Penny Golightly book review « Penny Golightly

Book review: The Spa Lover’s Guide to Europe

November 15th, 2011 by Penny Golightly

Time for another book review! This one’s The Spa Lover’s Guide to Europe by Sarah Woods. The author’s a well-established travel journalist who has written extensively about spas, so you’re in safe hands.

One thing I should definitely mention from the off is that the book focuses on natural spa destinations. By ‘natural’ I mean mineral water springs, thermal springs, clays and muds, salt caves and the like, rather than spa hotels that could have been built at any random location and had the facilities added afterwards. That’s why, for example, the two British choices are centred around Bath Spa and the Lake District. There are also a few additions that include local ingredients such as seaweed, grapes and chocolate (seriously, check out the Sacher spa, it’s real and everything).

There are plenty of photos of the spas and nearby towns and countryside, and I particularly like the way they’ve included a few sightseeing options for each destination. After all, once you’ve finished with the pampering it would be a shame to miss the landmarks.

The natural spa centres themselves range from the basic to the high tech; some are hippy heaven, others are luxurious and still others are quasi-medical. The reviews quickly give you a very good idea of what you’d be getting yourself into, and outline the treatments and therapies for which each spa is famous. A guideline price is also included for popular treatments, which is helpful if you’re watching the Euros.

If I had one small complaint, it would be that I’d like to have seen a few more pictures of treatment rooms in individual spas and clinics. However, you can get round this by looking at the spa websites which are mentioned along with their other contact details.

To sum up: an interesting, unique guide to natural spas with a wide range of styles and price brackets included. It’s an ideal jumping-off point if you’re about to start researching a European spa break, and it would make an attractive gift for any globetrotting beauty fan.

The Spa Lover’s Guide to Europe by Sarah Woods has an RRP of £14.99. It’s currently available on Amazon for £7.50.

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COMPETITION TIME: We have one copy of this rather attractive tome to give away. If you’d like to win yourself a copy of the Spa Lover’s Guide to Europe, just leave a message saying ‘Spa me!” in the comments below to go into the prize draw.

T&Cs: UK entrants only, winner picked using random.org. No cash alternative. Only one entry per person please – multiple entries will be disqualified. Competition closes at noon on Wednesday 23rd November 2011.

Tags: book review, Penny Golightly book review
Posted in Health & beauty | 52 Comments »

Book reviews: Auberge du Chocolat, and Natural Soap

November 10th, 2011 by Penny Golightly

Two book reviews for you today from the latest New Holland Publishing catalogue, plus your chance to win one of them!

The first one is Auberge du Chocolat: The secrets of fine chocolate making, by Anne Scott. This book really is something else, and it would make a perfect Christmas gift for a foodie friend, partner or relative.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to melt, temper and work with chocolate, this book shows you how. It will also give you the confidence to create all the classic fillings, and work with interesting new flavour combinations. The author has a real can-do approach, so after reading you’re left feeling like you could just get on with it and make some really special treats, either for your own consumption or giving as quality gifts.

There are separate sections on decorating and presenting your chocolates, dairy-free chocolates, and making choc treats with kids. If you follow the instructions you should definitely be able to create professional looking gourmet chocolates at home after reading, if you just take your time and don’t rush. Photographs are plentiful, and mouth-wateringly attractive.

Auberge du Chocolat by Anne Scott is published by New Holland and has an RRP of £16.99. It’s currently on offer at Amazon for £8.99, with free super saver delivery.

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Our second book is Natural Soap, by Melinda Cross. It focuses on traditional soapmaking techniques and has a strong emphasis on natural ingredients. The author began making soap as a hobby, and then became a professional supplier of natural soaps and toiletries.

It begins with a through explanation of the basics of natural soapmaking, and describes the properties of all the ingredients that can be used to make it. You won’t find any bright colours, artificial perfumes, or melt and pour in here, but that’s really all part of the charm – and the products look luxurious. The largest part of the book is given over to a whole range of different soapmaking projects, including bar soaps, liquid soaps, and scrub soaps, each with presentation and wrapping tips.

As an added bonus there are also recipes for shampoos, shaving soap, bath melts, and an impressive range of creams and lotions at the back of the book. To top it all off, there’s a section about turning your hobby into a small business – this is concise and direct, and gives you a realistic idea of what is necessary if you want to be successful.

Natural Soap by Melinda Coss has an RRP of £8.99. At the time of writing this review it’s available on Amazon for £5.03, and qualifies for free super saver delivery.

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COMPETITION TIME: If you would like to win a hardback copy of Auberge du Chocolat, just leave a ‘yes please!’ message in the comments section below. We’ll pick a winner at random from all the comments at lunch time next Friday.

Good luck everyone!

T&Cs: UK entrants only please, winner picked using random.org. No cash alternative. Only one entry per person please – multiple entries will be disqualified. Competition closes at noon on Friday 18 November 2011.

