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CAIRNEY, Deborah

Mar 16, 2026 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Australian, Culinary \ Cookbook

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ISBN 978-1-923589-73-5
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Elder Eats

 

The Aged Care Kitchen Companion

Why shouldn’t aged care residents enjoy the same delicious and nutritious food you and I would love to eat?

Good food is vital to a residents’ health and happiness. Quality meals not only nourish the body but also lift the spirit, and for many residents, mealtime is the highlight of their day.

Drawing on more than 22 years of experience creating and preparing fresh meals for aged care residents, chef Deborah Cairney’s vision is to develop a recipe book that supports chefs and cooks in providing wholesome, visually appealing, and cost-effective dishes for the elderly.
She hopes to inspire and equip those working in aged care kitchens to make every meal something residents can truly look forward to.

About the Author

 

This recipe book is filled with nutritional recipes that I curated and adapted for aged care residents over my 23-year career as head chef at a NSW Aged Care facility. The recipes are nutritional, cost effective, use only the freshest high-quality ingredients, and can be produced with minimal time and staffing available.

It was a vision of my employer and myself to give the residents quality, nutritional food for this stage of their lives. I have collected and tested the recipes in this book, with this vision in mind. I have been guided by my qualifications in commercial cookery, hospitality catering management, business catering operations, workplace training, and my years of experience in aged care kitchens.

I have included diabetic, gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan recipes, to cater for people with dietary requirements. Most of the recipes can be made gluten free by swapping out the existing ingredients for gluten free products.

In aged care budgets are important, but so is quality and nutrition, and all the recipes in this book have been costed using the best ingredients to provide the elderly with food that they will look forward to eating. I have included a 7-day sample menu incorporating all meals and beverages at a cost of $15-16 per resident, per day (at time of publishing). This figure was achieved through making 90% of the menu items on site, which has the bonus of limiting the amount of processed food offered to residents. Chefs in aged care will be familiar with strict budgets and so will understand the importance of being innovative to provide premium quality and choice for residents. Information on menu planning, tables of weights, measurements and oven temperature tables are included to assist in producing these recipes.

Recipes can be adapted for different medical requirements and can be made presentable for residents with Dysphasia, or any related swallowing problems, by pureeing the foods and using moulds to recreate the food. Pureed foods are also available already moulded for purchase from food suppliers, these products are frozen and only need steaming. The moulds save time and look like the food that is being served but in puree form. e.g. menu item Lamb Chop Casserole with Mash Pumpkin Peas and Mash Potato would be moulded in the shape of lamb chops, peas, pumpkin, and mash. Moulded products look desirable for the resident to eat, which is important, as we all know we eat with our eyes first.

I hope this book can be of assistance in your aged care kitchen and support you to provide the residents you cook for to enjoy nutritious and delicious meals.

I would like to dedicate this book to the Proctor Family who owned Figtree Point Age Care, without their vision and support I would not have been able to deliver this type of food to the residents.

Also, to my children Heidi, Tanya and Sam for their encouragement to compile and publish this recipe book.

 

QUARISA, Christina

Mar 17, 2025 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Australian, Culinary \ Cookbook

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ISBN 978-1-923214-75-0
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CQ Pasta

 

Nonna’s Calabrese Classics

Dive into the heart of the Calabrese cuisine with CQ Pasta – Nonna’s Calabrese Classics. This cookbook is a heartfelt tribute to
generations of cherished family recipes, lovingly curated from Nonna Connie’s kitchen. Discover secret meatballs, famous lentil sauce, and more, meticulously recorded with precise measurements to preserve their authentic fl avours.

Christina’s journey began with her popular social media channels, @CQ Pasta, where she shared cooking videos that resonated with a global audience. What started as a passion project blossomed into a vibrant online community, thanks to the unique and special recipes she shared. Th e overwhelming response and heartfelt messages from followers inspired Christina to compile
these treasured recipes into a physical cookbook.

