May 2010

The Australian Women's Weekly

Allergy-Free Baking

Australia: ACP Books, 2001

Missing out at parties due to allergies is no fun!

This book is great value and has over 60 pages of information and recipes for cakes, biscuits, puddings, muffins and more.  Each recipe describes the allergy that is being catered for i.e.Gluten free, yeast free, wheat free etc… – so you can easily see if the recipe is suitable or not.

All the recipes are in typical Australian Women's Weekly style, beautifully presented and photographed. The only way you would know that these items are allergy free, is by reading the cover. With more and more high quality food substitutes available today, you are also not going to be compromising on taste!

 

Happy baking! 

*SHELLY SHINDIG* 

Resident Bookworm

click here to add The Australian Women's Weekly Allergy-Free Baking to your party book library now!

March 2010

The Australian Women's Weekly

KIDS' Little Party Cakes
Australia: ACP Books, 2008

Just paging through this recipe book is a real treat! 

The Australian Women's Weekly KIDS' Little Party Cakes cleverly uses small cakes or cupcakes (in most cases) to make a bigger cake.  From the easy Peacock or Catepillar cake to the more challenging, snakes and ladders or yo-yo cakes.

The great thing about this book is that most of the cakes are very easy and there are only a few cakes that may prove to be a bit more difficult.  There are tips throughout and step by step photos for basic things you may need to know. Recipes have been triple tested, so there should be no reason for you not to have a super outcome.

The book is divided into the following categories:

1. 
   
   Critters (bush buddies, cheeky frogs in a pond, caterpillar, baby bluebirds, smiley strafish, felicity fish, ladybirds, pigs in mud, octavius, pierre peacock, pinky bunny, buzzy bee)
2. Fantasy (flower bouquet, beautiful bow, rainbow, heart cake, rainbow serpent, fairy dolls, princess belinda, glambags, magic wands, heart balloons, cute cottages, fiery dragon, butterfly cakes, fairy wings, magic garden)
3. Littlies (flower faces, teddy bears, abc chart, milly mouse, good ship, choo choo train, fishbowl fun, tea party, taffy turtle, tumbledown humpty, flower jigsaw, blocks, paint pots, sunny umbrella, ice-cream cones, sandcastle, ferris wheel)
4. Games (balls, yo-yos, dominoes, musical notes, snakes & ladders, number chart, checkerboard, hopscotch, noughts & crosses)
5. Numbers (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine)
6. Wacky (solar system, pharaoh's pyramid, snow folk, funny faces, crazy clowns, kaleidoscopes, juggling jamie)

Photos of the cakes are bright and colourful and give a realistic idea of what to expect and how to achieve it. Recipes use packet buttercake mix, however if you prefer not to use packet mix, then recipes at the back of the book provide chocolate, carrot and Gluten-free alternatives. 

 

Happy baking! 

*SHELLY SHINDIG* 

Resident Bookworm

click here to add The Australian Women's Weekly KIDS' Little Party Cakes  to your party book library now!

January 2010

Gabi Steenkamp & Tanzia Merlin & Jeske Wellmann. Sustained Energy for Kids. Cape Town: Tafelberg Publishers 2006.

A new year is all about new resolutions, and for anyone wanting to start the new year on a healthy note, why not try Steenkamp, Merlin and Wellmann's Sustained Energy for Kids? This family-orientated Low GI recipe book containing typically South African ingredients is also available in Afrikaans as Volgehoue energie vir kinders.

This full colour recipe book is compiled by a trio of SA registered dieticians and is definitely written with children in mind. Although the recipes can be used for the whole family, every effort has been made to make sure that the food not only tastes delicious, but also looks good enough to meet the approval of your little food critic.

The meals are low GI, meaning that you will be keeping blood glucose levels steady throughout the day, which is ideal for all kids, and superb for children with diabetes, ADD and ADHD. Kids don't need to feel cheated out of the fun stuff, as there are recipes for hamburger pie, pitta burgers, peanut butter biscuits, chocolate brownies and more... All the yummy stuff without the sugar highs, irritability, moodiness, tiredness and lack of concentration! Each recipe includes a note from the dietician, plus full colour pictures.

The recipes in Sustained energy for kids cover a wide range of foods. From Breakfasts to Main Meals, from Vegetables, Salad Meals and Soups to Baking, Puddings, and Snacks, from Lunch Box ideas to Party Food. I was quite impressed at the variety of healthy options suggested to fill up the party table.

Please note that most snack recipes in Sustained energy for kids use milk or peanut butter, so these recipes are not ideal for children with these specific allergies.

Happy Parties!

*SHELLY SHINDIG*

Resident Bookworm

Click here to add Steenkamp, Merlin & Wellmann's Sustained energy for kids to your party book library today.

Kliek hier om Steenkamp, Merlin & Wellmann se Volgehoue energie vir kinders te bestel.

October 2009

Fransie Snyman. It's Party Time! South Africa: Metz Press, 2002.

In It's Party Time!, Fransie Snyman stresses the need for parties to be fun for the birthday child as well as the hard-working parents who are hosting the party. With this thought as the foundation for her book, she goes about offering simple but ingenious ideas for a wide selection of party themes.

While It's Party Time! is mainly focused on younger children's parties, there are also several party ideas aimed at the older age bracket, making this book a winning resource for parents with toddlers to those with teens.

The party themes detailed in It's Party Time! are all based on the idea that the key to a great party is keeping the preparations inexpensive and hardly any trouble to arrange. In fact, to indicate just how easy the tips in this book are, most of the ideas suggested within it's pages encourage the participation of the birthday child themselves.

Rest assured that It's Party Time! will take a load of stress off any parent faced with planning their child's next party.

The party themes covered in Fransie Snyman's It's Party Time! include:

* Creepy - Crawly!

* Pirates of Penzance

* Fairyland Fantasy

* Forest Fun

* We have Lift-off!

* Animal Antics

* Clown Party

* Ghost Party

* What a Pretty hat!

* Abracadabra

* Come Fly With Me

* The Science Fair

* Hamburger Party

* Pancake Party

* Pizza Party

* Around the Fondue Pot

With suggested menus for each theme, this book definitely takes the "think-work" out of party preparations. And the suggestions made are not only simple, but clever too. With enticing items on the menu like Space Kebabs and Moon Juice, Eery Eggs and Spooky Floats, Candy Sangomas or Ice Cream with Lava, you're bound to have a party that is spoken about long after the balloons have been deflated!

With volumes of sage advice on party preparations as well as a handful of tips and recipes focused on making parties fun for children with food allergies, this book is undoubtably a valuable resource. I found that It's Party Time! was a suitably complete party planner's guide offering tips on themes, invites, decor, party food and games. I would definitely recommend this book to any parent who doesn't have a lot of time on their hands, but still wants to throw a party with a personal touch.

Happy Parties!
*SHELLY SHINDIG*
Resident Bookworm

Click here to add Fransie Snyman's It's Party Time! to your party book library today.