Tags: Penny Golightly book review, Penny Golightly competition
Posted in Food and drink, Health & beauty | 20 Comments »

Book review: More To Life Than Shoes

November 4th, 2011 by Penny Golightly

The full title of this book is More To Life Than Shoes: How to Kick-Start Your Career and Change Your Life, and the authors are Nadia Finer and Emily Nash. If you’d like to know more about the authors and their work, see www.moretolifethanshoes.com. It’s a very straight talking and easy to read sort of book, so it should have a fairly broad appeal.

The best part of More To Life Than Shoes is given over to interviews with all kinds of different women who have set up successful businesses or made other achievements – these are as diverse as climbing Everest, or becoming the Speaker of the House of Commons. Some of the interviews are extended, others are tiny quotes and soundbites, and the authors provide handy commentary, bullet points and summary boxes throughout to pick out the most important points and maintain the narrative thread.

The book’s divided into different sections about reconnecting with what you’re passionate about, finding your spark, presenting yourself well, working in male-dominated arenas, starting up your own business, flexible working, and being brave. There’s also a useful ‘toolkit’ section at the back of the book that contains all kinds of interesting resources.

One of the most interesting things to emerge from the interviews is that many of these high-flying women describe themselves as shy, or non-confrontational, or less than confident. While some of this might be ‘aww shucks’ stuff, most of it seems quite genuine, and it’s quite heart-warming to see that most of these women have struggled with self-doubt and other problems and managed to overcome them.

There’s none of the awful ‘Yes! You can have it all! If only you believe in this enough!’ motivational BS that simultaneously sells and sinks other books in this genre either, which is quite a relief. It’s more realistic and measured, and a fair amount of time and space is devoted to the difficulties of juggling projects, work duties, interests, partners and kids.

If I have one tiny criticism, I’d have to say that the text about not interviewing Thatcher could have been left out as it doesn’t seem to add much. However, this is a very small niggle and other people might like it.

To sum up: A lively, inspiring book for women who are stuck in a career or personal rut and don’t know where to go next. While it won’t hold your hand and help you write out that business plan, it will get you fired up and feeling hopeful and positive again – it’s up to you to take it from there.

More To Life Than Shoes: How to Kick-Start Your Career and Change Your Life has an RRP of £8.99, and you can currently pick up a copy of it on Amazon for £5.79.

Tags: Penny Golightly book review
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Book review: Gourmet food for a fiver by Jason Atherton

September 23rd, 2011 by Penny Golightly

We haven’t had a book review for a while, have we? Let’s get straight back into it with this copy of Gourmet food for a fiver by Jason Atherton.

He’s the clever clogs behind the dishes at the Michelin-starred Maze. The premise of the book is that you can have fine dining for a fiver per head, by which he means a light-ish two-course meal (starter and main, or main and dessert) without drinks.

Without a doubt this is dinner party food, or a hearty lunch for foodies, and the recipes are all to serve four people. It’s easy enough to scale the portions up or down too. In order for it to truly be a meal for a fiver you have to have quite a few store cupboard staples already otherwise you’ll be buying in extra ingredients that can cost a fair bit for a whole bottle or packet.

It also helps if you live near a decent fishmonger or butcher, as there are many ingredients that work out great value for money and are very tasty indeed, but you’re unlikely to get them from the average supermarket. Likewise, some of the flavourings would be best purchased from an Indian grocery shop, or a Chinese or Thai supermarket.

The book also relies on seasonal foods, things that are at their best and also hopefully cheaper because they’re plentiful. I’d say that you’d need to be a fairly confident cook to tackle some of the dishes, intermediate to advanced level mainly, but you’d be able to make some real show-stoppers.

It’s the chef-y touches that really make this book, including the ‘plating up’ directions. It’s all designed to look beautiful when you serve it up, and each recipe is accompanied by a full page colour photo. The desserts are stunning.

If I’m going to be niggly, some of the chef-yness is also a slight drawback at times as the home cook cannot haggle for trade discounts on ingredients and loses out on economies of scale. One example is the creation of a pudding that’s entirely made from staple ingredients, which then has ’15g of fresh coconut’ shaved over the top of it – fine of you’re making 20 in a restaurant kitchen, not within budget for the average home cook as it’s impossible to buy this amount on its own. This is where experience and ability to improvise comes in handy, as a little grated chocolate or sprinkle of toasted dessicated coconut could be possible substitutes.

In summary: a very beautiful cookbook with fresh, innovative recipes and seasonal ingredients. Not one for beginners, but definitely a book to consider if you’d like to shake up your romantic dinner repertoire or try something new when you’re feeding your foodie friends. Worth it for the desserts alone.

Gourmet food for a fiver by Jason Atherton is published by Quadrille Ltd and has an RRP of £14.99. It’s currently available from Amazon priced £7.70 and qualifies for free Super Saver delivery.

Tags: book review, cheaper food, cook book, fine foods, gourmet foods for less, Penny Golightly book review, seasonal food
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