{Cookbook Obsessed}

One of my favorite things to do is just sit with a cuppa and a selection of cookbooks from my collection and just flip! (A few of my favorites are pictured above).

Cooking has always been and will always be a favorite thing of mine to do. I've described it before as a kind of edible artform. I love experimenting and playing, finding new ingredients, techniques and flavor combinations. Letting me loose on the kitchen is I suppose my version if therapy.

Today is a kid free morning for me, so I am taking a moment to browse my collection. A time to get inspired and add something new to my 'to try' list.

I know I have a tone of books, but to me you can learn so much about a culture, location and an era just by looking at what and how the food is/ was prepared. It is a fascination of mine that borders on an obsession and I am on the hunt to find some old vintage cookbooks to add to my collection (antique road trip anyone? lol).


Q: Do you like to browse cookbooks too? What cookbooks do you love having in your home?

Lauren x

Mothers Day Breakfast Idea

One of my absolute indulgences is French Toast. Something I cook for my family alot but only have every once in a while....too tempting!!! Try this delicious recipe for a truley special mothers day breakfast or brunch dish for your mum. I don't usually add cream to my egg mixture, but why not for a special occassion and try some vanilla extract for a little something extra :)

If like my Mum, your not into sweets. Try the homemade baked beans I posted recently or maybe splash out on some gourmet bread and rub with garlic clove and toast it. Then top with some smoked salmon, wilted spinach, a poached egg and some hollandaise and a sprig of dill.

Sweet or savoury, either way, celebrations are a great reason to upgrade breakky from weet bix or vegemite toast!
XOX

Product Review : Cooks Pocketbook Companion

I recieved a book for my birthday from my darling brothers that just is nothing like I have ever seen before! It is a cookbook with a difference thats for sure.
It makes a great gift for someone that loves cooking and food (Male or Female). It baisically is tonnes of bite sized bit about everything and anything to do with food!
It covers (in tiny snippets) interesting facts about food, history of foods and interesting people that influenced the world of food in some way, how food has changed over the years and SOOO much more.



Some facts include :
* Largest bunch of bananas was grown in Canary Islands, 2001.
* The cocoa tree was so valuable that the seeds were used as currency. A slave cost around 100 cocoa beans, and the services of a 'public woman' cost 10 cocoa beans - the same as a rabbit.
* Do not pass food from one chopstick to chopstick; this is only done with the bones of the creamated body at funerals.
* Geumatophobia = a fear of taste
* For evert dollar that the World health Organisation spends on trying to improve the diets of people across the globe, approx US$500 is spent by the food industry worldwide on promoting processed foods.

Deceptivley Delicious

You have heard me talk about the fact that I LOVE a good cookbook before. This is one with a difference. Luckliy I am blessed with a 3 year old that pretty much likes anything I serve for dinner and loves his fruit and vegetables ("because they make me strong mummy"). However i can sympathise with many friends who have found it hard to feed their kids anything other than what seems like tomato sauce and a vegemite sandwhich!

So, when i found this I knew it would strike a chord with other Mums. Jessica Seinfeild (wife of Jerry) stumbled across a new way to feed her kids. She was making mac and cheese for them and pureeing some veggies for her baby at the same time and had a potentially mischievous idea that might actually work. How much puree can i add without them noticing the taste she asked herself? She served her kids this Mac and cheese with a 'poker face' on the outside and a knowing grin on the inside that you get when you know you have just discovered something so brilliant - feeding her kids veggies without them knowing!!! Getting excited, this sparked something in her and she wondered could i do this with other recipes??? Deceptivley Delicious was born. I bought this cookbook ages ago and have loved using it. The chickpea choc-chip cookies are SO yummjy as is the brocoli chicken nuggets. She purees veggies up and splits them into labelled zip lock bags and freezes them till needed. She still advocates serving the wholevegetable with the meal until they get used to it. In the mean time - they will be getting extra servings of "healthy-ness" and won't even know it. Makes you smile on the inside a little doesn't it!!! ENJOY!

These are a few of my favourite things....

One of my little pleasures in life is collecting cook books. I hope to expand this collection when I move into our new place later in the year and have more space to put them. I love flipping through cookbooks with a good cuppa tea and dreaming about what will grace the dining table in the upcoming week, or planning a dinner party! They are fascinating, you can tell SO much about a time period and a culture by cookbooks. Some of my absolute essentials are by the one and only Donna Hay with her "Modern Classics" 2 volume series and "off the shelf". So easy and everything has always worked out that i have tried!
Stay tuned for some interesting cookbooks that will sure inspire you to makeover your dinner repertoire.