95. Spice & Ice by Kara Newman

BOOK REVIEW: Spice & Ice by Kara Newman

Whether it’s an all-girls night out, a bachelor / bachelorette party or just a celebration of the many of life’s bounties, superb cocktails never fail to impress the palate. We are familiar with the Screwdriver and the Singapore Sling but how about cocktails with a twist and a spicy one at that too?

With this book, the author brings the hottest cocktail trend to your next house party. Kara Newman is your chile coach for mastering the craft of distinctive cocktails that make your lips and tongue tingle.

Discover how to use fresh, seasonal ingredients and spicy flavourings such as chile pepper, ginger, and horseradish to maximum effect in your cocktails. Learn to add just the right amount of spice to be nice and build your own spicy buzz. Many of these cocktails are spicy and warming but not too hot.

With 60 drink recipes, from fruity to savoury, there’s something for everyone in this book. Classic cocktails take a spicy spin by way of Wasabi-tinis, Jumpin’ Juleps, and Spiced Caipirinhas. Serve Hot Flashes at your next party with the girls!

With information on types of chile peppers; building a spicy liquor cabinet; food pairing advice’ and a guide to making your own infused liquors, spice mixes and syrups, this book is a key resource for “chile-heads” everywhere.

You will be crowned host or hostess with the mostest when you reveal your special tray of spiced ice or a chilled plate of jiggling party shots with colourful pepper rings suspended inside. 

94. Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape: Odd Wines from Around the World by Peter F. May

BOOK REVIEW: Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape – Odd Wines from Around the World by Peter F. May

Yesterday, I posted a pocketbook on wines and its various terms to understand them.  How about if we got our hands on a book which described the various names of wine, and peculiar ones too? We do know that wines are labelled with names such as Crazy Monkey and Leaping Lizards. This book gives us the tipple on wine names and the many oddities from history to source.

Within these pages are more than 100 of the oddest wines ever produced. Some have unusual names, like Fat Bastard Chardonnay and Lazy Lizard Shiraz. Others feature curious artwork of singing frogs and UFO invasions. Still others boast unique production features, such as Braille typography, heat-sensitive ink and lenticular art.

Along with full-colour reproductions of the original labels, the author shares stories about the origins of the wines and provides helpful tasting notes. Readers will learn about unusual vineyards (like Cleavage Creek, which donates its proceeds to breast cancer research) as well as the most innovative artists working in the wine label medium. Finally, there’s an appendix of resources that will help you locate these wines – so you can savour them yourselves.

All in all, this book is a memorable read if only for fun and rather an intriguing one if you consider these labels as interesting facts on wines and their labels. I found this book as the best of both worlds in my opinion and I think you readers out there will too. Grab this book, kick back with a chilled glass of Riesling and unwind.....

93. How to Talk About Wine by Bernard Klem

BOOK REVIEW: How to Talk About Wine by Bernard Klem

Wine is one of the beverages on the list that has received numerous accolades, from terrain, tannins to taste. Many countries have begun to produce wine, even Malaysia, however production is still limited to family consumption and not out in the markets. If wine is considered revered, what are the experts talking about when it comes to wine?

Now you’ll be able to understand wine – and speak intelligently about it – with confidence. This handy pocket guide teaches you what you need to know – and nothing else – 10 minutes at a time.

What is wine anyway? Where and how is it made? How should you go about smelling and tasting it? The first section of the book gives you enough useful information to answer questions like these as well as others on bottles, closures, labels, and styles and fads.

The second part demystifies different wine characteristics, such as colour, alcohol, body, tannin, balance, finish, and quality. You can find basic terms for each topic at the bottom of the left-hand page, while mire advanced lingo is presented at the bottom of the right-hand page.

The final section ends with practical advice, such as what to drink when, how to match wine with food, how to shop for wine, and what wine to bring as a guest.

With wine touted as one of my go-to classy tipples during a meal or party, it’s not a wonder that I found this book to be of great help to my meagre vocabulary on wine. For wine connoisseurs and those seeking to know about wine, this pocket book is of great significance.

92. The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English by Roy Peter Clark

BOOK REVIEW: The Glamour of Grammar – A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English by Roy Peter Clark

Early in the history of English, ‘glamour’ and ‘grammar’ were the same word, linked to enchantment and magical spells. Now ‘grammar’ brings to mind language bullies and bored-out-of-their-skulls students.

Roy Peter Clark, one of America’s most influential writing teachers, wants to change that by putting the glamour back into grammar.

Whether you are composing a novel, a memo, an e-mail, or a blog post, you can immediately apply any of the lessons Clark lays out in 50 short chapters.

Covering everything from the parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs, Clark teaches you how to use commas, periods, and semicolons to their fullest advantage; befriend the lively verb ‘to be’; avoid “hypergrammar”;properly place those tricky modifiers; and harness other secrets of powerful prose.

Above all, he teaches you how to master grammar to perfect you use of English, to hone meaning, and to charm through your writing.

In a world where we communicate more and more through e-mails and text messages, how you use language matters – even in 140 characters. This book prepares you to captivate with every word.

