It’s probably every dedicated blogger’s dream to be called up by a publishing company and asked if some of their material could go to print. New Zealand food blogger Laura Vincent saw that dream come true in her book Hungry and Frozen.
The premise of Hungry and Frozen is to present comfort food for when you are cold and looking for something warm to fill your belly with – providing a broad range of recipes from brunch and weeknight dinners to homemade ice cream.
I’m liking
This book is both foodie and not too showy. The food looks obtainable by the average cook, though you may not already have some of the ingredients in your pantry for your chosen recipe.
Books written by bloggers have a certain flair about them. Witty snippets introduce each recipe, full of lovely phrasing and delicious adjectives that make your mouth water before you’ve got your pots out of the cupboard.
This book is fun and different, and largely quite original. You won’t find a new take on a scone recipe here. I picture the author as someone who goes to sleep at night dreaming of creative food ideas, and then bursting to the kitchen first thing in the morning to see if there was anything in those wand’ring thoughts.
Things that made me go hmmmm
There’s something here for everyone really – that’s both a good thing and a not-so-good thing. A flick though this recipe book feels slightly haphazard. I’ve picked it up many times and I do enjoy reading it, but I confess that I rarely know where to start. I’ve made the odd thing and it’s worked out OK but something doesn’t quite gel for me in terms of getting the food off the page and made. Perhaps it’s that I don’t have the ingredients to hand, or that there is just SO much content that is so varied I can’t quite decide what to choose.
The conclusion
I can appreciate the book – it’s interesting and worth a look. I don’t see it as a cook book I’d go back to time and time again, but when I’m looking to make something original and different, I’ll pull it off the shelf and leaf through it.
Hungry and Frozen is published by Penguin Group (NZ) and retails for $40.00 a copy. Check out Laura’s blog www.hungryandfrozen.com to see what you make of her recipes – or view a couple of them here on Kiwi Families. If you like the feel of the blog you’ll enjoy the cookbook, which I feel is reasonably priced due to the volume of recipes, the thoughtful text that surrounds them and the sturdy hardcover title which is just the right size for a cook book.
