The Australian Women's Weekly April 2025

As we go to print, Tropical Cyclone Alfred is bearing down on south-east Queensland and northern NSW. The north-east coast of Australia – a region including some extraordinarily beautiful parts of our country – might be prone to natural disasters, but it is also full of the most resilient communities who band together to help each other when crises hit. The people in these regions epitomise the true Aussie spirit. On page 20 we visit communities around Ingham in North Queensland (pictured) to see how they are recovering from the floods in February. We send our thoughts to everyone dealing with natural disasters at home, both past and present. This issue we welcome back home-cooking hero Julie Goodwin as a regular columnist. Each month Julie will share a family favourite…

Letter of the month Elizabeth Reid (You can’t keep a good woman down, AWW, March) is a true trailblazer, and learning about her incredible impact on women’s lives was inspiring. I couldn’t help but draw parallels to my own mother, who was ahead of her time – serving on the local council, participating in the Women’s Electoral Lobby, and running for election. All this while raising four children and managing her own business. How fortunate we are to have had such intelligent, extraordinary women paving the way for us. Avoca Beach, NSW. Remarkable woman I loved reading about Naomi Watts (pictured; ‘Menopause is not the end ... ’, AWW, March) and can’t wait to dive into her book! Naomi is a realistic, classy and talented role model. She encourages me…

Royal LIFE Dancing Queen Denmark’s King Frederik X and Queen Mary hosted a party to celebrate art and culture at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, during which the Knight Hall was transformed into a giant dancefloor. Guests, including dignitaries and members of the creative community, joined the Royal couple in dancing Les Lanciers, a traditional dance that dates back to the 1800s. Women we love Crabb cakes Annabel Crabb raised $6500 for a friend’s ovarian cancer treatment by auctioning a home-made cake. Ovarian cancer is the 10th most common women’s cancer. Byrne’s turn Rose Byrne won the Berlin Film Festival’s Best Performance award for her role in the dark comedy, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, which premiered at the festival. The film also stars Conan O’Brien. On the fast…

Italy Mt Etna is erupting, drawing tourists who want to witness the lava escaping from a fracture in the active volcano. Authorities have pleaded with tourists not to come closer than 500 metres. BRAZIL Erosion sinks city More than 12,000 people’s homes are under threat from a growing sinkhole in the Amazon city of Buriticupu. Authorities in Brazil say the soil erosion is a natural phenomenon, but human activity intensifies it. FRANCE Europe’s zestiest festival Every year the town of Menton on the French Riviera turns yellow as it celebrates citrus fruit that the region is renowned for. This year, 150 tonnes of citrus fruits have been used in the construction of floats and decorations. The festival dates back to 1934, when Menton was the main lemon producer in Europe.…

From her earliest years, when she would bake cakes and biscuits with her grandma, Steph de Sousa loved to cook. At first it was old-school meals for her young family: Stews, braises and shepherd’s pie. Two years in Vanuatu working as a hair stylist while raising two young kids taught her to cook seasonally. In 2019, MasterChef Australia offered a pathway to a career in food, and she didn’t turn back. Today, Steph is known as the ‘air fryer queen’ and boasts more Instagram followers than the Danish royal family. (A Tasmanian, Steph’s sister knew the Queen back when she was just Mary Donaldson.) Her first cookbook, Air Fryer Queen, was a bestseller. As she prepares for the release of her follow-up, Steph reflects on the rewards that come from…

This month something wondrous happened to make me reflect on the importance of food in family folklore. When I was 12, my school had a “language showbag” where we did a term each of French, German and Spanish to see if we were more of a bonjour, hallo or hola type of gal. In our introduction to Spanish, we were given a biscuit recipe. I baked them one Sunday afternoon in 1986. My mum, Patti, took a bite and promptly lost her marbles. I’ve never seen her react to anything like she reacted to these little almond orbs of buttery goodness – before or since. From that moment on I made batches for her birthday, Mother’s Day, Christmas and sometimes for no reason at all. Slivered almonds were not cheap.…