Happy new year to my fellow cookbook addicts. Check out the 2024 cookbook club selections – it’s time to get on top of food waste in our kitchens!
And just like that Christmas and 2023 is done!
I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed watching you all cook along with the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club in the last year, and I’m excited to see what we all come up with in in the 2024 cookbook club.
I’m keeping this post very brief, not least because I’m in Italy, and it’s New Year’s Eve. We’ve been busy and I’ve been sharing lots of snaps – you can follow along on my Facebook or Instagram accounts!
As I expected, Donna Hay’s Christmas Feasts and Treats didn’t let us down and lots of you shared some of her wonderful Christmas dishes in December.
Margaret Wuestenenk’s gorgeous raspberry swirl pavlova
Vicki Taylor’s stunning trifle (just before it’s final dressing)
Beetroot cured salmon from Carolyn Miles
Karyn Hearn’s Christmas pudding
For January, and the first cookbook in the 2024 cookbook club we are exploring Kindred by Maria and Eva Konescny of Gewurzhaus. I’m still in Italy for most of the month, so will be relying on you, my friends, to share some of the wonderful, heartwarming recipes from this new cookbook. It’s a cracker of a book, so I know you’ll find plenty to inspire.
Most of you will have noted with sadness the passing of Australian food icon Bill Granger. He is one of a very few Australian cooks to have made a significant international impact on how Australian food is viewed, and shared our love of fresh, bright ingredients with the world.
I was pondering hard about our next cookbook, but have decided that our tribute to him will be to cook from any of his books or online recipes for the month of February. His food is frequently described as “sunny”, as was his disposition, and that’s certainly one adjective that applies to February in Australia – so lets embrace the weather and the food of a great cook and food advocate who was taken too soon.
The 2024 cookbook club news isn’t complete without announcing the whole-year cookbook, and I’ve chosen one that I think really should have received a great deal more attention when it was published back in 2022. I firmly believe that The Food Saver’s A-Z – The Essential Cornersmith Kitchen Companion by Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards is the kind of reference book that belongs in every kitchen.
It’s the ultimate reference guide to storing and using up everything that you have languishing in the fridge or pantry. It’s full of waste hacks, ideas and advice for using up food that you already have – whether that’s half a jar of tomato paste, wilted greens or fruit that’s seen better days. Let’s make 2024 the year that we all totally get on top of food waste in all of our kitchens.
So, heading into our 2024 cookbook club is looking like this –
The whole year cookbook is The Food Saver’s A-Z – The Essential Cornersmith Kitchen Companion by Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards
February – Any recipes from the late Bill Granger, either from his books or online
January – Kindred by Maria and Eva Konescny
YOU CAN BUY ANY OF THESE COOKBOOKS AT ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS, OR ONLINE AT BOOKTOPIA USING THE LINKS IN THIS POST. (IF PURCHASED VIA THESE LINKS, YOU WILL GET A GREAT PRICE AND I WILL RECEIVE A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE COST.)
Details for last year in the cookbook club are all here.
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Great choices Amanda. Especially glad we are honouring Bill Granger.
He had a very significant impact. And I’m quite excited about our year-long pick – it has so much in it!
thanks for sharing my wreath photo!
I amso jealous that you are in Italy I was there early last year and I would love to be going back! Enjoy your trip!
We’re loving it, as always!
So so sad about Bill G.!