A GOOD SPREAD
Recipes from the kitchens of Rural Women of New Zealand
Random House NZ - $34.99

I picked up this cheerful cookbook while browsing at The Village Bookshop in Matakana last weekend . It reflects Kiwis’ long-standing love of passing recipes down through the generations, with all their quirky character and cunning.
Published just last month this cookbook features old favourites alongside exciting new family recipes that celebrate the delights of home cooking and fresh ingredients.

Included are the very best recipes from the classic 1965 Women’s Division Federated Farmers’ cookbook — a bible for New Zealand cooks that sold over 100,000 copies. A Good Spread is also set to become a ‘must have’ recipe book for cooks of all ages, from city or country.  Actually it reminds me of a bigger, more attractive version of the Edmonds Cook Book.It is packed with simple recipes and peppered throughout with tips and comments from today’s Rural Women New Zealand members, who have added their own family favourites.

Steeped in the no-fuss, plain-spoken rural culinary vernacular, the recipes are a delight because they are often personal, quirky and so uniquely Kiwi. Chutneys, jams, cheese straws, ginger gems, never-fail marmalade, whitebait soufflé, venison casserole …  it’s the perfect cookbook to send to loved ones abroad to remind them of the flavours of home.There are four recipes for scones and six for muffins and biscuit recipes galore including of course Anzac biscuits, peanut biscuits and chocolate chip cookies.

Featuring main meals, vegetable dishes and suggestions for entertaining, as well as mouth watering baking and fabulous puddings and desserts, this is an indispensible compendium of classic recipes to serve up ‘a good spread’, whatever the occasion, big or small, town or country.
This book should be in every kitchen library in the land.

About Rural Women New Zealand:
Rural Women New Zealand serves women of all ages who share an interest in rural life.  The organisation offers support and friendship for women with an interest in the land and rural issues. It is a leading voice for rural women and makes submissions on a wide range of topics affecting the rural sector. It’s an organisation with an impressive history of making a difference in rural communities. www.ruralwomen.org.nz