5 must-read biographies about chefs/cooks

“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”
- W.C. Fields

Above image depicting appropriate use of a food group? Possibly not. But too funny not to use for this post.

'Food good' is my lifelong philosophy. Well, that and 'Chocolate good.' And probably 'Books good.' (I'm beginning to believe that there's a lot I find good, and that maybe I should amend my philosophy to 'Life? It is good' fullstop). My cooking is not that crash hot, to be honest. I bake better than I cook, but I'm amazingly lazy. I'd much rather buy a bag of chips (potato crisps) and eat those on bread than cook myself a proper sit down meal. It's less fuss. For a few years I happily lived on my own and would start out cooking actual dinners, and then somewhere along the line it got to be too much effort for one person, and so I stopped. And when mum and dad would make their monthly visits out to see me they'd poke their nose in my freezer, fridge and cupboards to make sure I was taking care of myself. And because I was living on tuna sandwiches or chip sandwiches (sometimes with marmite because OBVIOUSLY) everything was always full. Meaning that I looked like an actual adult who was capable of making adult-ish lifestyle decisions. It was around that time that I discovered how much I enjoyed cooking shows and books. More often than not it was because I loved the food and the locales (especially if the chefs were on location - combine food and travel and I'll happily watch it and be a fan for life) more than wanting to try to recreate any of the dishes myself. After that, it wasn't such a big leap to go from following food shows to reading biographies of those same people. And today's list is, really, nothing more than that - foodies, their lives, and the place of food in it. This list is quite selfish on my part, really: I heart food, and I heart people who make food. Now come live in my house and cook for me so I don't have to. (And on the days when you don't want to cook, I can still make a mean tuna sandwich, and I've perfected the best ratio of marmite to chip).

Top 5 most requested nonfiction titles for March 2013

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rod Stewart (I will never, as long as I live, understand his popularity and, moreover, why women swoon at the mere mention of his name), Anabel Langbein, Miranda Hart (YEAH! I lurve Miranda and you need to check Laura's review of the television series), the Road Code and Jamie Oliver. Such an unusual mix this month. I judge you not, though, people. I'm eyeing the odd mix that is my own request list and thinking "People who live in glasshouses shouldn't walk around naked." My shortest post ever? Maybe. Why? Because its not about me, it's about the books *steps out of your way and let's you request them* Be well, people.

Top 5 most requested nonfiction for November 2012

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."
- Charles W. Eliot

In my mind, this introduction was going to be an absolutely stunner. I was going to wow you all with my wit and way with words. And then I woke up and realised that's so not my style. Instead, I'm going to keep it simple. Today's Top 5 list features an NZ cook, a rugby player, The Rod (as in Stewart AND I see that they managed to fit the word 'knickers' in to the synopsis somehow), rushing woman's syndrome, and a place on the Shore that makes the most amazeballs food I have ever seen. I give you our Top 5 most requested nonfiction for November 2012.

5 new books to help you make/craft/grow/cook in the holidays

List by Danielle

'Having a two-year-old is like having a blender that you don't have the top for.'

~ Jerry Seinfeld

School holidays are coming up fast, guys, and the weather's finally starting to show the odd dry patch. Here is a taster of the latest books for kid-friendly activities from the New Titles list, but there are plenty more where these come from (jump on the catalogue and browse through books on cooking, games, gardening and crafting with kids). Get a shot of fresh inspiration these holidays, from simple and delicious recipes and ideas for stuff to make and do and grow and go outside and muck around with, to books that will make you laugh and say yes, SO TRUE, how awesome that it's not just my family that does that (recent fave: Katie Workman's Mom 100 Cookbook, just hilarious and very recognisable).

Top 5 most requested nonfiction titles for August 2012

"To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company."
- Andre Gide

The meaning of life, a food truck, a woman a would-be-king abdicated the throne for, rushing to and fro, and a cafe (or two, rather) with the most amazeballs food - what do they all have in common? Our top 5 most requested nonfiction titles list for August 2012, of course. Like, what else, right? Happy reading. (I know, I'm getting better and better at this 'short intro' thing. WIN!).

