Lifestyle reviews - The Southland Times

Lifestyle

Dance until it Rains: Life Lessons from my Mother

By Andrew Jobling (Exisle, RRP $36.99)

REVIEWED BY NAIDA MULLIGAN - © Fairfax NZ News

Andrew Jobling is a motivational speaker who lives in Melbourne.

MasterChef New Zealand: The Cookbook Volume Two

(Random, RRP $55)

REVIEWED BY MARK HOTTON - © Fairfax NZ News

The first MasterChef New Zealand Cookbook had sections lifted straight from the Australian book, with a handful of fairly pedestrian recipes from the Kiwi show thrown in almost as an afterthought.

The Modern Pantry

By Anna Hansen (Ebury Press, RRP $69.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Chef Anna Hansen may have been born in Canada, but we'll do what we poke the borax at the Aussies for doing, and claim her as our own since she grew up in our fair country.

The NZ Pressure Cooker Cookbook

By Lisa Loveday (Renaissance, RRP $34.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Those new to the mysterious world of pressure cookers will find this book the perfect accompaniment to their shiny new appliance.

Allyson Gofton's Recipe Journal

By Allyson Gofton (Penguin, RRP $35)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

We all have our favourite recipes and have collected favourite recipes from family and friends over the years so this book is something I'm sure every home cook would find useful: it's a collection of more than 40 recipes from the author herself, compiled in the form of a journal that allows space for the owner to add in their own favourites.

Simple Cafe Food

By Julie Le Clerc (Penguin, RRP $32)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

This is a reprinted, repackaged and updated version of Julie Le Clerc's 1999 book by the same name and I have to say, the recipes still stack up well as good cafe food 12 years down the track.

Granny's Kitchen Baking

(Penguin, $19.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

I'm sure everyone out there has a favourite recipe for a never-fail sponge, awesome bikkie or spectacular scone that has come from a mother, grandmother, aunty or friend.

Hazel's Home Baking

By Hazel, Jude & Marie Taylor (RRP $35)

REVIEWED BY SONIA GERKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Flicking through Hazel Taylor's recipes is like a trip down memory lane.

New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker

With Dean Brettschneider (Penguin, RRP $35)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Baking is one of those retro things that has suddenly become cool again and television has jumped on the bandwagon with New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker, which isn't quite as dodgy as the name might suggest.

Yates Young Gardener: Get your Hands Dirty

By Janice Marriott(HarperCollins, RRP $24.99)

REVIEWED BY MICHELLE LEE - © Fairfax NZ News

This is the perfect reference book for those little green thumbs who have a bunch of questions regarding how to grow, what becomes of plants and why are flowers so colourful.

A Green Granny's Garden

By Fionna Hill (HarperCollins, RRP $39.99)

The subtitle: A Year in the good life in Grey Lynn: the confessions of a novice urban gardener perfectly captures the content of this gently written tale of participation in an inner-city community garden.

Yates Garden Planner

HarperCollins, RRP $29.99

This is the companion to Yates Garden Guide, and provides good basic instructions for the learner gardener on how to plan the garden year.

Smart Gardening: Grow your own fruit and vegetables

Marcelle (Nankervis Exisle Publishing $39.99)

This is an all-Australasian publication, so three of the four climatic sections aren't relevant to us, which is a lot of book, although the heavy emphasis on water minimisation for Australian conditions is certainly interesting.

Bookmarks: NZ Bread Book, Comfort, NZ Vegetable Book, 5 Ways With

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Cookbooks out now include:

Kiwiana Party Cakes :Fun Cakes for Fun Occasions

By Rob Burns (HarperCollins, RRP $24.99)

REVIEWED BY HELEN BONIFACE - © Fairfax NZ News

From buzzy bees to jandals and rugby ball creations, this book has wonderful ideas for creating amazing birthday or other special occasion cakes.

100 Favourite Ways With Chicken

By Simon and Alison Holst (Hyndman Publishing, RRP $25.50)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

With the high price of red meat and the knowledge that too much of it isn't good for us, more of us are opting to eat chicken more often.