CQ Pasta isn’t just a cookbook—it’s a celebration of heritage, a collection of stories, and a bridge connecting past and present through the joy of Italian cooking. Join Christina and Nonna Connie at the table, and experience the warmth, love, and rich fl avours of their Calabrese legacy.

Buon Appetito!

christina quarisa self-published cookbook author

From the Author

 

Thank you

This book was a lot of work to put together, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my Mum and Nonna Connie. Even though it was a lot of work, it was also fun catching up and spending quality time together to create the cookbook. Nonna was the cook,
Mum was the organiser and creative director, and I was the photographer, content creator, and author. We honestly needed all three of us to make this book come to life, and I am so grateful that Mum and Nonna gave up their time and energy to help me put this keepsake for everyone to enjoy in their homes forever.

I would also like to thank my husband Daniel for always supporting what I love and being there every step of the way on my CQ Pasta journey. This book is forever in our hearts and is now in yours, too.

Enjoy! Christina Q.

GILLAN, Kimberley

Apr 3, 2024 | *Featured books, Australian, Culinary \ Cookbook, Health & Wellbeing, Manual \ Training Material, Parenting & Family, Queensland, Reference

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ISBN 978-1-923156-37-1 
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How Low Can You Go?

Nutritious meals from $30 per week

This book has over 80 recipes that prove it can be down. Yet this is more than a recipe book. It is a book for our times, giving you the edge in a crisis. You will learn what foods to buy and when, supermarket psychology and how to stay ahead of the game when things change. There are tricks for when a favourite food becomes expensive and ideas on free foods that might be right underneath your feet.

Just how low can you go? For most of us, 40% of what we currently spend on food.

A family of four can feed themselves for $90 per week.

When Kimberley Gillan stopped work due to illness, drastic changes were needed for her family to keep a roof over their heads. The challenge was, how low could she go on groceries, while providing the 17 more essential vitamins and minerals her family needed and still having weekly treats, snacks, and celebrations. Over seven years of trial and error she learnt more than how to survive; she learnt a recipe for a better life.

Here it is, a set of instructions on how to play the grocery game and win.

About the author

Kimberley Gillan’s processional career has included being a fairy princess at a theme park, an economic development officer, policy writer and strategic planner. She has a Bachelor of Community, Planning and Development, graduation with honours and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning. Her Master’s dissertation was on Food Security.

Kimberley lives with her husband Keith, and his cat, on the Atherton Tablelands and now writes full time.

SCOFIELD, Sandra

Mar 6, 2023 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Australian, Culinary \ Cookbook, Health & Wellbeing, Manual \ Training Material, Parenting & Family, Queensland, Reference

Sandra Scofield author Busy person's cookbook
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ISBN 978-1-922890-96-2
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Busy Person’s Cookbook

For busy people and working parents

Having a busy life either with kids, work or all the many other things that come at you sometimes you just run out of time. You want to make nutritious, tasty meals for your family or for yourself but the clock is against you.

You want to try something new only to look at a recipe and there is a list of ingredients as long as your arm, 30min prep time and 60 min cook time, really who has the time.

We see meals made in 30 min but a lot of the time it is full of pasta or television chefs telling you how easy it is when they have an army of people probably doing their prep. Inside are recipes and meal ideas form busy people, everyday people like my mum, aunty and work colleagues just trying to do it all.

All recipes will have no more than 6-8 ingredients with very little fuss or mess.

You add what you like and take out what you don’t.

TROPIANO, Giuliano

Dec 21, 2022 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Australian, Culinary \ Cookbook, South Australia

Giuliano Tropiano self-published author Nonna Calabrese Calabrian Cuisine cookbook cover
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ISBN 978-1-922803-45-0
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Nonna Calabrese

Calabrian Cuisine

Traditional Recipes for every home cook

The people of Calabria are considered one of the friendliest people of any region of Italy, and always welcome you with open arms. You are assured that if they find you friendly you will be invited for food and wine to their home.

In 2021, I thought it would be a good idea to publish a book that people and our younger generation can have in their homes, and keep this lovely cuisine alive for many more years and centuries to follow, and make our Nonna’s proud.