5 cookbooks with recipes from the frontlines

"Our homeward step was just as light
As the tap dancing feet of Astair
And like an echo far away,
A nightingale sang in Berkley Square"
- A nightingale sang in Berkley Square, 1939, lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, music by Manning Sherwin

^{Maori soldiers prepare a hangi during Christmas celebrations in the Western Desert, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19420527-24-4}

Recently, I've joined in with the #collectionfishing themes on Twitter. It's a kind of a game that people play. Well, people who are interested in working with, or delving into, online collections. Each week a theme is set, and people go fishing in all sorts of online collections and share what they've found, or what they hold. I've only been doing it for a week or two - and when I say 'I've' I really mean 'Auckland Libraries' because I've been doing it on our work tweetstream - for a couple of weeks and OH! The things I've seen. The curious, the poignant, the straight up bizarre. It's fantastic. It was while I was keeping an eye out for #collectionfishing links for the #feast theme that I came across the image attached to this post of soldiers preparing a hangi in the Western Desert. It's a curious picture that made me a tad bit teary eyed because here is a little bit of home in a place that is oh so far away from it. I liked it so much I wondered what we had on our shelves that matched this topic - cookbooks and recipes from wartime. So I rounded up what I could get my hands on at such short notice, read them, admired the pictures, didn't understand the schematics for huge ovens AT ALL, and have tried a recipe or two already. With adjustments obviously, because the quantities are GINORMOUS. Even if you're not interested in #collectionfishing or wartime recipes, you've got to admit, this is pretty damn interesting all the same. This week's theme is #cars and, wow, have I seen some great things people have shared so far. To give you an idea, here's ours from yesterday. And so I give you: 5 cookbooks with recipes from the frontline. I might even see you playing along on Twitter with all of us, too. You can find Auckland Libraries on Twitter at: @Auckland_Libs.

5 new cupcake/cake pop books

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already."
― Dave Barry

Mmm, cake! Who doesn't like cake? Strange people, that's who *makes with the frowny face* And who can resist adorable looking cupcakes and cake pops? Possibly, I've never tried very hard, but come on, look at these covers and tell me you don't want to either eat them or make them? Cupcakes I can handle. Cake pops not so much. They're quite fiddly and detailed, and I am so not a details person. When my nephews were younger, we used to bake cupcakes or biscuits on a Saturday, but I know for a fact that ours never looked like this. So go, shoo *makes shooing motions* read and request and make ALL OF THE SWEETS. And if you DO make some, take a picture and send it in. Bon appetit!

5 new foodie DVDs

Will looked horrified. "What kind of monster could possibly hate chocolate?"
― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

The first day of every month is my favourite library day. I almost wish I could say because something spectacular and wondrous happens, but that isn't the case. (Well, it is to me, but wouldn't necessarily be so for anybody else). It's totally geeky, and you'll probably laugh (go ahead, you have my permission to do so) - the first day of the month is when our new titles lists are updated. It used to be a digital services tradition that when they were posted we'd go through the new romance list and read aloud the best and the worst of the titles (seriously, I adore romance novels, but where do they keep finding all these breathlessly silly virgins and autocratic megazillionaire tycoons?). Post-amalgamation, and with the four of us in different parts of the city, it's not something I do the same way, anymore. Sure, I still heart the lists, and I'll still read them (this one I've saved until the end of this month), I'll just do it at home in the evenings and chortle to myself. (Ok, it sounds more pathetic than it is, trust me). My unabashed love of the DVD documentary list runs a close second to the romance one, and with good reason. Well, five good reasons this month, and all to do with food. More specifically, Spain (oh, how I heart you, Monsieur Stein! You make me want to turn the world into one great, big, long epicurean curiosity), British chocolatiers (WIN!), a cake boss (say it with a New Jersey accent, you know you want to), a bit of River Cottage attitude, and the bad boy of baking. Et voilà, I give you 5 new foodie DVDs. I don't think there's anything I can add to that, really, except bon appétit!

5 new cookbooks for busy worker folk

List by Danielle

"Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us."

~ Henri Matisse

Grey, dampish weather, lines of rush-hour traffic, dark by the time you get home... if you're a keen cook but are finding your enthusiasm is low for hanging out for hours in the kitchen at the end of a busy workday, or your bank account's feeling a bit tight and pinchy at the thought of fancy ingredients, we've got a stack of great new cookbooks on this month's New Titles list. Easy to prepare, simple ingredients, but still really inspiring recipes that look like fun to try. You can even try making your own (healthy yeah sure blah blah blah whatever) takeaways!

5 chicken noodle soups (for the eating)

List by Danielle

“And Tom brought him chicken soup until he wanted to kill him. The lore has not died out of the world, and you will still find people who believe that soup will cure any hurt or illness and is no bad thing to have for the funeral either.”