91. Noodle Bible by Jacki Passmore

BOOK REVIEW: Noodle Bible by Jacki Passmore

Being Asians, noodles happen to be everybody’s favourite food! From kids to the elderly, we are used to noodles making their appearance on the dinner table, in both instant and fresh forms. With the variety of instant noodles in the market, Maggi to IbuMie, as well as freshly handmade noodles in artisan shops, noodles are the go-to carbs when you just want a no-rice day.

A bowl of noodles is the ultimate convenience food. Noodles are inexpensive, easy to cook, remarkably versatile – and they’re healthy too. For thousands of years a staple of nearly every Asian culture, they are now an essential ingredient in most western kitchens.

This book is packed with recipes – fragrant broths, hearty hawker-style dishes, one-pot meals and cool favourites such as chilled soba noodles. As well, there are tips on cooking and storing noodles, preparing basic stocks and sauces, and ideas for elegant concoctions such as noodle baskets for special occasions.

Since little, I have LOVED my noodles and am still LOVING them, be they instant or fresh. It’s just the feeling when the smooth noodles slide into your mouth when you slurp them and the lip-smacking sounds that follow. It is quite a sensation and a pleasure when eating noodles. If you want to feel that euphoric noodle addiction I have, grab this book and head over to the stove for noodle dishes galore!

90. Easy Meals with Just 3 Ingredients by Jenny White

BOOK REVIEW: Easy Meals with Just 3 Ingredients by Jenny White

Cooking may seem like a daunting task, even for those with a passion in the kitchen. The prep and cooking time, number of ingredients and other factors prove quite an obstacle, especially when you have just returned from staring at the desktop. What if prep and cooking time is shortened and the ingredients can easily be fished out from your pantry? Putting on the aprons already? This book is the absolute fuss-free cookbook you need.

This book is a fabulous collection of recipe ideas, each using just 3 ingredients or less for quick, easy and fuss-free meals. For this reason, this is the perfect collection for the modern cook with a busy lifestyle who still wants to eat healthy, home-cooked food.

Easy Meals with Just 3 Ingredients includes a helpful introduction with advice on planning ahead as well as using storecupboard basics and short-cut ingredients. Delicious recipes are provided for everyday meals, such as breakfasts and brunches, midday meals, easy suppers and tantalizingly simple desserts.

Besides that, this book offers suggestions for satisfying meals that require a little more preparation or slow cooking, including oven-baked dishes and roasts, wholesome stews and marinated dishes.

Whipping up a speedy meal for family and friends has never been easier with this gem of a cookbook. It’s so good that every one of my aunts and cousins have it in their shelves!

89. The Protein Boost Diet by Ridha Arem

BOOK REVIEW: The Protein Boost Diet by Ridha Arem

Are you having a hard time losing weight? I can see those hesitant, shy arms all the way over there. Well, the author explains how to boost your metabolism, improve overall wellness, and keep off those extra pounds.

When you have a problem with your weight, even if your thyroid gland is perfectly normal, your metabolism-boosting hormones, including thyroid hormone and leptin, will be inefficient at burning fat.

For many, improving hormone efficiency is the key to lasting weight loss – and world-renowned endocrinologist Dr. Ridha Arem can show you how to do this. He has successfully treated thousands of patients for weight problems with his comprehensive plan, including a new version of the Mediterranean Diet that increases protein and fiber and lowers glycemic index for eye-popping weight loss results.

An easy way to rev up your metabolism and increase thyroid hormone efficiency for long-term weight loss, Dr. Arem’s diet offers 50 simple, delicious recipes. Combine these with his exercise / detox program to rid your body of the metabolism-slowing chemicals that are keeping the pounds on.

Whether you have a thyroid condition or not, whether you’re dieting for the first time or searching for a breakthrough health program, this book is the answer you’ve been looking for.

88. The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

BOOK REVIEW: The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

When I was in high school, my school library was fortified with books that suited my mature reading abilities. I loved books on culture, tradition and taboos of people of various races. But one author made me hooked on Chinese tradition: the food, the filial piety and many other reflections of Chinese culture that gave me a vivid view of Oriental people. That author is none other than Amy Tan, who is also the author of The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife, both of which I repeatedly read for the beauty of Orientalism mixed with Westernism.

The Valley of Amazement is an evocative epic of two women’s intertwined fates and their search for identity – from the lavish parlors of Shanghai courtesans to the fog-shrouded mountains of a remote Chinese village.

In Shanghai in the year 1912, Violet Minturn is the daughter of the American madam of the city’s most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother and forced to become a “virgin courtesan”.

Spanning more than 40 years and 2 continents, Amy Tan’s newest novel maps the lives of 3 generations of women connected by blood and history – and the mystery of an evocative painting known as “The Valley of Amazement”.

Moving from the collapse of China’s last imperial dynasty, to the rise of the Republic, the growth of lucrative foreign trade and anti-foreign sentiment, and the inner workings of courtesan houses, this book interweaves the story of Violet, a celebrated Shanghai courtesan on a quest for both love and identity, and her mother, Lucia, an American woman whose search for penance leads them to an unexpected reunion.

The Valley of Amazement is a deeply moving narrative of family secrets, legacies, and the profound connections between mothers and daughters, reminiscent of the compelling territory the author so expertly mapped in The Joy Luck Club.

With her characteristic wisdom, grace, and humour, Tan conjures up a story of inherited trauma, desire, deception, and the power and stubbornness of love.

