2015 book awards: best foodie novels

Novels that revolve around food are one of my favourites. I love when food is the driving force of a story and there are many books that do this so well. Here are the three books that stand out to me for their fantastic food - I was drooling when reading these! 

The Dish by Stella Newman

This book is phenonomal. Seriously. I could have shortlisted it for many of my 2015 awards - humour, best main character, best romance etc as this book has it all. It is witty and brilliantly written and my only problem with it was how quickly it seemed to end! One of the stand-out features of The Dish though is the food. Oh, the food! The main character Laura is a food reviewer so is naturally passionate about food. There were so many mouth watering dishes featured in this story - Stella Newman is very talented writer and at writing delicious sounding food - have you ever thought of writing a cookbook next, Stella? The Dish is one of those books that sticks with you a long time after reading, and I would heartily recommend to anyone! Read my full review of The Dish, here

Chocolate Lover's Christmas by Carole Matthews

So. Much. Chocolate. Seriously, I have a sweet tooth but the ladies of the chocolate lover's club sure can knock back the sweet treats! This is a lovely festive story that is filled with relationships and strong friendships, but the stand-out factor for me had to be the chocolate. There were so many indulgent treats being consumed in this story that my stomach was grumbling throughout. Brownies, hot chocolates, cake... you name it, it's been given a delicious chocolatey twist. Yum! Read my full review here  

Game of Scones by Samantha Tonge

This story was the perfect summer read. Set in Greece, it transported me to warmer climates. The location and romantic storyline are excellent, but the food for me was a winner. Who knew there were so many types of scones?! seriously, I thought it would be all cream and jam, but I was so wrong! The main character, Pippa, frequently bakes gorgeous sounding scones and tops them with ingredients I'd never think to use - think Feta and Pepper, Lemon and Yogurt... the list goes on! This fab story gave me a craving for a scone, jam and clotted cream and I loved seeing all the different ideas and versions of this indulgent treat. Foodie reading at it's best! Read my full review here 

Little Northern Christmas: Book Review - The Chocolate Lover's Christmas by Carole Matthews

"Christmas is just around the corner, but the women of The Chocolate Lovers’ Club have more to worry about than present shopping …

Lucy loves running Chocolate Heaven but she hasn't spent time with her boyfriend, Aiden in weeks. And then her ex-fiance turns up and things become even more complicated! Nadia hasn’t let herself get close to a man in a long time, yet she can’t help feeling drawn to Jacob. will he be her last chance for a happy ending? Chantal and her husband, Ted , are besotted with their baby daughter Lana – but Chantal isn’t sure that’s enough to base a marriage on. Autumn is dealing with a tragedy that has hit too close to home. But when she doesn’t get the support she needs from her fiance, will she look elsewhere for comfort?"

The Chocolate Lover's Christmas is a follow on from Carole's hugely successful books, The Chocolate Lovers Club and The Chocolate Lover's Diet. Now, although I've read a few of Carole Matthew's books (and really enjoyed them) I hadn't read these two, so I was a newcomer to the Chocolate Lover's Club... and boy am I glad I've finally found them! 

The Chocolate Lover's Christmas perfectly combines some fantastic story elements - chocolate, friendship & Christmas. It's pages of festive perfection snuggled in-between a beautiful cover. 

You don't need to have read the first two books in the series to be able to follow and understand whats happening in The Chocolate Lover's Christmas. Carole makes sure that the character's situations are explained as they are introduced, either to inform new readers (like me) or remind returning readers. 

The story follows the members of The Chocolate Lover's Club - Lucy, Nadia, Chantal & Autumn as they go through different challenges and events. I am a big fan of stories that are focussed on more than one character viewpoint, so this ticked the boxes for me. The story is told from the first person view for Lucy, but in the third person for the other characters. For the first few chapters this confused me slightly, but after a while I got used to this format and actually, really liked it. It was a different way to tell a multiple-character story, and I think it worked well. I will also mention here that I did occasionally get a little mixed up between Nadia, Chantal & Autumn as four characters, all with very busy lives, is quite a lot to keep up with and occasionally I'd begin a chapter thinking they were someone else, but after a few sentences I was quickly reminded of who's who and immersed myself in their stories. 