~ John Steinbeck, ‘East of Eden’

Getting up in the dark at 6am (hello Moon), coming home in the dark at 6pm, winter lurgies surfing on the warm waves of workroom air-con and rampaging unchecked through friends and family... it leaves me craving hot meals full of nourishing goodness. Preferably with noodles. Or maybe dumplings - oh, dumplings. Now, this is just a warning -- these chicken noodle soups won't fix your emotional turmoil. They're not going to help you relate better to difficult customers, or get you in touch with your inner teenager, or do anything much more than smell fantastic while cooking and give you left-overs for lunch. But, really, isn't that enough?!

Seems there are a myriad ways to make a simple (or not-so-simple) soup of chicken and noodles. One of the nice things about our cookbook collection at the library is that you can find so many styles of cooking, from Dummies-type guides that walk you through step by step, to books that assume masterchef status and will push you to make things that are way outside your normal kitchen comfort zone. Why not try experimenting with some new ingredients or techniques (make your own stock, if you dare!), and give winter a big old injection of delicious soup?

5 cookbooks linked to tv shows and/or films

Last night I was reading the May issue of the Pop Culture eNewsletter and I saw a curious, curious thing. Our fabulous editor had included The unofficial Hunger Games cookbook : from lamb stew to "groosling" -- more than 150 recipes inspired by the Hunger Games trilogy by Emily Ansara Baines. I can't cook worth a darn. Not to save myself. (Well, not to save anyone else else, either, if it comes down to it). That doesn't stop me from watching numerous shows on the cooking channel, though. I adore those shows. Nor does my limited kitchen ability stop me from taking out truckloads of books to give me tips, ideas and, well, dangerous cooking-related thoughts. Imagine, though, JUST HOW MUCH my cup runneth over when I find that somebody had a brainwave and combined TELEVISION and FILM with COOKING. Imagine, also, how many dangerous cooking-related thoughts I can have now? Unlimited. Absolutely unlimited. I present to you: 5 cookbooks linked to tv shows and/or films.

Which tv show/film would you like to see a cookbook for?

5 new Kiwi cookbooks worth slapping a request on

List by Danielle

'I like to think that if you eat food with gratitude then you somehow won't put on weight. It's all about your attitude.'
~ Kim Evans

There's a neat story on the front page of Friday 13th's North Shore Times (read it here on Stuff), about single mum/baker/businesswoman Kim Evans, who went from selling homemade goodies at the Takapuna markets to running not one but two wildly successful Auckland bakeries (Little and Friday), after working her way through something like 18 hour days when her first bakery was getting going. She's just put out her first cookbook, Treats from Little and Friday - which we have!!! yay libraries - so I thought I'd see what else is new in the way of recent Kiwi cookbooks. We've got some gems coming out in 2012, an eclectic mix that runs from fancy restaurant fare to rural recipes for seasonal fruit and veg, with a couple of Masterchef NZ spin-offs thrown in for good measure. Plenty to get your tastebuds going and give you something new to try on anyone kind enough to play guinea-pig for you!

5 great finds at Northcote Library

List by Danielle

'People like to believe there are mysteries yet to be discovered, loves to be lived.'
~ From 'Daytrippers' by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá

I moved house about a month ago, so now that the school holidays are in full swing, I'm taking a look around me for the holiday essentials... parks, beaches, playgrounds, and of course my local libraries. Last holidays we were treated to Lucy and the team's fun and hugely energetic Dare to Explore programme at my then-local, Panmure, the highlight of which was a treasure hunt that saw us solving maths, Dewey and alphabet clues as we ran in and out of the library and surrounds. This week we clocked the way the weather was changing and took ourselves to Northcote for a unicorn story and craft session.

If you've got young kids at home, I really recommend our Mythical Creature holiday programme as a way to unwind while picking up some new books and DVDs. While the 3 year old and I checked out the picture books, graphic novels and cookbooks - and played a game of hide-and-seek in the cute little garden courtyard - my 5 year old daughter got to listen to stories and show off at question-and-answer time, as well as making a very cool unicorn collage - painted in part with her foot! The librarians were really friendly and helpful, and we took home a great stash of books on top of our 2 hours of free entertainment.

