DINNER’S ON THE TABLE
Food for families to eat together
Jan Bilton – David Bateman - $24.99

Jan Bilton has nearly 30 cookbooks to her credit, she was editor of the Foodtown Magazine for many years and is a frequent guest on cooking programmes on both television and radio. She knows her onions as my old Dad used to say.

When I was a boy growing up in sunny Gisborne we always ate dinner together at the table as a family. Mum would call out, “Dinner’s on the table” and there would be a general stampede as the four kids raced to get there. My Mum was a fulltime mother, like most other Mums in those days, there was no TV or computers to distract us and so mealtimes were a time of family get-togethers with free ranging discussions on the days activities , the news of the day, and anything else anyone felt like bringing to the conversation. (Afterwards an argument often followed among the siblings as to who was doing the dishes while Mum & Dad retreated to the lounge).

In her thoughtful introduction to her new book Jan Bilton laments the passing of the traditional family meal but has come up with a number of excellent ideas on how to encourage meals to be eaten together at the table. Then she provides 140+ pages of simple, easy-to-follow, interesting and nutritious meals all beautifully complimented by sumptuous photographs by Blenheim-based photographer Jim Tannock.
This is an excellent book for all the family to use and is great value at $24.99.