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It's Easier Than You Think

By Jo Seagar (Random House, RRP $49.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

It's always a treat when you get your hands on one of Jo Seagar's cookbooks and this latest offering from her is every bit as good as all her others.

The Tui NZ Kids' Garden

By Diana Noonan and Keith Olsen (Penguin Books, RRP $30)

REVIEWED BY SAGE FOREST - © Fairfax NZ News

I think this is a must-have book for the novice gardener of all ages.

The Kiwi Bach Companion

By Kirsty Cameron (Random House, RRP $39.99)

REVIEWED BY ROSEMARIE SMITH - © Fairfax NZ News

Everyone with a crib in their past or present will love or envy Cameron's friendly compilation of nostalgia and practical information for ideal holidays.

A Home Companion

By Wendyl Nissen (Allen & Unwin, RRP $34.99)

REVIEWED BY JUDY CLEINE - © Fairfax NZ News

A Home Companion is an attractive and chatty book that tells a story of success and misadventure as Auckland townie Wendyl Nissen (a latter-day Aunt Daisy in talkback radio circles and clean-green-guru on TV3) turns her hand to self sufficiency as granny used to do it.

The Free Range Cook

By Annabel Langbein (Annabel Langbein Media, RRP $59.99)

REVIEWED BY PATRICIA SOPER - © Fairfax NZ News

This latest offering from Langbein is fresh, innovative and, above all, interesting. No replicated nostalgia baking here.

Maggi Kiwi Backyard Cooking

Random House, RRP $24.99

REVIEWED BY KARL ARGYLE - © Fairfax NZ News

About a year ago I became a house husband. After seven years of avoiding the kitchen I had to start cooking.

Speight's Southern Man Cookbook

Random House, RRP $45

REVIEWED BY KARL ARGYLE AND DEBBIE JAMIESON - © Fairfax NZ News

The Speight's Southern Man Cookbook is more than just a recipe book. It is a mix of tales of Speight's Ale Houses, photographs of southern landscapes, historic titbits and a celebration of everything Speight's.

Or Is That Just Me

By Richard Hammond (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, RRP $39.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

For anyone out there who hasn't watched Top Gear on TV (come out from under your rock), Richard "Hamster" Hammond is the little guy who helps present the show.

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Sex and the City 2

By Eric Cyphers (Headline, RRP $60)

REVIEWED BY CRAIG LAWSON - © Fairfax NZ News

All the glamour from this year's most stylish movie has been captured in glossy colour.

A Good Spread: Recipes from the kitchens of Rural Women NZ

(Random House NZ, RRP $34.99)

REVIEWED BY HEATHER BONIFACE - © Fairfax NZ News

As the title suggests, this is a country cookbook packed with recipes of which many have been passed down through the generations.

A (Nearly) Complete History of Moose

By Ken Tustin(The Halcyon Press, RRP $39.99)

I'm sure the "nearly" in the title relates to the fact that Ken Tustin has done all the possible research he can but he feels that there may be more untold Moose stories out there.

Minced

By Sue Hamilton and Dana Alexander (Penguin Books, RRP $35)

REVIEWED BY NADINE HEMA - © Fairfax NZ News

Sue Hamilton and Dana Alexander, two busy working mums, have developed this easy-to-follow cookbook, with mince dishes that are made from everyday ingredients and take little time to make.

Anyone Can Cook and Anyone Can Bake

By Annabel Langbein (published by Annabel Langbein, RRP $29.99 each)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

If you're looking for something to kick off a cookbook collection, these two little gems would be a great option.

Chamois: A New Zealand Hunter's Handbook

By Steuart Laing (The Halcyon Press, RRP $34.99)

REVIEWED BY NATHAN BURDON - © Fairfax NZ News

Steuart Laing has produced one of the better hunting books on the market with his tale of the chamois.

