Review of Knife Drop: Creative Recipes Anyone Can Cook – Nick DiGiovanni

Forget the rules. Just cook!

Home-cooked food doesn’t have to be over-the-top, fussy, or time-intensive to be absolutely amazing. In his debut cookbook, Nick DiGiovanni gives you the tools to become fearless in the kitchen and to create delicious meals.

Building on a foundation of staple recipes such as basic pasta dough and homemade butter, Nick shares a mouthwatering selection of his favorite recipes. Feast on New England favorites like Browned Butter Lobster Rolls and Garlic Butter Steak Tips, enjoy decadent pasta dishes like Smoky Mezcal Rigatoni and Sungold Spaghetti, and recreate fan favorites like his Viral Pasta Chips and Dino Nuggets. And of course, Nick had to include some “collab” recipes from his famous friends like Andrew Zimmern, Robert Irvine, Joanne Chang, Lynja, and more.

Knife Drop also includes Nick’s expert advice on equipment, ingredients, and techniques, so home cooks of any ability level can pick up some new skills. Explore a library of QR codes linking to video tutorials showcasing key cooking techniques, from holding a chef’s knife and making a piping bag to pronouncing “gnocchi” the correct way.

Knife Drop: Creative Recipes Anyone Can Cook

Nick DiGiovanni

Alpha

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

This is one fun and creative cook book! The young and enthusiastic author, a graduate of the US version of MasterChef, has a huge grab-bag of culinary influences from around the world to play with, and it shows. But it’s also a very American cookbook, grounded firmly in New England (not so American though, that it doesn’t include metric measurements for people like us). I will admit that it’s not an especially healthy food cookbook. Though this is very much food you will want to try at home, and that has to be better than takeaways! It’s not really a book for beginner cooks either, in spite of that ‘recipes anyone can cook’. Rather, it is a cookbook full of clever ideas that will expand the repertoire of the home cook; that are guaranteed to please the fussy eaters. It’s fun, and it’s yummy!

I’ve made “Caramelised Patty Melt” a few times already, cheating by replacing the caramelized onion with some jarred pickle. It’s going to be a go-to recipe in my household. We enjoyed the “Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadilla” as well, and there are several others I really want to try. There’s a good chilli recipe and a nice shepherd’s pie. I want to make the “Butter Toffee Bars” and the “Compost Cookies” and the “Dino Nuggets” and so many others. I won’t say that every recipe is a hit, but there are so many more hits than misses here that I think most home cooks would get a great deal of useful inspiration out of this book.

It is lavishly illustrated – you want to eat the pictures! The binding is solid and it does sit flat. There is a good index, but it does lack one thing – a glossary so that the rest of us know what to use instead of some of the more US-specific ingredients. Nevertheless, this book comes highly recommended – especially to the bored home cook looking for something exciting and a bit different.

Review of Oliver Kitten’s Diary: The journals of a mischievous cat’s first year – Gareth St John Thomas

A truly innovative book for cat and kitten lovers. Oliver Kitten was born in a firetruck and ends up living with a three-generation multigenerational human family in a four-bedroom house, Here he keeps a diary of his own escapades and the things he sees and hears his family get up to.

Cute, funny, and a little naughty, Oliver can sometimes be downright wicked in his precocious observations of the things all the humans do in his house.

Elegantly produced with black-and-white line drawings.

Oliver Kitten’s Diary: The journals of a mischievous cat’s first year

Gareth St John Thomas

Exisle Publishing

Supplied by Fantail Communications

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

Oliver, a six-week-old black kitten, is adopted by a family including Richard, Sophie, Lucy, Nan, and a couple of children. Very young children. Naturally, Oliver has favourites. Lucy is at the top, followed by dad Richard, and then whoever is kind to cats. As Oliver grows, so does the cast of characters. There’s Tail, who seems to have a mind of his own, some dogs (such as the poodles next door), human friends, and a variety of cats that usually offer Oliver lifestyle advice.

This is Gareth St John Thomas’s fourth book at the least. The action stretches from the day of Oliver’s adoption at six weeks until his first birthday. Now, owing a young black cat myself, I had to read this. And it starts well. Oliver explores his surroundings, goes with the family to the country, and even enjoys bicycle rides with Lucy. The number of people, cats, dogs, and other intelligent life expands with his age. Nan even takes him for a ride on her Goldwing. We even have the spectre of Covid and lockdowns raising their ugly heads.