87. Healing Foods by Katherine Wright

BOOK REVIEW: Healing Foods by Katherine Wright

Great advances have been made in medicine and science in recent years and there is no doubt that these advances have made and will continue to make an enormous difference to people’s health and quality of life.

However, there has also been a growing realization that science and medicine do not have all the answers. When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, there is universal agreement among nutritionists, doctors and scientists about the importance of diet in both the incidence and prevention of disease.

Healing Foods looks at the health-enhancing and healing properties of a wide range of foods, helping to explain why these should be included in our daily diet.

Individual entries contain a description of the food in question, its essential properties and health benefits, advice on how much should be eaten and cooking methods where appropriate.

This excellent reference book allows anyone interested in their health and well-being to make informed decisions on what foods to include in their diet.

86. 500 of the Most Important Health Tips You’ll Ever Need by Hazel Courteney

BOOK REVIEW: 500 of the Most Important Health Tips You’ll Ever Need by Hazel Courteney

How many of us were in the Red Crescent society in school or maybe St Johns? For those of us who did, we know how to administer basic first aid as well as pinpoint symptoms of common medical occurrences to save a life. Fret not those who are not medically savvy, this book will give you the lowdown on all things medical.

Packed with all the latest cutting-edge alternative research, this book has become the leading A – Z alternative healthcare manual on avoiding and treating a huge range of health problems. In this fully updated edition, award-winning health journalist Hazel Courteney reveals myriad ways to take more responsibility for our individual health.

This one-step, easy-to-read reference book is the only guide you’ll need to prevent and heal most health problems the alternative way. This book includes thousands of little-known facts, plus remedies, dietary advice and helpful hints on how to prevent, heal and where to find more help for over 250 ailments.

This is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to become their own health detective.

85. The Bread for Life Diet by Olga Raz

BOOK REVIEW: The Bread for Life Diet by Olga Raz

Wouldn’t it be just awesome to shed those pounds and feel light as a feather? Tried out all the diets and still can’t achieve that ideal weight? Fret not, now you can eat and shed those pounds too! Think I’m lost a bolt? Nope, this is what this book promises and more.

Thousands of people overseas have already achieved weight loss success for the first time on The Bread for Life Diet, the patient-proven program that bucks the conventional diet wisdom and puts bread and other carbohydrates back on your plate where they belong.

Nutrition scientist Olga Raz discovered that eating bread and other complex carbohydrates throughout the day corrects the biological imbalances that drive cravings and hunger. This book is easy to follow because you:

• ·         Eat lots of carbohydrates – grains, pasta beans and more.
• ·         Enjoy a variety of foods, even protein.
• ·         Eat all day – even before bedtime.
• ·         Never count carbs or calories.
• ·         Don’t have to prepare special meals.

You will feel great because it is a nutritionally sound program that eliminates mood swings and improves energy. It even helps lower cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides, and blood sugar.

The Bread for Life Diet is the healthy eating program designed for anyone interested in permanent weight loss and good nutrition.

84. Beat the Flu: How to Stay Healthy through the Coming Bird Flu Pandemic by A. A. Avlicino

BOOK REVIEW: Beat the Flu – How to Stay Healthy through the Coming Bird Flu Pandemic by A. A. Avlicino

Bird flu is coming! It’s not a question of if, but when. Up to 50 million died of the Spanish flu in 1918, and with increased global travel this next pandemic could be even worse. Most governments are preparing for the threat, but their measures are radically insufficient.

The good news is that there are many self-help measures that can be taken to help prevent infection, and Beat The Flu tells you how. For instance:

• ·         Use alcohol hand sanitizers.
• ·         Install a shoe dip on your doorstep.
• ·         Bathe in a weak bleach solution to kill germs on your skin.
• ·         Use UV light, with caution, to disinfect rooms.

This book gives advice on where to purchase the scant supplies of antiviral medication, and if the worse should happen, how to care for a loved one who has contracted the disease. Also putting forward an action plan for how to survive a breakdown in society following severe outbreak, this book is a unique and valuable guide to help keep you and your family safe from the effects of bird flu.

83. Chicken: 100 Everyday Recipes by Ivy Contract

BOOK REVIEW: Chicken – 100 Everyday Recipes by Ivy Contract

KFC seems to be the occasional full-fat treat that most of us run for during a special occasion or maybe a binge food when we are down. Imagine the fragrant smell of roasting chicken from Kenny Rogers Roasters wafting under your nose, I can see those tongues lolling already.

Chicken has become one of the most useful and popular meats all around the world. It is easy to cook and very versatile. Not only is it delicious, it is also chock full of protein which is known to build muscle tissue (creating those abs you just die for!).

You could serve chicken everyday and never run short of ideas for nutritious and tasty meals. It can be cooked very quickly – roasted, chargrilled, grilled, stir-fried or pan fried for a simple dish – but with a little more time the options are endless.

In this book, you will find a selection of recipes that will give you the inspiration to make both easy and impressive chicken dishes to suit any occasion. With 100 mouth-watering recipes, clear and easy-to-follow ingredients lists and step-by-step methods, it will sure make you run to the kitchen to prepare a meal of chicken that will blow anyone’s socks off!

Though I don’t cook meat in the house, the beautiful photography of each recipe just made me enter food heaven through my imagination. Let food feed my imagination for the culinary maestro’s heart lies therein…..