Richard Till Makes It Easy

By Richard Till (Renaissance Publishing, RRP $34.99)

REVIEWED BY MARK HOTTON - © Fairfax NZ News

You tend to miss a bit of Kiwi culture living overseas so Richard Till's Kiwi Kitchen television series has passed me completely by. An episode might have been caught on the Food Channel at some point - slightly eccentric guy in a dishevelled state cooking in a fairly shambolic kitchen. Think it was Till, it was fairly entertaining.

Scarlet Heels: 26 Stories About Sex

By Rachel McAlpine (CC Press, RRP $29.95)

REVIEWED BY NAIDA MULLIGAN - © Fairfax NZ News

Scarlet Heels contains stories about significant sex: an episode that brings clarity, change or love. Some of the stories are set in the days when our grandparents were young and some are set perhaps last week.

Cravat-A-Licious

By Matt Preston (Random House, RRP $42.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

The Aussie version of the MasterChef television phenomenon bore little resemblance to its Brit inspiration (and our Kiwi version even less so) but it did prove incredibly entertaining on several levels.

Go Fish

By Al Brown (Random House, RRP $65)

REVIEWED BY GORDON HANCOCK - © Fairfax NZ News

As someone whose knowledge of fish is restricted to the sort that comes deep-fried in batter and wrapped in newspaper, reviewing this book was something of a challenge.

Yates Garden Fresh Cookbook

By Kate Frasers (HarperCollins, RRP $44.99)

REVIEWED BY MARK HOTTON - © Fairfax NZ News

There has been a bit of gardening rivalry in the newsroom in recent months thanks to the interest of many in growing vegetables.

Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey

By Rick Stein (BBC Books, RRP $78)

REVIEWED BY GRAHAM HAWKES - © Fairfax NZ News

Rick Stein's latest effort with pen to paper is exactly as the book name suggests – a Far East odyssey.

Chamois: A New Zealand Hunters Handbook

By Steuart Laing (The Halcyon Press)

REVIEWED BY NAIDA MULLIGAN - © Fairfax NZ News

If the blurb of this book is to be believed, chamois are the most popular mountain game in New Zealand.

The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency

By John Seymour (Dorling Kindersley, Penguin, RRP $65)

REVIEWED BY ROBERT GUYTON - © Fairfax NZ News

If you have room on your bookshelf for only one book on raising, growing and making your own, this is it.

World Kitchen: Bringing Great Chicken Recipes Back Home to NZ

By Nici Wickes (New Holland Publishers, RRP $39.99)

REVIEWED BY MARK HOTTON - © Fairfax NZ News

Kiwis eat a lot of chicken. If you've ever stood near a supermarket chiller during a cheap chicken day, you'll know how much we love the bird. And it's not just the deep fried stuff we have a taste for, we also enjoy it in burgers, nuggets and coated with barbecue sauces, although the best Kiwi chicken meal has to be the roasted bird.

Let's Cook

(Penguin, RRP $30)

This is the perfect book if you've got any budding cooks in your house.

Fit Food Fast and Real Fresh Food

As a keen cook and collector of cookery books I'm always interested in the latest trends to appear on bookstore shelves. As a new decade begins, fast fresh food is all the go and two such paperback offerings are to hand.

Fast & Fun Family Food

By Alison Holst (Penguin, RRP $35)

Alison Holst wrote her first best-selling cookbook the same year I was born so it's safe to say I've grown up with her recipes. Her latest book is a collection of recipes that have been "family-tested" by her own family, with her children and grandchildren trying them out and giving them the thumbs up.

Aerial Hunter: The Dick Deaker Story

By Graeme Marshall (Halcyon Publishing, RRP $39.99)

REVIEWED BY NATHAN BURDON - © Fairfax NZ News

Fiordland's rich history is perhaps best described from the air, by the people who know it best.

Zephyrs and Zodiacs

By Tim Chadwick (HarperCollins, RRP $29.99)

BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

We really do have a passion for Zephyrs and Zodiacs in New Zealand and I doubt there are many of us who haven't either owned one or had parents who owned one (my dad and brother were both big fans of these classy machines).