Gareth has written a good book, but he could have written a better book. Generally speaking, Oliver’s tale is vanilla; there is no drama. Not even being shut in a cupboard overnight evinces a level of panic associated with meals missed and cuddles forgone. Nor do loud noises scare young Oliver. On the plus side, Oliver is generally a convincing kitten. He likes to play, and has his favourites: Lucy, Richard, then Nan, then followed by a cast of also rans. And he usually behaves as typical kitten – investigate everything until it scares you, or you get bored.

Oliver Kitten’s Diary is worth a solid 3.5 stars, or a damn good smoodge. I thank Exisle Publishing for the review copy.

Review of Matariki – Gavin Bishop

When the Matariki cluster rises, each of the nine stars represent the promise of the year ahead. This stunning board book will guide our youngest tamariki through each star’s meaning, with simple, evocative words in te reo Māori and English, and with bold, engaging artwork.

Talented, award-winning children’s book creator, Gavin Bishop, has created another vital book for all of Aotearoa, sharing knowledge about this important part of te ao Māori.

Matariki

Gavin Bishop

Picture Puffin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Matariki is a small cluster of stars, also known as the Pleiades, in the Taurus constellation. In New Zealand it comes into view low on the north-eastern horizon, in the tail of the Milky Way, just before dawn in midwinter.   It is a festive event in New Zealand that signals the Māori New Year and the changing of the seasons. Signified by the Matariki cluster of stars reappearing in the night sky, this is a time to reflect on the past year, celebrate the present, and plan for the year ahead.

Every iwi celebrates Matariki at different times, some when the cluster is first seen in the dawn sky, others after the full moon rises or at the beginning of the next new moon. For some iwi the star cluster includes seven stars, while for others it has nine.

This board book names nine stars and gives a short description of each star’s meaning, in both Maori and English.  Each star is accompanied by artwork that relates to their meanings;

• Ururangi is the star that determines the winds for the year and has the wind blowing a cloud across the sky
• Waiti is the star linked with fresh water and food that comes from fresh water and has an eel
• Waitā is the star linked with the ocean and food that comes from it and has a fish

The artwork is lifelike and clear, easy for toddlers to grasp what the picture is. The colours are strong and on a blue background which makes the text stand out and easy to read, with the star names in white, the Maori meaning in red, then the English meaning in white again. As this is a board book the pages re easy to turn and hard to damage, perfect for little hands.

This book is a great introduction to Matariki for everyone with basic te reo Maori.   Aimed at 0 to 5 year olds, it’s ideal reading for any kindergarten, kohunga reo, or home.

Mānawatia a Matariki! Happy Matariki!

Review of Deception – Lesley Pearse

After the funeral of her mother, Sally, Alice Kent is approached by a man named Angus who claims to be her father and served time in prison for marrying Sally bigamously.

What does he hope to gain telling her this now, thirty years on? How can her adored Ralph not be her true father? And why did her mother betray her so badly?

She had accepted Sally’s many faults, and reluctance to never speak of the past. But faced with this deception, Alice knows she must uncover the whole truth about her mother.

Whatever the cost.

Deception

Lesley Pearse

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Alice never had a close relationship with her mum Sally, she was always distant and guarded, very hard to know.  When Sally passes away Alice attends the funeral, where a mysterious man approaches her.  He claims that he’s Alice and her sister Emily’s biological father, Angus, and went to jail for marrying Sally bigamously.

Shocked, Alice decides to keep this secret from her father and sister while she finds out the truth about Angus’s claims, who her mum was, and more about Sally’s past life.  As Alice digs deeper into Sally’ past, she meets interesting people and finds out her mum overcame many obstacles and had a festinating life.  She begins to understand Sally more and realises she was a survivor.

This story flips back and forward from present to past, from Alice’s investigations to Sally’s remarkable life. The plot is light and there are many characters but it keeps your attention throughout and is an easy to read story. Sally was a very intriguing character leading a very colourful life and I wish more of her stories were told. This is an engrossing addictive saga that is the perfect holiday book.  I highly recommend it.