82. Foods That Harm Foods That Heal by Sandra Brazel, Susan Fyshe and Marilyn Linton

BOOK REVIEW: Foods That Harm Foods That Heal by Sandra Brazel, Susan Fyshe and Marilyn Linton

Food has always been surrounded with myths good and bad. But of course the bad myths are what confuses us like eating too many blueberries will make us anaemic (phony lie!). Which is healthier: beef or tuna? Margarine or butter? The truth is, it’s not always obvious which foods are good for you and which ones aren’t. This book debunks the myths and feeds us all the good bits.

Foods That Harm Foods That Heal sets the record straight with authoritative entries on foods from apples to zucchini. Learn which ones can fight cancer, free you from pain, slow the aging process, sharpen your mind, and help you sleep.

Find out the secret health benefits of coffee, chocolate, nuts, and shrimp. And discover the little-known hazards of fruit juice, grilled foods, energy bars, and fast-food salads.

Ailment entries tell which foods help – or hurt – health conditions from allergies to diabetes to ulcers. And special features explain everything you need to know about low-carb diets, trans fats, omega-3 fatty acids, the glycemic index, and more.

The book is compiled from all the issues of Reader’s Digest magazines. Many of the health tips in RD magazine are up-to-date so rest assured this book is going to be on my shelves for a long time to come. Highly reader-friendly and chock full of fascinating facts this book is for health buffs and soon-to-be health mythbusters out there.

81. Vegetarian: 100 Everyday Recipes by Ivy Contract

BOOK REVIEW: Vegetarian – 100 Everyday Recipes by Ivy Contract

Due to my father’s piety to God, my family as Hindus do not cook any form of meat (non-vegetarian) items in the house. This has been our tradition for the past 15 years. Therefore, me and my mum had to come up with ingenious recipes to bring to life an otherwise dreary dining table of greens.

Vegetarian cooking combines a wide variety of the ingredients to create exciting and tempting dishes from all parts of the world. A typical vegetarian diet is a healthy way of eating, being low in saturated fat and high in dietary fibre and carbohydrates.

Whether you are planning to become vegetarian yourself, have vegetarian guests to dinner or you just want to cook creatively to make salads, light meals, hearty dinners or delicious desserts, you will find a wealth of everyday recipes in this book.

This small book has 100 mouth-watering recipes. Clear and easy-to-follow ingredients lists and step-by-step methods make cooking vegetarian food a breeze. Beautiful photography of each recipe is inserted to inspire perfect results.

With this wonderful book, me and my mum have managed to whip up bountiful breakfasts, luscious lunches, tempting teas, dashing dinners and sumptuous suppers – and guess what – it’s vegetarian! For those who are not vegetarians but want a respite from all that meat, this book will make you forget that meat even exists!

80. Wye Oh Wye: Diary for Dede by Annie Razid

BOOK REVIEW: Wye Oh Wye – Diary for Dédé by Annie Razid

Being a true blue Malaysian at heart, I always put my Malaysian authors at the forefront as my first choice of reading material to go to. Once a fresh faced author pops onto the scene, I’m the first to lay my hands on the tomes that they lovingly and painstakingly share with the readers. Luck was on my side one sunny Saturday morning. As I was talking to my TESOL lecturer, Mr. Lim, a gracious gentleman in his 70’s who shares the same passion for books as me, he handed me a hardcover book that very much resembled an olden days diary.

Mr. Lim was gushing on about his happiness in meeting an old acquaintance who happened to be a writer too. As they were deep in conversation, the wonder woman, Ms. Annie Razid, handed him a book. It is the first book she is writing and soon to be launched nationwide. And by now all of you would have guessed the book I’m referring to was the one that Mr. Lim parted with to let me have the privilege of setting my eyes on first. The book cover actually gives the first insight into what the book holds. The intricate artwork of trees carrying autumn leaves on its branches and a lone girl standing between the path laden with these trees was heart warming yet gave a sense of sadness and hardship. A cute photo of a chubby kid with face paint and his two friends and a photo of a suave gentleman with presumably his gorgeous daughter and a handsome son suggest a storyline of a family from the time it bloomed till later years. However, the story may not be so simple and everything doesn’t end in a fairytale. Readers, have a box of tissues nearby as this story will make you cry and also laugh as Annie Razid shares her life with you.

The story tells the tale of Annie Razid going through her 3 phases of post-divorce. The journey of how she went to England, where her fairytale began, when she was a young wife and everything was perfect. Still lost and in denial, Annie went back to Wye in order to relive her happy memories, looking for the love she always wanted and wishing she could turn back time. As time passed by however Annie kept on returning to Wye but no longer in denial, Annie started her own journey of self discovery through the new people she met, and the old friendships she reconciled. After going through too many phases of constant let downs, Annie finally realized her purpose of life, this story tells Annie’s journey from how she started getting attracted to Wye to how she learned to let go.

