Cookbookmaniac
  • Bill’s Sydney Foods by Bill Granger
    Australian Recipes

    What's in a cover? How much does a cover cause you to buy the book? Well... Bill's Sydney Food was released previously with a -blah- cover. I don't recall ever leafing through it. Hmmm, nup, never. But when i was looking at the New Release section in the bookstore i saw a sleek black book with Bill's Sydney Food scrawled on it like a chalkboard menu. Oooooh! I picked it up and it was only the slip case to the actual cookbook. Oooooh! I let the book slide out from the case and the cover was very chic photos of Sydney and Bill's Cafe. The smell of a newly printed book sends shivers down my spine. The photos (throughout the book) are wonderful depictions of a lazy sunday breakfast near the beach. The book is divided into Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Each chapter is introduced with a chalkboard-like menu. All…

  • Jamie’s America by Jamie Oliver
    Jamie’s America by Jamie Oliver
    Cookbook Reviews

    I have never really been drawn to the work of Jamie Oliver. I received his Italy book as a Christmas gift and was very impressed with its layout and use of colours. His recipes seemed enticing but i have yet to find inspiration from them to really test them. I was very drawn to the idea of Jamie at Home. Cooking from the garden and using seasonal products to reduce your carbon footprint and be healthy. Fantastic idea. Same problem. I didn't cook from any of the recipes. They just haven't grabbed me by the eyeballs and lured me into the kitchen like a big bad wolf. One day i was walking through a small bookshop and came across Jamie's America. "Interesting" i thought aloud. The striking cover with its red, white and blue and Jamie quite happily posing was enough for me to pick it up and flick through…

  • More from Magnolia by Allysa Torrey
    Cookbook Reviews

    I am a HUGE Sex and the City fan. So naturally, I had to go on the Sex and the City tour when I was in New York. One of the sites we went to was the Magnolia Bakery. I remembered the scene where Carrie and Miranda eat pink cupcakes on a bench. But did not realise it was this bakery, nor did i realise how iconic the bakery was. The tour guide bought us all a cupcake. They were unlike any cupcake i had ever eaten before. The vanilla bottom was light and the butter cream was pillowy soft and over-the-top. It was very indulgent and (gasp) i couldn't finish it. But that didn't take away from the impression it has forever made in me. I can no longer make a cupcake with just a swipe of runny icing. I must make mountains of icing placed in a icing…