My favourite character was definitely Lucy. I don't know if it's because we're told her story from her point of view, or because I feel we get to know her slightly better than the others, but she was brilliant. Slightly ditzy, bubbly and immensely positive she was a character that you just immediately warmed to and rooted for. I loved hearing about her working in Chocolate Heaven (which I'll get to in a minute) and really felt for her when some of her 'big ideas' didn't quite go to plan. (I won't spoil it, but there was one scene with chocolate body paint that had me laughing out loud.) When her slimy ex-boyfriend makes a reappearance, I hoped she'd not fall for his ways and remain happy with her new boyfriend (nicknamed 'crush').  There were times I felt like shouting to her to not fall for his tricks - she's too trusting, and a little naive, for her own good. 

Now, I don't feel I can write this review without talking about Chocolate Heaven, the cafe that is at the centre of the story. It's where the women mainly get together, and plays a big part in all of their lives. The cafe itself sounds absolutely amazing, and I'm gutted that it doesn't actually exist anywhere near me (although, maybe that's a good thing for my waistline!) as it is filled with delicious sounding chocolatey treats. Think your usual cafe and then add LOTS of chocolate to the sweet treats and drinks on offer. Amazing. You can see why the women love it so much, and why Lucy is in her element working there, and it had my stomach rumbling on more than one occasion. These women sure can eat chocolate, I think in every chapter they were tucking into a different treat, but it is the driving force of the story and I loved it. 

Towards the end, they celebrate Christmas and they spend it in the most perfect way - in a remote, beautiful village in an amazing cottage, all together with plenty of drink & food (and chocolate, of course). It was a lovely way to bring the Christmassy element to the story, and had me reaching for a tin of Quality Street to feel like I was there with them. 

The Chocolate Lover's Christmas is a lovely, lovely read. It's got plenty of great characters, a fantastic sounding cafe, and lots and lots of chocolate. I mean, do you need anything else?! If you're wanting to cosy up with a good book in the run-up to Christmas, this is the one for you. It's guaranteed to pull you in and keep you thinking about it, as well as making your stomach rumble for some delicious sounding chocolate. This is one of those stories that leaves you with a happy, content feeling when you put it down and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

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Little Northern Christmas: Book Review - Bella's Christmas Bake Off by Sue Watson

"Bella Bradley is the queen of television baking – a national treasure. Her Christmas specials have been topping the ratings for years and her marriage to Peter ‘Silver Fox’ Bradley is the stuff of Hello magazine specials. 

But this year things are going to be different. 

For Amy Lane, Bella’s best friend from school, life hasn’t held quite the same sparkle. And when Amy’s husband walks out three weeks from Christmas, it seems their lives are further apart than ever. 

Amy has watched Bella’s rise to fame fondly, despite the fact Bella was always a terrible cook. But when she realises that Bella’s latest Christmas book is made up entirely of Amy’s mother’s recipes, the gloves are off… 

After winning a competition to appear on Bella’s TV show, Amy is going to make sure that for Bella and her viewers, this will definitely be a Christmas to remember… "

My festive reading is picking up quite a pace and I'm loving reading stories that are filled with Christmassy food, traditions and great characters. Bella's Christmas Bake Off more than fits into that category, it's a great Christmassy read! 

The story follows Amy as she embarks on her first Christmas alone... her husband has just left her for a younger woman, and her grown-up children are all embarking on their own Christmas adventures. Settling down for a Christmas in-front of the TV, Amy flicks on Bella's Christmas Bake-Off - a cookery programme run by the lavish and gorgeous Bella, who is actually Amy's former best friend. 

It turns out that Bella's recipes aren't hers at all, but actually Amy''s Mum's. Annoyed that Bella could so easily claim them as her own, Amy tries to make contact and ends up entering a competition to win a Christmas Day meal cooked by Bella. Deciding it would be one way to out her as a fraud, Amy goes ahead with the prize, preparing for an unusual Christmas spent cooking on TV with her former best friend, revealing to the nation how she stole her Mum's recipes. However, this doesn't go to plan when the two women meet back up and reminisce on their past friendship. 

