Books for Australian cooks and gardeners, and people who love to do both!

It's getting closer to 'that time of the year', when we all wonder what to give to special people. Something that will actually be cherished and used, and won't just get put somewhere and forgotten about. With keen cooks and gardeners it's easy, they can never, ever have too many cookbooks or gardening books.

Here are some great books which great gift ideas. Some are recently published (hint for present buyers: newly published books by old favourites are always well-received!), some are classics, and some are 'just a bit different'.

Maggie's Harvest by Maggie Beer

Just published, Maggie's Harvest brings together over 350 of Maggie Beer's signature recipes, detailed descriptions of her favourite ingredients and inspiring accounts of memorable meals with family and friends. Beautifully presented, the cover is embroidered fabric, and the photos and recipes inside are suberb!

Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

Also just published. This is a new generation of fast food - never basic, never dull, always do-able, quick and delicious - for the busy lives we lead. The Domestic Goddess is back but this time it's instant.

The Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander

Second edition, published 2004. The complete book of ingredients and recipes for the Australian kitchen. The book for a lifetime of cooking!

Thai Food by David Thompson

Thai Food by David Thompson is the most comprehensive account of this ancient and exotic cuisine ever published in English. Beautifully presented hardcover book, with bright pink Thai Silk cover, it's a visual and culinary masterpiece.

French by Damien Pignolet

Brand new hardcover book by one of Sydney's top chefs, published 2005, 403 pages. Includes gorgeous full-colour photos and recipe index. Bon Appetit!

Daily Italian by Toby Puttock

New cookbook from Tobie Puttock, the executive head chef of Fifteen Melbourne, and good mate of Jamie Oliver.

Books for Cooks who like to Garden, and Gardeners who like to Cook

Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids by Stephanie Alexander

The story of a kitchen garden for kids and the recipes they cooked with the food they grew. Loads of gorgeous colour photos.

Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

Cook Your Way to the Good Life. Brand new hardcover book, full of fantastic colour photos and recipes. Perfect gift for all cooks and gardeners

Preserving by Oded Schwartz

The Ultimate Illustrated Guide to every type of preserve from around the world. Step-by-step colour photographs of all techniques and easy to follow recipes.

A Slice of Organic Life by Sheherezade Goldsmith

Do you dream of growing your own vegetables, making jam from freshly picked fruit or keeping a couple of chickens? Are you and your family longing for a cleaner, greener, more wholesome life?

The Perfect Garden by Andrew Seccull

From how to prepare soil and make compost to choosing the right plans and growing your own vegies, there's an answer in this fantastic little book to every gardening question.

Waterwise Gardening by Kevin Walsh

Our gardens are guzzling between one quarter and one half of all domestic water. With our very dry land, where fresh water is a relative trickle, we need to get waterwise .... and fast!

The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds by Peter, Pat and Raoul Slater

The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds. Revised and Updated. 344 pages, includes colour illustrations, colour plates, line drawings, distribution maps, 14 new species, illustrations of all eggs and nest descriptions.

Australian Parrots and Finches by Malcolm McNaughton

New hardcover book, featuring fifty species of parrots and eighteen species of finches. Beautiful lifelike watercolour paintings.