Two new cook books!!

Delicious (we hope!) recipes from you the reader!

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Catherine
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I have a really serious problem, I think I need treatment as I do have a huge cook book collection. Probably around 100 cookery books. I love cooking, not baking, we very rarely make cakes or puddings, though last night I made a chocolate and courgette bake. It was very well received.Our courgettes.

The two books I have now are Sarah Raven Food for Friends and family. ( A birthday present) It is brilliant. The other book is Home Grown Harvest (delicious ways to enjoy your seasonal fruit and vegetables) £4.99 lovely book.. Made Fresh spinach and chickpea curry. Brilliant Page 103 and chocolate and courgette cake. Fabulous. Page 127. (bought the book from TK Max.)

I have Nigel Slater, (most) Ottolengi, Rick Steins (several books) Jamie Oliver to name a few.

I have quite a few vegetarian books (Hugh Fernley Whittingstall Every day vegetarian) particularly which I use all the time. His I am not vegetarian but like his recipes) My OH used to complain that he was not a veggie but when I have made meals which dont include meat he always likes it.

Does anyone else have recipe books they like and use all the time.
Westi
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I'm a bit like you & now have to sneak new cookbooks in the house! I use Jamie quite a bit, quite like Nigel, Hugh is pretty good, but my favourite is Donna Hay (only at the moment mind). She's an Aussie cook but is simple & well tasty stuff! Particularly love her courgette fritters with camembert & cranberry sauce - got 2 use the little darlings up! You can pick up her used book on a well known book depository for a fiver or less!

Westi
Westi
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I'm afraid I also can't resist buying new cookery books too, and am always cutting recipes out of newspapers and magazines that seem to lurk around the kitchen waiting for me to try them out.

One I always refer to when I've a glut of anything is Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook which has lots of recipes to suit the time of the year from savoury to sweet and cordials and icecream.
Catherine
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I will look at Donna Hey's book I have heard of her but not seen her books. I will check it out.

Sarah Raven's Garden Cook Book is my next must buy book when I can sneak it in, my OH thinks I need therapy :oops:
Monika
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I am afraid I am not a very adventurous cook because we know what we like and what we don't like, so I tend to stick to the former. But a fairly recent purchase, "Garden to Kitchen", one of the Dr Hessayon's Expert series, has quite a few interesting recipes in it, especially for chutneys, jams etc.
Catherine
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Hi Monika. When I first got married to my first OH I used to do the same things each week. Especially as my children were small and my OH was a meat and two veg type of person. Since I got married for the second time in 1994 I became more interested in cooking and over the last 10 years since we got our allotment (13 years ago) I have been getting more and more into my cooking. Now I have a large collection of books, I love reading recipe books and looking for new stuff to make. I normally make the recipe exactly as it says then I adapt it to how we like it after. I always write in my cookery books with notes on what worked and what didnt.
Last edited by Catherine on Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Westi
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A truly great cookbook is written on, probably a bit greasy to feel, dog eared & stained! I always visit table top sales & the like looking for old cookbooks. I found a Greek recipes cookbook from South Africa in this way which is probably late 60's or 70's. It has adverts in it which aren't terribly P.C. but dates it quite nicely - it is not very Greek either, but there properly wasn't a high Greek population to contribute then! At 20p - who cares & the cheese balls always go down well! (No not even Feta cheese!) :D :D

Westi
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Couldn't agree more about the well used cook book being dog-eared and rather food stained. You reminded me about my Woman's Own cook book which I bought for my bottom drawer in 1964. It still has pride of place on the book shelf and has lots of additional recipes written on all the spare pages. It is my main source of biscuit and cake recipes still.

It is also a mine of information on just about everything kitchen related and even has camp cookery, using up left overs, children's parties, how to avoid food poisoning and lots more. There are regional recipes for this country and others from all over the world. It even has Elizabethan recipes but I don't think I would fancy Peacock, sturgeon, roast swan or hare in a coffin! Thanks for reminding me to look through the book again instead of just going to my favourites.
Monika
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I know this contribution isn't about cookery books but certainly falls into the "well-thumbed" category:
I cut out and stapled together a collection of knitting patterns from a "Womans Own" magazine in 1962 and used them for my then small children. As they grew I added remarks in the margins with their measurements, how I had adopted the patterns etc. Then I used the patterns for the grandchildren and THEY are now well past that age! Next use will be for greatgrandchildren, no doubt - more notes and measurements in the margins!
Catherine
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Hi Monika. You have reminded me about all the knitting patterns I have in a box under my bed :shock: Some go back to when I had my first child who will be 40 next year. (I was a child bride :lol: ) I think I will check them later today as they will bring back memories. I also have some my mother knitted so they are old. :lol:
Catherine
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My OH bought me Save with Jamie for one of my Christmas presents. Over the last two weeks I have made the Carbonara of smoked mackerel, salmon filo pie and tonight I made the sweet pea fish pie. I must say every single recipe was divine. The sweep pea fish pie made 6 meals, four of which will be going into the freezer for future meals.

The salmon filo pie was particularly divine and we had a portion each for dinner and a portion each for lunch the following day.
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Tigger
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l'm ashamed to say I have walls of them! Every James Martin one - of course, several signed :oops:

Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Jamie, Denis Cotter, Delia, Paul Hollywood, Bertinet, the Roux gang and so on. I've also got lots about Indian food, my favourites being by Atul Kochhar who's bringing out a new one this year based on his restaurant recipes (Benares). I've got it pre-ordered. :roll: We also have some classic text books, such as Swiss and French pattisserie.

My most treasured ones are two hand written note books that my dad compiled when he was training to be a confectioner/baker in the 1930's.
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