Marguerite Patten Wartime Recipe Books

recovering_spendaholic

I was just watching QVC and Marguerite Pattern was on as they were selling all three of her Wartime recipe books for £12.45 for the set. They looked really good and that seemed to me to be a good price. I think they were called We'll Eat Again, The Victory Cookbook and the Wartime Kitchen. I am thinking of sending for them. Has anyone got them and would they recommend them? The item number to look at them on the QVC website is 825571.

Queenie

I have the set of 3 they didn't cost me that much because I bought them on sale.

There is another book which is the amalgamation of all those 3 and it is called [strike]The Victory Cookbook[/strike] (see below) - you can buy this in Wyevale Garden Centres in the book dept for £5!!!

So, before you go paying QVC £12.45 + P&P, it might be worth looking around those cheaper bookshops for the Victory Cookbook

PS: Actually just found The Wartime Kitchen on Amazon and the review says it's the 3 in 1 £9.89


Just for info, the 3 in the series are: We'll Eat Again, The Victory Cookbook and Post War Kitchen

culpepper

Ive borrowed all these from our library at one time or another.
You might be able to do the same to help you decide if you really want them.
I found them very good.

annie-c

I bought We'll eat again as a Christmas gift for my parents a while ago. It is a good coffee table book, full of nostalgia but I wouldn't think of it as very much more than a novelty. The same sorts of recipes can be found online if that's what you want them for. but as a 'gift' book, we really enjoyed it.

ShockingPink

Queenie wrote:

I have the set of 3 they didn't cost me that much because I bought them on sale.

There is another book which is the amalgamation of all those 3 and it is called [strike]The Victory Cookbook[/strike] (see below) - you can buy this in Wyevale Garden Centres in the book dept for £5!!!

So, before you go paying QVC £12.45 + P&P, it might be worth looking around those cheaper bookshops for the Victory Cookbook

PS: Actually just found The Wartime Kitchen on Amazon and the review says it's the 3 in 1 £9.89


Just for info, the 3 in the series are: We'll Eat Again, The Victory Cookbook and Post War Kitchen

I saw the 3-in-1 version (also called The Victory Cookbook, confusingly!) for £4.99 in a bargain bookshop in Hawkshead. We didn't get it because we already have 2 of them.

pudding06

I have the 3 in 1 book and it cost me £2.99 in one of those cheap bookshops that spring up around xmas. Its good as a nostagic look at rationing but quite frankly I've not made anything from them yet as I dont think it tranlates well to the way we eat today.

just my thoughts though.

try a library first - I wouldnt buy it now.

pudds

thriftlady_2

There are a couple of one volume versions of these books. I've got one called 'Feeding the Nation'. It isn't as good as the 3 separate books as some of the recipes are missing (notably the Eggless Chocolate buns -a family favourite here). The other one 'The Victory Cookbook' has no index if I remember rightly which I would find very annoying.

I've got the 3 books in a slip cover called The Wartime Kitchen. Far from being coffee table books, I find them all very useful and practical as well as interesting

pudding06

[There are a couple of one volume versions of these books. I've got one called 'Feeding the Nation'. It isn't as good as the 3 separate books as some of the recipes are missing (notably the Eggless Chocolate buns -a family favourite here). The other one 'The Victory Cookbook' has no index if I remember rightly which I would find very annoying.}


Yes sorry mine is the victory cook book and it has no idex or page numbers. It tells you to use the recipe on page 44 but then you have to go right through the book to find it. Its a blummin nusiance, but lovely photos from the period.

pudds

black-saturn

You should shop around as I bought these from a local bookshop (not part of a chain) for £1.50 each. I use them quite a bit and did a 2 month meal planner of living off rations (that was long enough, I don't know how they lasted 6 years). Some of the recipes in it are nice but others weren't so nice and I wouldnt eat them again.

dronid

I have all 3 and find them very useful.:D They would be even more useful in 1 book with all the recipies and a decent index. I have to say I use them quite a bit for staple foods and they do prove you can do quite well on only a little. Certainaly I don't think I'd have that much of a problem on the ration. What I'd love to see her do is an updated version of the books designed for benefit level survival. I think that's one of the remaining niche markets. Sadly I think few would buy it as a good proportion I see are buying ready meals and probably couldn't afford it. :sad:

thriftlady_2

dronid have you seen this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feed-Your-Family-Five-Pounds/dp/0722525710/sr=8-2/qid=1161018578/ref=sr_1_2/202-4560088-2422211?ie=UTF8&s=books

There are some posts about it around here somewhere. It is a bit out of date now but might be what you have in mind, although unfortunately out of print. I love it:)