Heart-wrenchingly poignant yet motivating, this book has moved me to the point of no return. Written in exactly the same way as how she wrote her diary of her life, Annie Razid has evoked a strong message that all of us out here can take a page from. Love doesn’t necessarily have to be a bed of roses, it can also become a path of thorns that penetrates deep into the heart only to leave permanent scars. However hard it may seem to rebound from that form of pain, there comes a time when you have to move on not only for yourself but for those you love. God gives us rightfully what’s ours and when the time comes He shares it with someone else who needs it more than we do.  A few lines that tugged at my heartstrings and made me fond of the author (a super-mom and an iron lady for all the right reasons): “Don’t give up on love...don’t even struggle to find love. Because darling, you are LOVE! You are ‘Being Love’. You are ‘Being’ and you are ‘Love’!”

I cross my fingers that this book’s launching is a successful one as I want every soul out there to read this story to understand the true and sincere meaning of love and how life is one, huge fairytale that can take unexpected lurches when you least expected. Beautifully woven and with each line holding soupcons of feelings, I highly recommend this as a book to be read, cherished and passed down through generations as the messages will never fade from your heart...

79. Cooking for A Healthy Heart by Jacqui Lynas

BOOK REVIEW: Cooking for A Healthy Heart by Jacqui Lynas

Heart disease is the number one killer in the world, affecting more than 6 million people each year. The good news is that experts agree eating properly is one of the best ways to combat this. Being a cookbook and health book, this is one of the very few books on the shelves that will be your reference for heart health.

In this book, the latest medical advice on keeping your heart pumping is clearly explained to help you understand heart disease.

Easy-to-follow recipes use a variety of foods and cooking styles to stimulate your taste buds, and low-fat versions of favourite traditional dishes are also included.

Each recipe is nutritionally analyzed to help you maintain a balanced diet. This book also includes menu planners and simple ideas for swapping bad heart foods for good heart foods.

In my circle of family and friends, I have personally seen some of them suffer from this silent killer. Fortunately for me, this book was a blessing in disguise. As a chef, I whipped up heart-healthy recipes and shared it with them. Giving them respite from pain through food is the least I can do for them. You can too, just put on your aprons and replace that re-fried oil!

78. Pad Parties: The Guide to Ultra-Entertaining by Matt Maranian

BOOK REVIEW: Pad Parties – The Guide to Ultra-Entertaining by Matt Maranian

Enjoying a party is great, but throwing a party? Maaaayyyybeee not.... Fret not, it is actually more fun to throw a great bash than to experience one. Blinking in confusion? I’m not kidding J Put bang into your next bash with Pad Parties, the ultra-swank guide to entertaining.

Have you gone to a party where the decor, bites and entertainment looks like it cost a bomb when it actually cost only a fraction? Or maybe a themed party for example during Halloween, where everything from the area to the clothing is ghastly and macabre? Here you’ll find dozens of recipes, gifts, and projects for all that glitters, glows and flames.

Dispense lively libations from illuminated punch bowls; offer mouthwatering, utensil-free hors d’oeuvres that avoid catering clichés; and enhance your partyscape with ambient audio-visual oddities.

From a tiny cocktail gathering to trough-food shindig, Pad Parties is the how-to guide full of inspiring ideas that will transform you into the host with a little more than most.

Going through this book enabled me to open up the floodgates on the many ideas which at first I have imagined as being too over-the-top (OTT). Hosting a party has never been the same again with self-made coasters for a cocktail party or a flaming piñata for a birthday party.

77. Culinaria Italy: Pasta, Pesto, Passion by Claudia Piras

BOOK REVIEW: Culinaria Italy – Pasta, Pesto, Passion by Claudia Piras

L’arte della cucina italiana (where the art of cooking and the art of living meet)....this Italian saying cannot be true enough. Italians have love, art and food intertwined, ensnaring many a tourists heart for returns to the Eternal City. This book gives us a fresh glimpse into Italy and its food and culture.

The popularity of la cucina italiana has never been greater. This is true of Italian cooking, where traditional recipes are enjoying a renaissance. Ambitious food retailers, excellent chefs, gastronomic experts, and whole armies of talented home cooks have ensured that authentic Italian specialties are known and available far beyond their country of origin.

All over Italy there are specialist producers dedicated to traditional methods. Although the producers realize that theirs is a niche product, they find that more and more consumers are looking for quality rather than quantity. The Italian table presents us with a veritable feast.

Culinaria Italy will reveal the tales of our daily bread, how to cheat the Devil with a cheese and many other amazing recipes and Italian anecdotes related to food. It sure took a place in my heart and I’m sure this book will take yours too.

76. Baking by Martha Day

BOOK REVIEW: Baking by Martha Day

When the smell of freshly baked breads, pies and cookies wafts out from the oven, it conjures up images of a motherly kind. Warmth, kindness and homeliness are the tags associated with baking. Do you want to be surrounded by the feelings and smells intertwined with baking. Then this cookbook is the one for you with over more than 400 step-by-step recipes with more than 1800 photographs.

Baking covers delicious cakes and family tea time classics that will tempt you to revive the art of traditional home baking. Bread making can be a tricky task when you can’t get the hang of it but this book makes it all the more easier to make that perfect crusty loaf as it has a chapter on bread making – with recipes for everyday breads as well as artisan loaves.

A comprehensive techniques section covers all the ingredients, equipment and skills you will need, including how to line tins, bake blind, make a lattice top for a pie, or make the base for a cheesecake.

As soon as this book was in front of me, the kitchen became a whirlwind of cake batter and cookie dough. Recipes are immensely easy and all you need is all the love and passion to flow through your products and voila! You have the most delicious baked goods in front of you. A definite pick-me-up for all cooks out there.

