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Absolutely Chocolate! Book Review

Posted on by Abi

Time for a book review 🙂 When it comes to food and desserts in particular there are definately fashions that come and go over time. But there is one ingredient that will never ever fall out of favour and that is chocolate. Whether your a traditionalist who loves their organic 70% cocoa solids or a person who bows to the delights of milk chocolate or white it is hard to find a person who doesn’t love one of the many variants now available.

But can you or do you cook with it? I have recently received Absolutely Chocolate written by the editors of Fine Cooking.

To say this book is a bible to all things chocolate would be a huge understatement, to start with it’s a very hefty hardback, secondly it not only gives you ten large sections of recipes it also teaches you everything you could ever wish to know about chocolate.
After a rather mouthwatering readthrough I decided to test the book out by making the Fastest Fudge Cake with Ganache Drizzle. The instructions were very clear and to the point and I had no trouble interpreting the recipe. They were not lying about the cake being fast either, it was whipped up in a flash but certainly wouldn’t have looked that way to guests.
We served it to four adults and three children and the general consensus, after all the oohing and ahhing over the shiny ganache, was that the cake was delicious and we could all have eaten a second or third slice. Even the children loved it which suprised me as it had quite a sophisticated flavour. It would make a gorgeous end to a dinner party (but without the time and effort of other possible dishes).
Would I recommend this book?
Without a doubt, the recipes are beyond beautiful to look at and eat. They’re easy to follow and a lot are very quick. Plus the book looks grand in it’s own right and would look great sat on a coffee table for guests to flick through.

Could it be improved in any way?
Honestly I have struggled to think of a way in which this book can be improved. The only thing I can think of is that occassionally it mentions using certain brands of biscuits etc but isn’t terribly clear on suitable alternatives, but most people can work these out for themselves.
Plus
If you love chocolate as much as me then keep your eyes peeled to the blog as this coming Thursday I’m launching a big new giveaway that will be right up your street!
Book Details
Title: Absoltuely Chocolate
Author: Editors of Fine Cooking
ISBN: 9781600851339
RRP: £20.00
Publisher: Taunton
Publication Date: Autumn 2009.

 

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Little Felted Animals! Book Review.

Posted on by Abi

Time for a book review! Trends often seem to come and go in the craft world, but one that is steadily growing and not dying out is needle felting. The process of creating an object using unspun wool can seem like a rather daunting prospect. I had often thought this myself, I have several felted pieces that I have bought from other artists and I often found myself wondering how on earth they were made. Enter Little Felted Animals by Mariie-Noelle Horvath!

This book was very kindly sent to me by the publishers GMC Publications and at first glance I loved it, as you can see from the cover image the book is beautifully photographed. I think the final presentation of a book is very important, this book looks and feels expensive and special (although the RRP is quite low). It is definitely the kind of book worthy of a place on your coffee table. After an initial read through I bought the relevant supplies and set about making the first animal (a little black bird).

I found the instructions a little confusing at first, I think this is largely due to the fact that needle felting is in it’s most basic form very simple. But when you see the end results it’s hard to believe there is so little to it, so you can’t help but imagine you’ve missed a step. The key seemed to be to follow both the text and images exactly.

The end result… well I am well and truly addicted to felting! Jabbing away at balls of wool is both theraputic and satisfying (although be careful not to prick yourself like I did, the needles are very sharp). Here is my favourite little animal I have created so far, with my own twist of creativity.

I really cannot enthuse enough about needle felting, it’s so simple and addictive, I even have my family getting in on the act (my husband made an owl).

Would I recommend this book? This book made felting less mysterious and more accessible and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. It’s also beautiful to look through. If the book alone wasn’t a good Christmas present, then how about gifting one of the creations it teaches you to make!

Could it be improved in any way? The book lists several places to buy supplies from but unfortunately they are all in America. For a British reader like myself this wasn’t particularly helpful, an international listing or two would have been nice. I also think it could have been written a little more basically for a novice like myself. Although once you catch the idea the pictures alone are enough instruction.

Book Details

Title: Little Felted Animals

Author: Marie-Noelle Horvath

ISBN: 9780823015047

RRP: £7.99

Publisher: Watson-Guptill

Publication Date: Autumn 2008.

 

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Fantastic Fairies! Book Review.

Posted on by Abi

I’m probably not alone when I say that I have always loved the magic of fairies. When I was little I had a fold out pop up book about Flower Fairies that I loved and carried on many trips. So when I had the opportunity to review a book teaching how to make your own I jumped at the chance. The book was Fantastic Fairies and their friends by Julie Sharp.

The book is filled with gorgeous pictures of fairies, mice, toadstools and bugs. But I’ll admit I found the prospect of making the fairies slightly daunting. They are made from surprisingly simple components such as pipe cleaners, but in a funny sort of way that made them seem harder (my experience of pipe cleaners is limited to the basic twisting required in primary school).

I would love to claim a huge success here, but this little lady is all down to my husband (who is a bit of a whizz when it comes to wire).

She took one evening (and a bit) to make. I think she is adorable (and have plans for him to make me many more).

Was she a success? You can judge from the pictures yourself, but I think she was very much a success!

Was there any issues or problems during her construction? The book requires you to reference techniques laid out at the back of the book. This means a lot of page turning and can become a little confusing after awhile. We also found that the tutorial told you to make one set of arms when another was featured in the picture.

Would I recommend this book? Yes I would, but it does require a fair amount of patience which I hadn’t expected. It’s more indepth and definitely more skilled than you might imagine. This doesn’t mean it isn’t worth having a go at though.

Could the book be improved? As I said earlier the instructions do jump around a bit which is a bit annoying, especially when your trying to master the basic techniques. The book would also benefit from giving you alternatives for some of the materials. We had to improvise with our fairies eyes because we could not for love nor money find any stores that sold ready made pom poms small enough.

I think the fairies and creatures would make wonderful Christmas presents. Perhaps attaching some ribbon to their heads so they could be given as decorations. I am particularly excited to make Bud The Mouse and a fairy toodstool.

Book Details

Title: Fantastic Fairies and Their Friends.

Author: Julie Sharp

ISBN: 9781861084620

RRP: £12.99

Publisher: GMC

Publication Date: Spring 2006.

 

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