Colourful Gardens

By Dennis Greville (New Holland, RRP $39.99)

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH BEAUMONT - © Fairfax NZ News

Ever since Vita Sackville-West created her famous series of "white gardens" at Sissinghurst in Kent, many a gardener with an Anglo-Saxon bent has been wrestling with the problem of colour. Not that they've had much help, judging by the down-to-earth gardening guides on my shelves.

100 Essential New Zealand Films

By Hamish McDouall (Awa Press, RRP $40)

REVIEWED BY MAREE FIELD - © Fairfax NZ News

This is a must for any film fan. Any list like this is, of course, bound to be subjective, and you could argue the inclusion of the likes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Piano, because they were funded elsewhere, but that aside, McDouall has compiled a fascinating list of films, offering pictures and insights of each movie.

Piggin'

By Kim Swan (The Halcyon Press)

REVIEWED BY NAIDA MULLIGAN - © Fairfax NZ News

Kim Swan is a veteran at both pig hunting and at writing books about her favoured sport.

The Sika Hunters

By Alex M Gale (The Halcyon Press)

REVIEWED NAIDA MULLIGAN - © Fairfax NZ News

Alex M Gale has produced yet another hunting book. This one, as the title suggests, is primarily about the Japanese species of deer known as Sika.

NZ baking at its best

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH BEAUMONT - © Fairfax NZ News

It's a fair bet that New Zealand has more dedicated home bakers per square kilometre than any other country on the planet.

New Zealand Barbecue Cookbook

By Simon & Alison Holst (Hyndman Publishing, RRP $19.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Our summers here in the south might sometimes be a wee bit dodgy but when we do get a good weekend, there's nothing better than cracking open a nice cold beer and cranking up the barbecue.

The Kiwi Beer Lover's Cookbook

By Sam Cook (Hurricane Press, RRP $34.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Now here's something to get even the most reluctant cook into the kitchen: a book full of recipes involving beer.

The Deer Cullers: A Celebration

By Hans Willems (The Halcyon Press, RRP $49.99)

REVIEWED BY NAIDA MULLIGAN - © Fairfax NZ News

This celebration of deer cullers is a most interesting tome, which I read cover to cover.

The New Zealand Plant Doctor

By Andrew Maloy (New Holland, RRP $24.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

My gardening talents (or lack of them) are legendary but I think I've found the perfect book to give any plant that has the misfortune of meeting me a fighting chance.

All About New Zealand Plants

By Dave Gunson (New Holland, RRP $24.99)

REVIEWED BY JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

If, like me, you're not particularly good at identifying plants, this is the book for you.

Young Gardener

By Janice Marriot (HarperCollins, RRP $24.99)

REVIEWED BY JUDY CLEINE - © Fairfax NZ News

Children's writer Janice Marriot has teamed up with Yates to write a charming gardening book for the littlies.

Digital Scrapbooking: The Definitive NZ Ideas Book

By Vinnie Pearce (Random House NZ, RRP $45)

REVIEWED JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - © Fairfax NZ News

Scrapbooking is one of those pastimes that has taken off and now it seems every second person is a scrapbooker, collecting interesting papers and embellishments to help record their family history, their child's life, wedding, family holidays and more.

Hunters, Rogues and Heroes

By Connor McKenzie (Raupo, RRP $40)

REVIEWED BY NAIDA MULLIGAN - © Fairfax NZ News

If you read or buy only one hunting book a year, then you'd better make this the one for 2009.

Pig Snort

By Reg Carr (The Halcyon Press, RRP $34.99)

Pig Snort is Reg Carr's fifth book, following on from the success of such titles as Diary of a Pig Hunter, The Boar and the Pig Dog, The Wild Boars of Oruaiti and By Tooth and Tusk.