75. The Body Scoop For Girls by Jennifer Ashton

BOOK REVIEW: The Body Scoop for Girls by Jennifer Ashton

As a teen, I never grew up not knowing about my body, or why zits popped out or why my monthly flow was due at a certain time. My mum was open on these topics as well as provided me with ample guidebooks on the female body. For those parents out there or even for those grown women (not only teens) who want to know more about how the ladies’ body works, this is a straight-talk guide to a healthy, beautiful you.

As an ob-gyn specializing in adolescent care, Dr. Jennifer Ashton understands better than anyone that those lonely, zitty and awkward teen years are hard. And these days, they’re tougher than ever with the pressures that girls face.

A comprehensive guide from head to toe, this book covers the basics of a girl’s changing body and beyond, including:

a)      The decision to have sexual relationships and why.

b)      Weird body changes like BO.

c)       Eating disorders and how to love the body you have.

d)      How to manage the blues, depression, and hormone imbalances.

e)      Grooming, from hair removal to hygiene products.

f)       The 411 on body piercings.

With her funny and fresh girl-to-girl voice, the author’s no-holds-barred guidebook speaks directly to young women everywhere.

Reading this book instantly brought me years back to my highschool days when I was in an all-girls convent. Growing up meant a lot to us and guidebooks like this were few and far between in our school library. As I read this book, I am happy that future generations will have access to wonderfully comprehensive guides like these.

74. Chocolate & Coffee by Catherine Atkinson, Mary Banks, Christine France and Christine McFadden

BOOK REVIEW: Chocolate & Coffee by Catherine Atkinson, Mary Banks, Christine France and Christine McFadden

After books, coffee and chocolate never fails to be a girls’ best friend. A large, chewy, decadent brownie with hot fudge sauce or an iced caramel macchiato lifts spirits of broken hearts or warms the heart with feelings of fuzzy love and friendship. Being wonderfully suitable to suit any emotion or occasion, coffee and chocolate has long been at the forefront in the culinary scene. Chocolate & Coffee is a jaw-dropping book of over 200 irresistible recipes for total indulgence, shown step-by-step in over 1400 photographs.

A celebration of our twin love affairs with chocolate and coffee, this book explores the importance of these sinful ingredients throughout history until today, from their mythical origins to their present global status.

Besides that, Chocolate & Coffee tells you everything you need to know about them: how to choose them, how to drink them and how to make delicious cakes, confectionery and other treats. Chocolate and coffee recipes demonstrate the wonderful culinary versatility through the recipes of delicious meringues, tarts, pies, ice cream and frozen desserts, and much more.

Being a crazy chocaholic and coffee addict, I couldn’t resist the temptation to reach out for this thick tome of all things sinful and mouth-wateringly decadent. One of the leading books on chocolate and coffee, I highly recommend readers who have a love for these ancient gods’ indulgences to grab this book for friends and family, or even better keep it for yourself!

73. 400 Appetizers & Party Recipes by Bridget Jones

BOOK REVIEW: 400 Appetizers & Party Recipes by Bridget Jones

Hosting a party or a function is never an easy feat. The challenge becomes more harrowing when you have to plan a suitable menu that allows for both mingling and culinary enjoyment of guests. In this respect, 400 Appetizers and Party Recipes is a fantastic collection of delicious food for entertaining, from finger foods to buffet dishes, all shown step-by-step in 1375 stunning colour photographs.

This book showcases the many perfect ways to start a meal with ideas for first courses, hors d’ oeuvres, snacks, finger food and nibbles. Everything you need to know about successful party planning is listed in this book, with advice on making guest lists, seating plans, table settings, decorations and themed parties, as well as essential entertaining tips.

There are fabulous ideas for party food, with appetizing favourites from light bites, dips and dippers, to recipes for informal brunches, lunches and suppers. Make stunning centrepieces or dishes for formal occasions such as dinner parties, special anniversaries and celebrations.

All recipes are fully tested, simple to follow and easy to use – results are guaranteed first time, every time. So what are you waiting for, let’s partyyyyy!

72. Heston's Fantastical Feasts by Heston Blumenthal

BOOK REVIEW: Heston’s Fantastical Feasts by Heston Blumenthal

As a chef, I religiously follow the great steps of local celebrity chefs (Sherson Lian, Chef Wan to name a few) as well as those from overseas (Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, and hundreds more). Being a dreamy person, I often imagine scenes from a storybook or movie being replicated on a plate.

Impossible maybe, but one chef has got this down pat and that is none other than Heston Blumenthal, the owner of Fat Duck in Britain. Having several cookbooks and TV shows under his belt, he focuses on serving the whimsical, the imaginary and the downright crazy creations on a plate. This book showcases some of his finest works of art using food as the materials for his masterpieces.

When the author got the opportunity to dream up 6 historical feasts inspired by books, legends and fairytales, and then serve them up to guests, he jumped at the chance. For historical cornerstones he chose the Regency and Edwardian periods, the Gothic Revival and the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and then began his research and development, delving into Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Dracula and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as many more books and movies.