CHELIAH, Sashi

Nov 25, 2022 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Adelaide, Australian, Culinary \ Cookbook, Design, Designers, Gina Walters, South Australia

kampong boy cookbook cover sashi cheliah self-published
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ISBN 978-1-922629-20-3
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Kampong Boy

Flavour is my hometown

Savour the flavour of Singapore in the comfort of your home!

Chef and restauranteur Sashi Cheliah goes back deep into his childhood, sharing recipes he enjoyed having as a kid in Singapore. This cookbook is packed with classic dishes that you will enjoy cooking with your loved ones.

“Food is about sharing and spending time together, you don’t have to spend a lot of money or time to enjoy deliciously cooked meals and bond at dinner time.”

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About the Author

When I was growing up as a kampong kid in Hillview Estate in Singapore, life was tough. I was the eldest of seven children, and my family lived in a small apartment. We could not afford many facilities or luxuries. My parents were not well educated and had to slog for long hours to provide the basic amenities for me and my siblings. They struggled to make ends meet, and had no choice but to leave me and three of my siblings to be cared for by our aunts; the other siblings were cared for by our grandmother.

My aunts were not married at that time, and only knew how to shower us with their love by cooking our favourite food. Even though I was only a toddler, I can remember that my aunties would work a night shift and then come back home to prepare lunch for us, even though they were tired. I was always clinging on to them and watching them cook. I think that’s when I started to love food, and since then I have always experimented with cooking. My aunties didn’t know how to teach us academically, but they shared their cooking knowledge with us.

Years passed and I became a young teenager. My mum had a café and I was spending a lot of time helping her out after school. Don’t get too excited – I was not allowed to be in the kitchen. I only served customers their orders, as my mum was worried that I would end up as a cook rather than getting a white collared job. She wanted us to excel in life and always reminded us that life is not a bed of roses.

Then I started to spend less time with family and lots more with the wrong company, and began to miss school. At that time, I was lucky to have great teachers at Swiss Cottage Secondary School. Hubert Yohannan was my history teacher, and he saw the drastic changes in me. He introduced me to the outdoor club and activities such as rock climbing and camping kept me busy in a good way, and eventually led me to join the Police Force.

When I was 18, I was also lucky enough to meet my other half, Rabicca Vijayan. We met at a barbeque and it was love at first sight. My camping skills played a vital role, but I absolutely swept her off her feet with my BBQ chicken wings – I have to thank my classmate Justin for his recipe!

I was never academically smart and did not continue my studies. I became lost in life and forgot all about my passion for cooking. Then it was time for me to complete my National Service, which was compulsory for all males in Singapore. I was adamant that I wanted to join the Army to be a commando, but my dreams were shattered when I was enlisted in the Police Force. Rabicca and my family were very supportive and encouraging about my joining the Police Force, and it turned out that I loved it. After working in the riot squad, I became part of the Special Tactics and Rescue Unit (STAR) team. That was one of the best moments in my life, as this was a very prestigious and highly regarded job in Singapore. Only a handful of police officers are able to get this job, and I was one of them.

Life sailed along smoothly for a decade till my sweetheart, who was my wife by then, wanted to migrate to Australia as she liked the lifestyle there. I was not in favour at all, but for my family’s sake I was willing to give up my job and start afresh.

We came to Australia in 2012 and I was unemployed for three months. I picked up cooking again as I was bored and had started missing my hometown food. And because eating out was expensive, I cooked almost every day and my passion was rekindled. Even after getting a job in the Department for Correctional Services, I made it a point to cook for my family because my kids enjoyed my cooking.

Our circle of friends widened and we had more gatherings. Many praised my cooking and my wife encouraged me to apply for Masterchef. It took me three years to believe in myself, and I finally did apply in 2017 – the rest is history.

Now I am taking a very exciting next step in my life, as I bring a new angle to my passion for food and cooking, with a focus on the food of my ancestral home.