‘Let’s have a cuppa’: Lyn’s morning teas are a hit

Her morning teas have gone from strength to strength since first hosting in 2018.

“I had breast cancer in 2018, so I had chemo and radiation,” Mrs Mussared said.

“My first morning tea was actually when I finished my chemo and radiation, and it was more just a get-together (to say) ‘all done, all finished, let’s have a cuppa’.

“It’s just sort of grown each year from then.”

Mrs Mussared’s daughter, Dana, also jumped in to help her mum with the morning tea, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the pair got creative.

“She was doing Duke of Ed at Rochester Secondary College, so for her charity thing we said ‘well, why don’t we do the morning tea’,” Mrs Mussared said.

“Then COVID hit... (we thought) we can’t hold a morning tea, but maybe we can make sauce and sell some sauce.”

In 2022, Mrs Mussared was again diagnosed with breast cancer, undergoing a double mastectomy and still managing to raise $2592 for the Cancer Council that year.

This year, the Mussareds once again turned up the creativity, putting together a recipe book filled with Lyn’s famous morning tea treats.

They have sold like hot cakes.

“It has been amazing,” Mrs Mussared said.

“We started off getting 50 printed, and then we sold all of those... so we thought, ‘oh we’re getting another 50 printed’.

“Then, by the time we still put away what we had for everyone else, there was still only about 20 left, so we got another 50 printed.”

Creating an impressive, homemade spread every year for the occasion, it is no wonder people are seeking her recipe secrets.

Being a very keen baker, Mrs Mussared enjoys catering the morning tea.

“Most of the food is all homemade,” she said.

“I love cooking.”

Last October, Mrs Mussared’s sister, Diane Granger, passed away from cancer.

To honour her, Mrs Murssared included her morning tea favourites on her Royal Albert dinner set.

“I had a little tribute to her,” she said.

“She had the Old Country Roses dinner set, so we had the three-tier plate and all her favourite treats on that.

“I had one of the funeral (order of service programs) out... it was just sort of there for her.”

Mrs Mussared’s previous highest donation amount raised was $3666 in 2023.

She has more than doubled this record.

One way Mrs Mussared has raised more funds, on top of her successful morning teas and recipe books, is through her baked contributions to the Rochester Community House ‘Happy Hookers’ group.

“I love baking, so during the floods and everything I used to bake morning tea and take it down for the knitting group because most of them didn’t have ovens,” she said.

“Tracie (Kyne) was sort of like, ‘oh we can’t just keep eating your food’, and I said, ‘look it doesn’t worry me, I like doing it’.

“She said, ‘why don’t we put in $2 a week and that can go towards your food costs’, and I said ‘well, I do this morning tea, so if you want to do that, we can put the $2 in for the morning tea’.

“With our knitting group, we raised $827 over the year.”

The official Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea day is on Thursday, May 22, though the entire month of May is dedicated to the cause.

Donations are still open on Lyn Mussared’s fundraising page, and can be made via biggestmorningtea.com.au/fundraisers/LynMussared1253/biggest-morning-tea-vic

A small number of Mrs Mussared’s recipe books are also available at the Nanneella General Store.

Are you hosting a morning tea, please let us know, so we can help promote it. Send your details to editorial@riverineherald.com.au