Bookmarks: Hunting Adventures, The Red Deer Part 1

Books in brief:

Divine Cupcakes: A Book of Temptation

By Tamara Jane (New Holland, RRP $29.99)

My somewhat warped sense of humour perked up when I spotted this book: for some reason the title struck me as a very good name for a stripper. And the "Book of Temptation" subtitle didn't help.

Shop Local, Eat Well

By Kathryn Hawkins (New Holland, RRP $29.99)

Shop Local, Eat Well is by Scottish food writer and stylist Kathryn Hawkins.

Saffron: Food from the Central Otago Heartland

By Pete Gawron (Random House, RRP $90)

Saffron is one of the most popular restaurants in the Wakatipu Basin, enjoying a reputation built up by owners Pete Gawron and Michelle Hill.

Marvellous Mince & Sensational Sausages

By Simon and Alison Holst (Hyndman Publishing, RRP $24.95)

New Zealand's first family of food has done it again, this time with a cookbook offering up 100 simple recipes using those affordable staples, mince and sausages.

Bookmarks: Top NZ Dive Sites, At Home, A Land of Water, Backyard Gourmet

Reviews in brief:

Mucking In: The Gardens and the Gardeners

By Jim Mora & Tony Murrell (HarperCollins, RRP $39.99)

This isn't just a book about gardening; it's a book about happiness, about very caring individuals and their communities.

Kai Ora

By Ann Thorp (Random House, RRP $49.99)

Kai Ora is a charming book.

Attracting birds and other wildlife to your garden in NZ

By Gorden Ell (New Holland, RRP $45)

Gorden Ell has a long history as a reputable bird fancier, photographer and writer, including an active association with Forest and Bird.

Big Boys Toys

By Scott McGregor (Arena, RRP $29.99)

Have you ever wondered what gives a person the inspiration and drive to restore a piece of history to its former glory?

Salad Bible and Seafood Bible

By Jackie Passmore (Penguin, RRP $25 each)

I'm not really a great fan of seafood but the bloke of the house got rather excited when he spotted the Seafood Bible, and it goes without saying that you can never have too many ideas for salads.

Living with Natives

Edited by Ian Spellerberg & Michele Frey, photographs by John Maillard (Canterbury University Press, RRP $39.99)

Who'd have thought Tim Shadbolt had a green streak and believes the 100 per cent pure New Zealand brand is the way of the future?

The Communion of the Easter Bun-Rabbit

By David McGill (Silver Owl Press, RRP $36.99)

McGill writes with some humour about the gastronomic delights and disasters of his life, including serving a youthful memorable meal of "strips of petrified pasta bark in a glue of reduced cheese roux and mince the consistency of roadside tar".

Kai Time

By Peter Peeti (New Holland, RRP $34.99)

This recipe book is touted as a redefinition of Maori food. I approached it with interest. For me, and I suspect for many, kai is unknown territory apart from the hangi.

Fleur's Place

By Paul Sorrell, photography by Graham Warman (Penguin, RRP $45)

Seasonal, innovative and simple are the words that come instantly to mind when looking through Fleur's Place, a well-produced, fabulously photographed and overall inspiring publication.

A Cook's Journal

By Penny Oliver, photographed by Ian Batchelor (New Holland, RRP $29.99)

This book was a surprise; I was misled by the title, wrongly assuming that it was a completed journal of a cook. It is, in fact, an attractively designed blank journal in which cooks can write, stick and save their favourite recipes.

Robyn Martin Bakes

By Robyn Martin (Chanel & Stylus, RRP $34.95)

The latest recipe collection from Robyn Martin is exactly what it claims to be. One hundred and fifty-five quick and easy baking recipes: no fuss, no exotic ingredients and no extraneous copy.

The Story of Sushi: An unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice

By Trevor Corson (HarperCollins Perennial, RRP $24.99)

What an unexpected delight this book is: everything you ever wanted to know about sushi, some fascinating things you might not want to know such as how fish sauce is made, and an engaging bunch of learner chefs at a sushi school in Los Angeles.