5 cookbooks fresh from the Internet

List by Danielle

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
~ Julia Child

I love how the internet has transformed recipe collections. Not only do you get to dive into a whole heap of new, creative and repurposed recipes, you can often see how other cooks have used and altered them, with the initial recipe becoming a jump-off point for experiments, handy advice and twists that cater to personal tastes for more or less of this-and-that. All of us cooks can collaborate and add to the pool of knowledge - it's like a big, ongoing and enthusiastic conversation about food. Food blogs often add an immense visual appeal to the mix; there are some truly gorgeous food photographers out there, as well as some quirky and highly entertaining writers. Now you can have a flip through some of the tie-in books from our collection, and maybe find some new sites to try out, too.

My 5 favourite finds of 2011

List by Danielle

I'll take vampires over werewolves anyday...
~ From 'Vampires', by Minuit

2011 = much YA and more short stories and graphic novels than usual, in an attempt to actually finish some reading, what with the demands of work (apparently I have to work there, and not just read) and wonderful young kids. Also, 2011 brought a memorable 31 days in May listening to a new NZ cd each day, for NZ Music Month. Well, new to me. Which brings me to: Note: I'm not an early adopter. I don't so much start trends as fall over them in my near-sighted way a few years down the track, and marvel at their shininess. With that in mind, here are my favourite 'discoveries' of 2011 (oh look, the Wheel! Sliced bread! An Interweb!)...

Top 5 quirky food books

List by Annie, Central Library

I have long believed that good food, good eating is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime ‘associates,’ food, for me, has always been an adventure.
~ Anthony Bourdain

From my posts, anyone would think I liked food and cooking. Well, I do, but more from a theoretical point of view, really.

I’m fascinated by the history of food and its impact on society – now and in the past. Oh, and if there happens to be a couple of recipes thrown in, I might even be tempted to try them out.

Honourable mentions:
What the great ate : a curious history of food and fame / Matthew Jacob and Mark Jacob ; with illustrations by Rick Tuma.
No recipes (worse luck) but a collection of interesting / intriguing anecdotes about people and food.

Mosh potatoes : recipes, anecdotes, and mayhem from the heavyweights of heavy metal / by Steve Seabury ; foreword by Chris Caffery ; introduction by Luke Tobias.
This held so much promise – and it still has an appeal, but some of the ingredients might be difficult to source in New Zealand.

5 reasons this book is hilarious

List by Tosca

"When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste."
- Laiko Bahrs

Unless we're talking about this book. Do not, under any circumstances, eat the dishes in this book. Although if you do, please write in and tell me about it? That's worth a Top 5 list of its own. If you've ever sat for hours on end and pored over your mother's (or grandmother's) dated cookbooks and been equal parts amazed and terrified at the large number of ugly dishes that people could ever have made pre-1980s, THEN THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU! And I know this, because I was (am?) one of those people. My mother had an odd assortment of cookbooks that she'd collected over the years. They came from garage sales, school fairs, second hand book shops and various other places. I don't remember that she made a lot of the dishes that were in them (Some? Yes. As many as we had books for? No), but I do know that she would read them often and make her own variation of them. (Not the ones involving aspic, thank gosh). I would spend hours going through the very ugly covers and marvelling at how many truly horrible types of food could be made in jello. WHY WHY WHY? My eyes can never unsee some of those dishes. Never. And I wouldn't trade it for a minute. Which is why this book, The gallery of regrettable food by James Lileks, is full of win. Hilarious comments from the author combined with the most frightfully awesome images. What's not to like? You think I'm kidding, don't you? I intend to prove to you that I'm one hundred percent serious by sharing 5 dishes *and* Lilek's description of them. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Seriously, though, don't eat these...but DO take this book out!

Honourable mention:

Balls! Page 31 has balls. Balls on picks, even. And not just any balls, but: Anchovy balls (mashed anchovy paste with hard-cooked eggs, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper and minced parsley); Celery balls (minced celery, cream cheese, salt, pepper, cayene pepper); Green balls (Swiss cheese, minced ham, mustard, egg yolk, salt, pepper, minced chives); Burning bush - I swear I am not making this up (cream cheese, minced onion, minced dried beef); Liver sausage rolls (liver sausage, minced celery, minced green pepper, garlic, dill pickles)

Aspic entrees! Seriously, tongue mousse and jellied calf's liver. I only wish there had been an image to go with these

Erect wieners in a sea of beans! I swear, hand on (what should be) my heart I am not making this up

Veal ring salad that, according to Lilek, looks like 'human finger bones jammed into a cat brain, wrapped in a nice bow, sealed in aspic.'