Overall, I found this a really enjoyable and easy read. My favourite part was definitely finding out all about the TV programme, Bella's Christmas Bake Off - I loved when they were filming for Christmas Day and you got a snapshot of how busy and frantic it can be to prepare a live show, as well as getting a peek at all the different, flamboyant characters that exist in TV Land. Sue Watson explains in her 'about me' that she used to work in TV, and her experience and knowledge shines through and creates a wonderful setting for this story. 

I must say, I didn't really shine to Bella. I found her pompous and a little deluded. Even as the two women start building bridges and becoming friends again, I still didn't warm to her as much as I did Amy. When the big secret is revealed, I think it perhaps was meant to sightly explain Bella's attitude and way of life, but it didn't quite work with me. I didn't really feel sorry for her and felt the same as I had from the start. However, I actually think this is a good thing - the characters are so realistic and vivid that it means you form very clear opinions of them, so I think my dislike for Bella is an indication to Sue Watson's talent for writing brilliant stories with dominating, jump-off-the-page characters. 

I thought the plot worked really well, I liked that the story was centred around friendship rather than romance, and seeing the two women interact with each other after such a long time brought great drama. It's obvious from the off-set that something dramatic happened to stop the two being friends, Amy hints at the secret they kept and the bad thing she did, so I was eager to discover what it was. I'll admit I'd sort of guessed what the secret could be, so it didn't come as a massive shock, but I thought it added to the plot anyway and worked well. 

The pace of this story was a bit up and down for me. I found the beginning really absorbing and interesting, but towards the middle it slowed down a bit and I willed it to liven up again. Thankfully, it does and I raced through the last few chapters as I found it so funny and engaging. 

If you're looking for a fun, festive read that focuses more on friendship than romance, this is the story for you. I enjoyed that Bella's Christmas Bake Off explored the relationship between Amy and Bella, rather than being another Christmas romance novel. It made a nice change and is a breath of fresh air. It's laugh-out-loud funny at times, serious at times, but filled with drool-inducing food all the time. Perfect! 

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Book review: The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements

"Anna and her husband Matteo are ready to embark a delicious Italian adventure. After a year and a half running their ice cream shop on Brighton beach and raising their baby Isabella, Matteo is starting to miss Italy. A shared passion for ices means it's easy to settle on a new business idea - they'll open a shop in the town's cobbled square, a short walk from the sparkling blue sea. For a while, life is sweet; but then Matteo's overbearing family get involved...

Anna's younger sister Imogen feels like things are finally coming together - she's living with boyfriend Finn in a beach house in Brighton, and her photography is taking off. Then her career stalls, and the lure of Capri - and a man from her past - prove difficult to resist. 

Join Anna and Imogen and share a summer on the Amalfi Coast that you'll never forget."

Okay so I start this review with a word of caution.... this book will, without a doubt, give you a craving for ice-cream. Whether it be orange sorbet, creamy chocolate gelatto or a delicious sounding hot chocolate ice cream (which I seriously need the recipe for) this book will leave you drooling... I know that I'm certainly hankering a craving for an ice cold sweet treat that I didn't have before! 

So, on to the actual book. The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop is a sequel to Vivian's Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop but you don't need to have read that story to understand what's going on in this book, the characters are introduced and their situations explained well enough for it to be a stand-alone novel itself. 

The story follows Anna and her partner Matteo who are living in Brighton, running a successful ice cream shop and raising their little girl, Bella. Although they are close to Anna's parents and sister Imogen, they are far away from Matteo's Italian family, who he misses. The story begins with it being clear that Matteo would like to move back to Italy for some time, and although Anna struggles with the idea of leaving her childhood home and tight-knit family behind, as well as being closer to Mateeo's overbearing and rather rude mother, she agrees to move to Italy for the summer, where they take over an already well-known ice cream shop and successfully make it their own. 

Anna's sister Imogen is suffering from major wander-lust. She is happy in her relationship with Finn, but she craves travel and adventure. When she is promised a photography job in Africa, she is really excited to get away for a while and follow her passion. The trip is soon cancelled and Imogen is really disappointed and looks for something to fill the gap... 
It's pretty obvious from the offset that Finn is a great guy and loving boyfriend, and Imogen isn't nasty or mean in wanting some distance, she just isn't sure how to handle such a commitment. I wanted to give her a good shake and tell her all would be okay, but I still really enjoyed following her journey and see how it would pan out with Finn. 

