Rhonda Hetzel's latest book The Simple Home is a great book which helps you to plan for the year ahead with a series of monthly projects to make managing your household a breeze. As in her first book, Down to Earth, Rhonda has included recipes, teaches basic sewing skills like how to mend a rip in fabric or darn small holes in clothes, how to make a crossover apron, natural first aid tips and lots more. Both these books are on special at the moment so check out Booktopia , Book Depository or you might like the Kindle version from Amazon.
Another really informative book is Home Cheesemaking in Australia by Valerie Pearson from Green Living Australia.It is also on special from Booktopia at the moment.
Valerie shares 40 recipes for cheeses, yoghurt and kefir. I may not make the hard cheeses but many of the soft cheeses seem fairly easy to make including Cream Cheese....
...and Mozzarella which I am keen to try. I have made Ricotta and Cottage Cheese and it is very easy to make.
I read online recently that David Gillespie of Sweet Poison fame had published a new book called The Eat Real Food Cookbook in which he writes about the dangers of using seed oils. I knew that some of them weren't a very healthy alternative but I didn't know that cooking with Rice Bran Oil was a no-no. The things you learn! So I borrowed the book from the library to see if it was worth buying and I was quite impressed with the recipes as they are so simple unlike some other cookbooks which have exotic ingredients so I bought it on special from Fishpond.
David's recipes are family friendly as he and his wife try to make a healthy version of any foods that their children are interested in which has resulted in some really tasty looking recipes like....
Curry and Chapati and ...
...Hungarian Goulash
Another book that I bought earlier in the year when I became interested in making my own sourdough was Yoke Mardewi's Wild Sourdough by Hand. Now as you already know if you read my blog, I follow the step by step guide to making sourdough on Celia's Fig Jam and Lime Cordial blog. Yoke uses a different method which I might try down the track but at the moment I have been going through the many recipes she has in her book like....
...Basic Wholemeal Sourdough which is on my 'To Do' List in the not too distant future.
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| Photo courtesy of Live Happy Together
Let's not forget the children in your family. A few years ago I bought a wonderful book for my grandchildren called I Grow in Grandad's Garden . There is a short video explaining what the book is about on Live Happy Together. Well today I received an email about the Christmas special price of $50 for three books and noticed that there was a new book I Grow in Grandma's Garden so I bought one for my grandchildren for Christmas. If it is anything like the first book it will be extremely popular. Based on the principles in the book many schools have made gardens where students can go and relax and you can see some of the gardens on this page. I would highly recommend these books for the children in your life.
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Last but not least, if you would like to buy the most comprehensive eBook on how to use up your fruit scraps then head over to the most fabulous blog Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth where Jes is offering a 25% discount for the next 48 hours and she has a code there for you to include when you buy the eBook. She is also offering free printable tabs for adding to hard copies of the eBook as several people want to print theirs out. She is such a generous person and I have bought the eBook and can recommend it as there is a wealth of information in the over 200 pages.
Hmmm, that's a lot of reading I need to do as I haven't read through all those books thoroughly as yet. Some are good reference books and will be used a lot. Have you read any of them? Let me know what you think.
I prefer cookbooks with simple ingredients Chel. I don't have the time to hunt up exotic ingredients.
ReplyDeleteMe neither, Sherri. Plain and simple for us.
DeleteI do not read fiction any more either....although Colin Theile's "The seed's inheritance" is jammed pack full of simply living stories as is "the potato factory" .
ReplyDeleteYes Mr.HM Colin Thiele is a great author and a very popular one here in Australia.
DeleteA wonderful selection of books here Chel. One I know I will have to buy, and the others will be reserved from our local library. Thanks also for the link to Jes' blog which I need to find some time to read more of. I read fiction in bed to put me to sleep, but always have a couple of non-ficton books on the go in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI imagine you will be buying the cheesemaking one, Sally :-) Actually that one is a good reference book and worth while having on hand. I really want to try making mozzarella next year.
DeleteA really lovely selection, Nanna Chel. I have Rhonda's book which I have read but want to revisit each month of 2017. I Grow in Grandad's Garden and the Adventures of A,B,C and D are such wonderful books that I have shared with my boy many times. They can start the most wonderful conversations! I'd love to read David Gillespie's new book, might see if I can order it through the library. Meg:)
ReplyDeleteMeg, I haven't read the second book you mention but I did buy the other one for my grandchildren. I used to work in a library and it was very popular with both teachers and the children. I am sure the newer one will be as good.
DeleteI love cookbooks and have bought them wherever we travel as mementos, all of these look good. Anything with sourdough though is sounding wonderful, we had our first snowflakes today! Thank you for the book reviews!
ReplyDeleteYes Kathy, the sourdough book is full of so many yummy looking recipes. I wish I could make sourdough as well as the author.
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