The Librarian

My dear friend Gin (of bake club fame) has supplied me with just about every beautiful recipe book I own. I consider myself spoilt - I've been a grateful recipient of some real classics.  Last Christmas Gin bought me the Ripe deli book  Ripe Recipes  by Angela Redfern.  I've looked through plenty of recipe books in my time. While most inspire me to dream,  it takes a special cookbook to inspire me to action. This one did. I have used it numerous times in the last six months, and absolutely love it. I made brioche for the first time, a little tentatively (my husband is half-french and he's got a frenchman's taste for brioche!), but I needn't have worried, they were such a hit. The recipe was really straight forward, and the filling (rhubarb and custard) was divine! I'll be making them again. To continue the rhubarb theme, I also made the rhubarb butterscotch layer cake. It wasn't quite as straightforward (it took me three tries to get t...

Did I mention how beautiful this book is?

I was so so excited to see this new book on the display shelves of the book shop today. Published by Random House Pipi restaurant is a Hawke's Bay favourite. It is colourful, quirky and very much itself. It all works; the unconventional marriage of pink and red paintwork, the retro/elizabethan features, the romantic outdoor gazebo, the poetry pasted all around the bathrooms, the mismatch of everything from tables to candlesticks, the untraditional pizza combinations (who knew that caramalised onion, sliced potato and blue vein cheese went together so well?)and the free giant jaffas. The book is an incredible new step for the restaurant owners. While the recipes look amazing. I think it is worth looking at for the styling alone, they've got it going on! It's exquisite.

Oh, thank you lovely followers! You make me so happy. All those sweet comments on Rosa's beautiful header, all the excitement about the fabulous Frank and Dean giveaway, and all the book recommendations!!! This little library girl is dancing a happiness jig. Still time to enter - see the details here And while we wait for the date to arrive when the giveaway prize winner is announced, I must tell you about the latest book on my 'must view now' list. Published by Random House You will know by now that I adore cookbooks. At the publishers' roadshow I went to a few weeks ago at  Havelock North Library (a place very dear to my heart!), there was much talk about this new cookbook. Jo Seagar's books are so beautifully put together that they are practically edible in themselves! Add Italy to the mix and this book is bound to be something spectacular. I just can't wait to get my hands on it.

A Kitchen Garden companion by Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Companion by Stephanie Alexander A book that combines gardening and cooking...it just makes sense. It's a pretty enormous book though, I feel a tad overwhelmed!

I can barely disguise my delight when I get rostered to shelve in the cooking section. Ofcourse I wouldn't dream of reading the books in work time :) but even just being amongst them is somehow inspiring. These are my top four books of the week. I'm not the only librarian who has admitted to taking cook books home simply to read the recipes and look at the pretty pictures - sometimes in life it's not about the doing, it's about the dreaming, right? And there is something about celebrity food writers - they're so passionate about what they do, that I still get utterly inspired, without lifting a cooking utensil. Having said that, I have whipped up something from each of these books, and, aside from a disasterous marshmallow, have had some great results. xx Library Girl