you all there- it’s going to be a fantastic three days.
Catch the lovely Carly & Tresne at the Newcastle Food & Wine Expo, this weekend Fri 28, Sat 29 and Sun 30 August. Tickets available here.
