Alexa Johnston spent nineteen years as a curator at Auckland Art Gallery and is now a freelance curator and writer. Her illustrated biography of Sir Edmund Hillary, An Extraordinary Life, was published in 2005. Her most recent book was on traditional New Zealand baking, with recipes selected from personal collections and community cook books, all tested in her home kitchen in Auckland. Ladies, A Plate was published in 2008.
Read a review of Alexa Johnston's Ladies, a Plate
BOOKS
Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life
Born and raised in a quiet country town in New Zealand, Edmund Hillary was a shy, unassuming schoolboy with a seemingly unremarkable career ahead of him. As a young man he discovered a love of mountaineering; it was a hobby that turned him into a legend of the 20th century.
Over 50 years after his memorable ascent of Everest, this book tells the full story of Sir Edmund Hillary's extraordinary life, from his expeditions to remote corners of the world to his humanitarian activities serving the Sherpa people.
Drawing on his personal archives, it is an intimate but inspiring portrait of a revered yet modest man who has lived life to the full – surviving personal tragedies as well as achieving historic triumphs, earning worldwide fame and displaying tireless philanthropy.
Ranging from the roof of the world to the frozen extremes of the South Pole, Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life is a fitting and revealing tribute to a great man.
Ladies, a Plate: Traditional Home Baking
Many of us can still recall a time when family cake tins contained a delicious variety of home-made biscuits, slices, fruit loaves and cakes baked each week by mothers, aunts and grandmothers. The contents of the tins brightened children's lunches, revived them after school, and refreshed friends and visitors at morning and afternoon teatime. Women also baked for suppers and teas at community events in response to the message 'Ladies, a plate' often printed on invitations.
Cream-filled sponges, ginger kisses, lamingtons, custard squares, chocolate éclairs, club sandwiches and sausage rolls were just some of the many specialties perfected by home bakers. This is a book for anyone who longs to re-create their favourite treats with over 80 easy-to-follow recipes - all of them tried, tested and true.