Use your own cookbooks this month to share dishes featuring our splendid Australian citrus fruit – it’s all in season right now!
June in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club was heaven for bakers, and cake and cookies were the order of the day, thanks to The Bakers Book by Ruby Goss, and Some of My Best Friends Are Cookies by Emelia Jackson. However, in July you all have a chance to use cookbooks you already own to create anything citrus-based that takes our fancy.
It’s winter here in Australia, so that means that citrus fruit is at its peak, and we grow some of the best in the world right here – especially here in South Australia, with our dry Mediterranean climate. In July I want you to go crazy with your cookbooks – hunt out old that old favourite orange cake recipe, preserve some of the gorgeous fresh lemons that are on trees and in boxes in front of so many houses, or try something new with grapefruit or mandarines. The choice is yours!
If you’re in the cookbook club, then you are by definition a cookbook fancier, but that doesn’t mean that we have to rush out and buy new cookbooks every month (although, it’s hard for some of us to resist that particular kind of retail therapy). Several times a year, I like to switch things around a bit and give us all an excuse to use cookbooks you already own.
It’s easy to forget the treasures that we already hold on our shelves, and this is where Eat Your Books will come in very handy – they make it simple to search all of the cookbooks we already own for whatever we feel like cooking. If you haven’t tried their special offer of a free month’s trial for Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club members, now is the perfect time. Just head to our group page (or join up, if you haven’t already done so) and you’ll find my post with the details.
Speaking of free trial offers, the kind folk at ckbk, where you have full access to to 1,000s of recipes from all sorts of cookbooks, have a similar offer for our cookbook club members, so if you want access to even more books for our July citrus extravaganza check that out on our group page too.
What did we cook in June – show me the cookies!
Like I said, June put many of us right into our happy place, as we baked our way to nirvana. Here’s just a few of the delicious treats that were shared by our members.
From Some of My Best Friends are Cookies by Emelia Jackson – “The only choc chip cookie recipe you will ever need” baked by Cheryl Turner
From The Baker’s Book by Ruby Goss, Buttermilk Scones perfectly baked by Lauren Frohlich
A fabulous selection from Some of My Best Friends Are Cookies by Emelia Jackson, baked by Charmain Maree
My bake of Honey Joy Slice from The Baker’s Book
So – we’re not out of the winter woods yet. What will we cook in August?
A delightful cookbook called Slow Cooking by Olivia Andrews came across my desk a few months back. (Actually I just work at the kitchen table – right at the coal face). She’s a recipe developer and the former culinary director of Marley spoon, the home-delivered meal kit people. She’s got several successful books already under her belt and Slow Cooking is her latest.
Slow cooking, either with a slow cooker, in the oven, or on the stovetop, is perfect for the winter months. It’s an ideal way to nourish and care for those you love, even if you have to work around a busy schedule, and is easy on the budget by using cheaper cuts of meat and seasonally ripe vegetables. I also love slow cooking for the potential to double up and have an extra meal tucked away in the freezer for the really crazy nights when getting a warm, delicious meal on the table seems a bridge too far.
This cookbook has been out for some months, so you should have no trouble sourcing it – either at your favourite bookshop, the library or by purchasing the ebook, so grab copy any way you can for next month.
In the meantime, now we get to explore all the pleasures of zingy, fresh citrus fruit. Make the most of the cookbooks you already own – dig out the old ones that you haven’t looked at for years, grab those new ones that you simply had to have, then never really cooked from, or have a wander through the pile of recipe magazines that I just know most of you have at home. And remember – you can make that recipe search so much easier with Eat Your Books.
IF YOU HAVEN’T JOINED THE LAMBS EARS COOKBOOK CLUB YET, YOU WILL FIND ALL THE DETAILS HERE.
SO, 2025 IS LOOKING LIKE THIS SO FAR
Your whole-year cookbook will be any ONE cookbook from your own collection
July – Use your own cookbooks to cook anything citrus-based
June – Some of My Best Friends are Cookies by Emelia Jackson AND The Bakers Book by Ruby Goss
May – Everything Is Indian by Justin Narayan
April – Too Easy by Donna Hay
March – What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz
February – RecipeTin Eats Tonight by Nagi Maehashi
January – Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky
PLEASE NOTE, AUSTRALIAN ONLINE BOOKSELLER BOOKTOPIA IS BACK IN BUSINESS. IF YOU PURCHASE ANY OF THESE COOKBOOKS FROM MY LINKS, YOU WILL GET A GREAT PRICE, AND I WILL GET A VERY SMALL COMMISSION.
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