This is not so much a cookbook as a culinary adventure story, with recipes. Each chapter finishes with a selection of the recipes for that Feast – this is where you’ll learn the secrets of how it was done on the night. Using molecular gastronomy excessively in the recipes, it’s best to arm your wallets with dosh or just fantasize yourself making it.

All in all, I had the most enjoyable read among most cookbooks as it detracted from cooking and gave more of a feeling to food which can only be done by the ever-affable Heston Blumenthal.

71. The Food & Beer Cookbook by Richard Fox

BOOK REVIEW: The Food & Beer Cookbook by Richard Fox

Aaaahhhh....The ancient beauty of Chiang Mai....it’s many temples, ruins, night markets, food and beer...Beer? Yes, I said it right. Thailand is famous for its many handcrafted brews as well as commercial brews like the well-known Chang Beer. Pertaining to this, I have just the book review to share with you bookworms and tipplers alike.

When we think of beer, we generally think of bitter or lager, and yet there is a diversity of styles and flavours out there to enable a regular customer never to repeat the same experience twice. What’s more these beers are classic recipes in their own right – lovingly created by people with a passion for flavour and a zest for life. It is no coincidence, or falsehood then, that beer is a natural accompaniment and ingredient, to all manner of foods, particularly where the produce shares the same artisan values as the beer.

The opening sections of this book introduce these beers and flavour matching principles and ideas in a quick, easy and entertaining way. This book is about pleasure, not study and pain. It is also this approach to food and beer that has inspired the recipes themselves.

This book is occasion-based because cooking at home is more about the event – friends, family; a sense of fun, the circumstances that surround the eating experience.

Right folks. It’s time for me to grab some chow for dinner and to wash it all down in this humid heat, maybe I should grab myself an India pale ale. Any other suggestions readers? 

70. The Herb & Spice Companion by Marcus A. Webb and Richard Craze

BOOK REVIEW: The Herb & Spice Companion by Marcus A. Webb and Richard Craze

These past few years, as I slowly travelled through Asia, I never missed a chance to stroll around at their local markets. A plethora of sights greeted me, from vendors selling the freshest vegetables to unique food items. However, I couldn’t resist myself from using my well-toned sense of smell to take in the sweet, sometimes pungent, aromatic smells of the spices in the spice section of the markets. Sometimes I was allowed by the vendors to pluck a mint leaf there and a basil leaf here to pop into my mouth and savour the flavours that burst forth from the leaves.

Being intrigued by all these herbs and spices, I needed a guide to brush up my meagre knowledge of these ingredients, including usage and health benefits. I chanced upon this book during one of the book fairs back here in Malaysia and my eyes widened in anime-like proportions as I was excited to finally acquire what I searched for.

This book is an authoritative guide to preparing and using a wide variety of common and unusual herbs and spices.

Illustrated directories list the medicinal, culinary and cosmetic uses of each herb and the history and essential properties of each spice.

Besides that, this comprehensive book explains which herbs to use during the stages of your life and for different physical and emotional conditions. It also covers the use of spices for health and beauty as well as for culinary use.

After flipping through these pages, I have a much deeper respect for the humble spice that reached our shores during the merchant era. Now as I sprinkle cumin seeds in a steaming pot of rice and breathe in its sweet fragrance, I hope all readers out there find this unparalleled joy of spices and spread the love of spice.

69. A Bowl of Porridge by Guthrie Hutton

BOOK REVIEW: A Bowl of Porridge by Guthrie Hutton

If we are sick, our mums will usually feed us bowl after bowl of steaming porridge, whether it be chicken, vegetables or just plain rice cooked down with some broth. It feels good to swallow this smooth concoction when we have a sore throat. Even if we aren’t sick, we eat porridge for its feel good factor, the warmth and the wisps of smoke from a hot bowl of porridge reminds us of mum’s caring arms. But do we actually know the humble origins of this comfort food? This book has all you need to know on the history of porridge and its benefits to you.

The Scots’ consumption of oats is legendary. Oatmeal was often called meal and porridge is meal thickened in a pot of boiling water. Porridge even has different names – potage, parritch, parridge, porritch, or in Gaelic, brochan.

Gruel, brose and sowans were also made by mixing oatmeal and water, as were some regional variations with strange sounding names like blerie, bluthrie, gogar, lowlands, milgruel, willins and others.

Porridge is found in the cuisine of almost every country but the Scots have pulled off a remarkable trick by getting the rest of the world to recognize oatmeal porridge as the one true porridge, and to regard it as uniquely Scottish.

The author has looked into his bowl of porridge and come up with a fascinating history of this humble and nutritious dish, with relevance for today’s health conscious palate.

Sitting with a cold on bed with a leaden head, I read this book. At this moment, my mum enters with a bowl of porridge with carrots and potato and a side dish of salted vegetable omelette. Trust me, if heaven was this good, I want to be there everyday.

68. Italian for Beginners by Kristin Harmel

BOOK REVIEW: Italian for Beginners by Kristin Harmel

Every girl loves her food, and for those who happen to be a bookworm like me, BOOKS TOO! How about we throw in a rom-com book and some food descriptions in its narrative? Sounds good? Well, lucky you as this Little Black Dress (LBD) book dishes up this and more. Curious, so dive in!

Good-girl Cat Connelly is bored of playing it safe. Despairing of finding love, she decides it’s time to break all the rules in search of some excitement. Ciao, bella! From this phrase, I guess readers out there already know where this heroine is heading to.

