Patricia Joy MacKay was born in England and immigrated to Canada in April 1964. Despite having no experience in the culinary arts when she arrived, she worked as a cook on guest ranches in the Cariboo for four summers, where she discovered that working cowboys and open spaces really did still exist. Pat lived and worked in the Cariboo-Chilcotin until 1989, when she moved to the Sunshine Coast and began operating a small farm with her partner. In April of 2012, she moved back home to Williams Lake.