I think there are two major pulling points to this story - the food and the location. Let's start with the food. I mean, any book that has the word 'ice cream' in the title is obviously going to be a winner. The different flavours and types of ice cream had me drooling. It isn't ice cream overkill though, its not a repetitive or boring element to the story, there's just the right balance and it definitely created a rumble in my stomach! 

Then there's the location. Half set in Brighton and also in Italy, both the locations are brilliant. I loved the community feel of the pier in Brighton, how Anna has family roots there and all the shop owners all work together and get on with each other. It was the epitome of an idyllic seaside holiday and I really enjoyed the characters based there. Italy was also a great setting, it had an exotic, relaxed atmosphere that you could see rubbed off on the characters. It also just heightened the brilliant ice cream business they run, and I enjoyed it when Imogen and other characters went to visit in Italy. 

My only niggle is that some of the scenarios seemed a little rushed and weren't given the time I wanted, but that's probably a reflection of how much I loved this story - I just wanted to read as much as I could about all of the brilliant characters. The book spans a period of about six months, so I know there's an awful lot to cram in and there's a need to prioritise, but on some occasions a situation was only given a paragraph when I would have loved to have read a whole chapter. An example is when Evie goes over to Italy. I won't go into why (as I don't want to spoil anything) but really I'd have loved to have read about her trip there, but we don't - there's just a quick paragraph where she catches up with Imogen following the trip.

However, don't let that fairly minor detail put you off. Abby is a really talented writer and I absolutely loved this story. There's everything you need for the perfect summer read - fab characters, exotic sunny location, awesome food and plenty of great friendships and romance! If you need a poolside read for your holiday (or an escape from the horrible rainy English weather) then this is the book you need!

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Book review: The Dish

"Love is on the menu. With a side order of lies.

When Laura Parker first crosses forks with Adam Bayley, she's only after one thing: his custard doughnut. But when she takes a closer look she sees a talented, handsome man who outshines the string of jokers she's been dating.

There's just one problem. Adam's job means Laura has to keep her job as restaurant critic for The Dish, a secret. Tricky for someone who prides herself on honesty.

Can the truth be put on ice long enough for love to flourish?

And how can you expect your boyfriend to be honest if you're not quite telling the truth yourself?"

My review: 

This book is any foodies dream. Whether you love cooking, eating out or eating in, this book covers it all. My stomach was growling from page one at the thought of custard doughnuts, fried prawns and spicy, smoky beans. 

Don't get me wrong, it's not a recipe book. It is romantic fiction at it's finest - fun, flirty and full of fantastic food. The story follows Laura, who is a brilliant main character (and not just because of her name!). Working as a PA in a publishing company, she also is the secret mastermind behind 'The Dish' food column. When she meets Adam one hungover morning, she decides not to tell him that she has just written a seething review about the snobbish, disappointing restaurant he works for. I completely get why she did this - it's not exactly a great pick-up line, and it's clear from the off-set that Adam is one of the good guys. 

Which leads me nicely on to Adam. Oh Adam. Although he can be slightly grumpy at times and has a mysterious air about him, I fell for him immediately. He's charming, kind a and a bloody good cook - what more could you want? Any man that can turn baked beans on toast into one of the nicest meals a restaurant critic has ever had is one for me. I loved watching their relationship grow and following them on their journey. 

There's a whole host of wonderful characters in The Dish. I loved Roger, Laura's boss and also pretty much a second father to her. Her friend Sophie is also brilliant, a keen baker and eager to help Laura and Adams relationship along when issues come between them. Sandra, her colleague at work is so infuriating - a kiss arse busy-body who clearly has it out for her. However, I always think a character that provokes reaction, good or bad, is a good one as it shows the author has made them real. 

The format of the story is fast-paced and sucks you into Laura's world. I particularly liked the regular sections of email exchange within the story- they added a nice break from the first person writing and were a great way to quickly explain what was happening.  The exchanges with Laura and her work colleagues Kiki and Azeem were a particular highlight for me as they were hilarious. 

