At age 18 she bought out her employer for $1000 and now, aged 40, she is ranked No. 25 on the BRW Young Rich List, and her company is worth $83 million. If you haven't already eaten Carolyn Creswell's products (Carman's is a top-selling range of muesli, muesli bars and porridges), chances are you've seen her on television, where she appears on Network Ten's Recipe to Riches, a reality show that attempts to uncover the next big thing in food. She is a passionate cook at home, which she shares with her husband Peter and four children Will, 10, Lily, 8, Oliver, 6, and Grace, 4.
The staples
My pantry
We go through loads of Bonne Maman raspberry jam (it's good quality and I admire the company). My favourite tea is Twinings Camomile and Spearmint, and we eat lots of Sirena tuna. We have chooks at our farm in Bena, an hour and a half out of town, and we also grow things like raspberries, strawberries, salads and tomatoes there. The kids love being part of that.
My fridge
We eat lots of fruit and vegetables as a family and we love mache lettuce, which is really soft and yummy. Years ago I used to be more conscious of expense but now I think it's more important to feed them good quality, fresh food. They love smoked salmon, for example. I always have Meredith Goat's Cheese (I use the oil as a quick salad dressing) and I like a Japanese dressing made by local restaurant Ocha. I buy Yumi's hummus in one-kilogram tubs, Lebanese cucumbers for the kids to snack on and I'm yoghurt-crazy – Greek-style Jalna is my favourite.
Secret vice
I love pickled baby gherkins. I could just sit with those and eat them straight out of the jar.
Last night's dinner
I did Stephanie Alexander's roast chook. I put a lemon inside the cavity and served it with a butter lettuce salad. My trick with the potatoes is to par-boil them, rough them up a bit and then put them on a rack so the oil can drip through on to a bed of rosemary. You get a beautiful flavour.
I'm drinking
I love a V8 juice in the afternoon. In terms of wine, I quite like pinot grigio at the moment. I do a lot of public speaking and tend to get gifted bottles of wine so I've made a pact not to buy any myself at the moment. If I do, I go for Australian wine instead of New Zealand. If I'm having a cocktail I tend to opt for a negroni.
My toolkit
My No. 1 thing is my meat thermometer. A lot of people buy beautiful food and then overcook it. It just makes cooking meat foolproof. We also use a Sodastream a lot and our Thermomix for making at least one component of pretty much every meal. I also like my silicone ice-ball maker, which you can find on hardtofind.com.au.
My inspiration
Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. If I go away I always take that and my Wusthof knives. I'm also mad on Yotam Ottolenghi but I tend to choose cookbooks according to my mood.
Favourite
I got invited to a conference at Richard Branson's Necker Island recently and a girlfriend and I stopped in New York on the way, where I found this ceramic salt dispenser. I must like it because I had to carry it all the way home.
Most unforgettable meal
Every year we have a Thomas Keller French Laundry dinner party where each of us cooks a course. This year I did a soft-shell crab sandwich. I love it because you always pick up some new skill or how to source an ingredient you haven't used before. I've never had so many crabs in the kitchen.
Recipe stalwart
Couscous with diced apples, currants, red capsicum and poached and sliced chicken on top with hummus, sprinkled with black sesame seeds.
Discovery
Black sesame seeds. Not many people use them and they're really good to sprinkle over a salad. They give a great lift to pretty much any dish.
Quote: "I'm obsessed about making sure things aren't overcooked. I think timing is a really important skill."