All posts filed under: Reads

The Burger Cookbook

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Steve Priest is a burger-loving, Auckland-based graphic designer who has recently embarked on the journey to write, design, photograph and publish a cookbook. Steve has an impressive work history including working with food-related design and motion graphic projects in both New Zealand and Australia. Projects such as NZ’s Hottest Home Baker, The Foodstore, Montieth’s Wild Food Challenge, Food Truckers and Sky Sports Grill. When I found out about Steve’s new project The Burger Cookbook, I felt pangs of envy and excitement. To design (and maybe even write) a cookbook is on my bucket list. I have a long way to go, but Steve is on his way. To get Steve to his goal of publishing his burger cookbook, he has started a Kickstarter project to raise the funds needed to get this off the ground. For those who have not used Kickstarter before, Kickstarter is a platform for projects to get crowd-funded backing. There are different tiers of pledges each with different rewards such recipe cards, cookbooks, special acknowledgements and even an opportunity to taste Steve’s …

BookTrack and the extinction of books

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On Saturday I had opportunity to attend a sold out TEDx event here in Auckland. If you are unfamiliar with TED, it is a series of talks based on the notion that brilliant ideas are worth spreading. I’m a fan of TED and I love that I can experience brilliant ideas from brilliant minds and be inspired not only by creatives, but from many different industries. One of Saturday’s speakers, Paul Cameron, CEO of BookTrack spoke about their innovative new product. But first, let me share some statistics. It would only take a generation or two in this direction before reading for pleasure became a lost art. Reading is pleasurable because it is engrossing. When I read a good book, I see the world through that book. I think about the characters when I’m not reading. Reading also shares deep dark feelings between author and reader. You don’t get a meaningful inner monologue when watching a movie. Reading presents ideas in ways that video alone cannot. I’m a perpetual list maker and one of my …

The Flavor Thesaurus and a poll

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The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook by Niki Segnit. My mum gifted this book to me as belated birthday present. Yay! The book has a beautiful hard cover,  silver foil embossed title, pretty pink edged pages and is a surprisingly lightweight tome. If you are a print geek like me, it will make your eyes widen and your heart flutter. The entries read like you’re reading a friend’s letters or notes on food. A knowledgeable friend for sure, but it’s a far cry from any thesaurus I’ve ever read (none, actually). It’s easy language to digest and not too different to reading entries from a foodie’s blog. I didn’t think it would be a book I would read from start to finish, but more like a cooking companion or resource book to inspire. But here I am with a bookmark in the thesaurus, attempting to read it from front to back. I can see this being particularly helpful when you have an overabundance of a certain ingredient. Using …