I really enjoyed The Dish, it is a fun story filled with wonderful food. It remained fast-paced throughout and Laura is a great main character who I rooted for from the very start. Anyone looking for a light-hearted, entertaining read this is the one for you. 

Recipe: bookish burgers

For dinner last week the other half and I indulged in some mid-week burgers. They're fairly simple to make but can be just as delicious as some of the burgers you can get at high street restaurants if you take the time with the little extras. I thought I'd share with you our recipe. 

The mince

First of all, I shaped the mince into burger patties. I put the mince in the bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper, a finely chopped red chilli. I then mixed it together with my hands. Some recipes tell you to add some oil or even an egg to the mixture to keep it bound together, but I found if you kneed together well enough at this stage you don't need those extras. 

Once the mince was mixed together, I formed it into three patties (I have a constantly hungry OH so one for me, two for him!) and popped them on the tray while I heated some oil into the griddle pan. 

Potatoes 

I made some wedges to go with them. I opted for sweet potatoe and the OH had normal potatoes. To make the wedges I peeled the sweet potatoe skin off (but left the others with skin on them) and then chopped into wedges. I sprayed an oven tray with 1 cal spray, put on the wedges and then sprayed the top of the wedges again with the oil. Then they are ready for the oven - about 25 mins at 190 degrees. 

Onions 

To make the burgers a bit more special, we decided to add some fried onions and cheese on top. 

To make the onions, I put a few spoons of oil in the bottom of a pan and added in the chopped onions when the oil was hot. I stirred for a few moments before turning up the heat and adding a pinch of sugar and a glug of balsamic vinegar. Carry on cooking at a high temperature for a minute or so with the ingredients, then turn the heat down low and let the onions sweat it out while you cook the burgers. 

Then start on the burgers. Make sure the griddle pan is really hot before putting the burgers on. Cook them on a medium heat for a few minutes each side until they're cooked how you like them. 

I chopped up some cheddar cheese and once the burgers were cooked, placed it on top of the patties ready for the oven. When the wedges are almost done, put the burgers in the oven to melt the cheese - this should only take a few minutes. 

When the cheese has melted everything should be ready to serve up! 

I added jalapeños and the onions onto the OH's portion and gherkin, onions and tomato onto mine. 

Serve up and enjoy! 

Sweet treats: lime traybake

Lime traybake wouldn't usually be my first choice for a cake, but we'd ended up with a load of left over limes from the weekend. We'd had friends over and made 'lovely vodkas' (aka vodka, lemonade and loads of fresh lime juice and wedges) but we'd vastly overestimated the amount of limes we needed and we ended up with a whole fruit bowl jam packed with limes. I needed to make a cake for work so I found this recipe for a simple but tasty lime traybake in Mary Berry's Traditional Puddings and Deserts. 

Problem solved! The limes were used up and I was left with a tasty cake. Win-win.

You will need: 

For the cake: 

175g caster sugar 

250g self raising flower

175 g soft butter or margarine (I used Stork) 

3 eggs

2 tbsp milk 

1 tsp baking powder 

Finely grated zest of 2 limes 

For the icing: 

250g icing sugar (sieved) 

juice of 2 limes

 Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
• Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat for around 2 minutes (I used an electric mixer) until the mixture makes a light, smooth batter. 
• Grease and line a cake tin with baking parchment. Pour all the ingredients into the tin and evenly spread. 
• Place into the oven for 35-40 minutes. The batter shouldn't darken too much and remain a light, creamy colour. To check if it is cooked, place a skewer into the centre of the cake and lift it out. If there is cake batter on the skewer, it isn't properly cooked yet. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is cooked. 
• leave to cool for a few minutes in the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to avoid the cake going soggy. 
• Make the icing while the cake is cooling. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually add the juice of the limes until you have a fairly runny mixture. (not too runny though or it will slide off the cake!) 
• Once the cake is cooled, cover the top with the icing. I poured it from the bowl into a line in the centre of the cake and used the back of a metal spoon to spread it evenly. 

Then grab a cuppa, eat and enjoy! (and avoid the washing up....)