St George resident Kostadinka Kuzmanovski has found the right recipe for a long and happy life.
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Kostadinka celebrated her 100th birthday on June 25 with a large gathering of her family at Bexley.
She was born Kostadinka Perkovski in Velushina, Macedonia, the youngest of three sisters and grew up on a farm.
From the age of 14, she helped her family including her sisters Sofka and Sava on the farm, working from sunrise to sunset planting crops of wheat, tomatoes, cabbages, chillies, cucumber and corn.
"I had a hard life living on the farm and working every day," she said.
This included living through the Great Depression and World War II, her grandson Nikola said.
"Kostadinka married Stefan who was from the Macedonian village of Graeshinca when she was aged 19.," Nikola said.
"Kostadinka and Stefan decided to move to Australia in 1970 with their three children Nada, Trajan and Jovan," he said.
"When they arrived in Australia they settled in Erskineville for 30 years.
"Stefan worked for the NSW Railways for 20 years until he retired.
"Kostadinka took care of the household while Stefan worked to support his family.
"In 2000 the Kuzmanovski family moved to Bexley where Kostadinka spends her days cooking traditional Macedonian foods.
"As the years passed she soon had six grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren who she loves and adores and they also dearly love her.
"Every Sunday she looks forward to her family coming together to spend time with her and share stories around the dinner table.
"She prepares a delicious meal as her role as the master chef of the Kuzmanovski family."