Taking up an invitation to go to Italy for a month seems the perfect solution. But suddenly Cat finds herself alone in Rome! It will take an unexpected friendship, a whirlwind tour of the Eternal City, and a surprise encounter to show Cat that life doesn’t always work out the way you think it will – but that the best things are often to be found in the breathtakingly unexpected.

Say ‘arrivederci’, lonely hearts’ with another fabulous page-turner from the LBD series. Any girl who holds a LBD in her hand is empowered with the meaning of love (psssttt, I can vouch for this as I have several of the LBDs). Head on to Book Xcess or even MPH or any good bookstore near you to have a LBD in your hand beauties!

67. The Branded Cookbook by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton

BOOK REVIEW: The Branded Cookbook by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton

As I was growing up, I was brought up on all sorts of delicious food, both imported and inbound. However, my personal favourites were and still are Heinz baked beans, Tabasco pepper sauce and Coca-cola. When I entered culinary school, I was overcome by the fact that these foodstuffs could become a meal when combined with other foods, but how? I wanted to create dishes with these but I didn’t have a clue. When I saw this book, I didn’t hesitate to get my hands on a copy of this.

Mad for Marmite? Nuts about Nutella? Hooked on Heinz baked beans? Then this is the cookbook for you.

There are over 80 fun and easy recipes starring 17 iconic food brands, including Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Kikkoman soy sauce, Tabasco pepper sauce, Quaker oats, Guinness and Coca-cola.

Packed with lip-smacking ideas for your favourite flavours, such as Pad Thai with Skippy peanut butter and Cornflake macaroons, there is bound to be a recipe just for you using one of the most famous brands in the food industry. So hop on and say Nutella Truffles!

66. Ingredients by Loukie Werle and Jill Cox

BOOK REVIEW: Ingredients by Loukie Werle and Jill Cox

Enjoying relatively easy access to world markets and vastly improved methods of cultivation, production and importation, specialty shops and supermarkets are now filled with delicious foods from near and far. It is little wonder that general confusion about exactly what everything is, and how it is to be used, has accompanied this great “food boom”.

Ingredients is designed as the essential work of reference for every cook and lover of food. Containing more than 2000 colour photographs of produce from both hemispheres and text that dispels any confusion, this is a fascinating comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about the nuts and bolts of food.

This book is divided into several sections, for example fruits and vegetables, seafood and poultry. Listings are from the most common ingredients to some hard-to-get-your-hands-on ingredients. There is even a section on bush food for those curious to indulge their taste buds in the macabre.

Acquiring a copy of this comprehensive guide to the many ingredients available to us today will not be disappointing. The pictures themselves, of beautiful fresh produce, will set tongues wagging and your feet running to the nearest supermarket near you!

65. The Ultimate Book of Cooking Hints & Tips by Christine France

BOOK REVIEW: The Ultimate Book of Cooking Hints & Tips by Christine France

Being in the kitchen has never been a task that I showed any resentment towards. My love of food and cooking overtook everything. The whiff of fresh herbs in a sauce or the fragance of a casserole in the oven is something that can never be resisted. Although I have been cooking for quite some time, I still need hints, tips and techniques to pull me through and I know those who are still learning to cook need these more. For this reason, this wondrous book is indispensable.

The Ultimate Book of Cooking Hints & Tips contains comprehensive information on complete kitchen management. It has no-nonsense expertise on planning and producing delicious, healthy meals for your family and friends.

Besides that, this book is packed with ingenious tips. Special tip boxes highlight bright ideas, traditional wisdom, healthy alternatives and money- and time-saving suggestions.

Being the essential problem-solver, clever solutions help you handle every eventuality in your kitchen, from a freezer breakdown to a curdled cream sauce. Also discover how to entertain with ease, inexpensively and with the minimum of fuss.

As a chef, I highly recommend this book to my friends and family who want to enter the kitchen or have entered and need invaluable guides to lead them through the kitchen.

64. Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

BOOK REVIEW: Relish – My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Tapping into our child-like reservoir, we as grown women sometimes want a little bit of our childhoods splashed into our daily lives, whether in a book or in a task we do. Have you ever imagined if cooking hints and techniques, recipes and even foodie stories came in the form of quirky cartoons and bubbly comic bubbles? I did get a little thrown off my feet when I came upon My Life in the Kitchen at Kinokuniya Bookstores KLCC. Little did I know that I would read, Reread and REREAD it again! It was so much fun!

Whether she’s injuring herself – again and again – in pursuit of a perfect croissant or bankrupting herself on fancy cheeses, Lucy Knisley knows what she wants: a good meal. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, she comes by her priorities honestly. In this Technicolor love letter to cooking and eating, Knisley presents her personal history as seen through a kaleidoscope of delicious things.

Defying the idea of eating as a compulsion and food as a consumer product, Relish invites us to celebrate the meals we eat as a connection to our bodies, and to each other. Knisley’s intimate and utterly charming graphic memoir offers reflection on cooking, eating, and living – as well as some of her favourite recipes!

Interestingly illustrated, quirkily informative and lovingly put together, this tome relates food and all its glory in such a beautiful way that simple things as pasta cooking al dente becomes something that is etched in your heart for a long time to come.