Top 5 kitchen experiments over Christmas

List by Danielle

The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.
~ Johnny Carson

We have some beautiful, beautiful cookbooks downstairs on the Manukau Library's shelves, and I took an armful of them home over the break to see if I could learn to make some new Christmas classics for the family. Something about the warmer weather just seems to lend itself to experimenting with new techniques and flavours... or maybe it's just that smidgeon of extra time to relax and get playful in the kitchen. It's also kind of cool to have small kids and to start finding your own Christmas traditions, to mix and mingle with your own family standards (which for us is my mum's marinated pork fillet, and any kind of dessert that mulches strawberries together with cream). We went a bit old-school this year, too, after a radio ad for roast turkey inspired me to ask my mum to roast a chicken; hers is the BEST roast chicken, and something I'm completely incapable of, even if I buy a pot of lard. So, this year, to add to those old favourites, we tried a few new treats:

5 cookbooks with tips for cooking roasts

List by Tosca

"As for those grapefruit and buttermilk diets, I'll take roast chicken and dumplings."
- Hattie McDaniel

So...Christmas has come and gone. Somewhere around 8am on Sunday I found myself sitting in the middle of a lounge strewn with discarded wrapping paper, watching while Miss 7 tried on earrings and Mr. 1 zoomed around on his toddler-size skateboard eagerly clutching a toy car in either hand. I suspect that if not for the two of them it may have ended up feeling like just another day. I would like to be all virtuous and say that I slaved over a hot stove all day but that would be a blatant lie. Instead, we had brunch, mooched around for a couple hours, had a celebratory glass of wine (or two), and then everyone took nana naps. Such is life in your mid-thirties, apparently. Eventually, somewhere around 2pm, we realised that somebody was going to have to cook or we were all going to starve (although not really but it would sure feel like it). Ugh. Luckily, I drew out actually getting to the kitchen for so long that my sibling and her husband volunteered. Nice save, what? It has just occurred to me today, though, that that means I will be cooking New Year's lunch. Turnabout is fair play and all that. Huh. I've checked the freezer and we have a very large chicken, and lamb. Roast it is, then. Only, it's been over ten years since I had to cook a roast anything, and I'd like to do something a little flasher than just shove them in the oven. I'm just not quite sure what. Rosemary? Thyme? Garlic? White wine? Orange juice? Gah so much to decide. So, I did what I usually do...requested some books. Seriously, that's my answer for most things I want to try. In this instance, I'm fairly certain this selection of titles will give me some ideas for where to start with cooking a roast. Hopefully. If you're looking to find your way back to cooking like I am (only probably with a lot more skill and a lot less haphazard luck) then feel free to use these books as suggestions. I took my cooking skills for a test drive on Tuesday night and made dinner: roasted lamb chops with herb potatoes. Nobody gagged and nobody suffered food poisoning, but I didn't count it a successful evening until I noticed that nobody had asked for bread. I'm not sure if it's a Kiwi thing or a Māori quirk that bread and butter be at every meal. Either way, it bodes well for this Sunday :)

5 books with umpteen ideas for celebrating Christmas

List by Tosca

For the first time in forever, our family will be celebrating Christmas in two different places. Five of us - myself, two siblings, one brother-in-law and Mr. 1 will be staying in Auckland. Everyone else - two sisters, one brother, one brother-in-law, one sister-in-law, five nephews and one niece - will be spending it with the parents in Taipa. From what I can gather, the plan is to have lunch either at Taipa riverside, across the road from the house, or at Taipa seaside, five minutes walk from the house. Assuming the weather is good enough. Looking out the window today I find it hard to envision a hot, sunny Christmas day. Were I a beach-type person I would be envious, but I've seen Jaws, it wasn't pretty. Images of chewed up body parts and boats has stayed with me through to today. Although a teeny, tiny part of me is a tad bit envious that they might be eating fresh fish, or gathering pipi and mussels :( I wish them well, however the day turns out. As for the rest of us, we're not quite sure how we're spending the day, where we'll be spending it, or even if we're putting up the tree. What are we, 7 days out and we still haven't decided that much? Eek. To give us a few ideas, or at least kickstart some, I've rounded up a few books, five of which make up today's 12 posts of Christmas list. Most of you probably already know what you're doing to celebrate because, no doubt, you're much more organised than we are. For those of you still unsure, I hope some of these books can help :) And if you can think of any to recommend - ideas or books - feel free to leave them as a comment!

More ideas for celebrating Christmas:

Christmas cooking

Christmas decorations

Christmas gifts