Favourite recipe books

Olliebeak

As a teenager, I wasn't taught to cook at school (Grammar School education for you - learned Latin, Chemistry and Music!). Consequently my cooking was the family joke - burned boiled eggs and pans of potatoes that took three days to soak the burnt bits off until I was more or less banned from the kitchen. When I came to get married in 1972 (aged 21) I knew that I was going to have to make a real effort at getting to grips with creating edible meals.

The book that I bought was Mrs Beeton's Cookery and Household Management from WH Smith's at the time. I found it easy to follow and quite down to earth - though some of her recipes would never have been considered in a million years (but I still read them thoroughly for the tips in them) and her Household Management theories were from another era! And that is where all my Chemistry lessons came in handy ................ I approached all my recipes/cooking like a Chemistry experiment - including carefully measuring/weighing all the ingredients. I then made notes on each one to say what had worked (or not) and why I thought it had failed.

Eventually I learned to have more confidence - but I have never learned to guess at weights of ingredients - I still have to weigh everything before I'll consider putting in the mixing bowl.

At the moment I only have one recipe book, an old one called Cooking on a Budget (think it may have come from M&S many years ago) but funnily enough, some of things that are suggested as 'budget' are now considered 'non-budget' - funny how times change so quickly.

Pennylane

Wow - Olliebeak ... ONE recipe book, that IS impressive! :T I am sure my Mum still has a Mrs Beeton's. I don't think I can get down to just ONE.

Didn't realise there was a special post about recipe books so thanks to Gingham for moving it.

dizzydolly

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Rose Elliot's complete vegetarian cookbook is the only cookery book that always lives in my kitchen. I got it for my 21st birthday (nearly 20 yrs ago!!) and it is still the first book I reach for when I'm looking for advice or inspiration.

I agree ,I love this book ,theres so much to choose from and easy to make (Im no great cook),theres no fancy ingredients which are impossible to find ,and there are recipes that you can knock up for next to nothing .
Im not a vegetarian ,but this is the best book in my massive collection.

squeaky

It's about time I started getting a commission from be-ro.

Their handy little book is filled with tasty well tried and bullet proof recipes (ideal for those fairly new to cooking and baking) plus conversion charts and even tips on storing and freezing.

You can order it (by post) from the address at the bottom of this page...

http://www.be-ro.co.uk/f_about.htm

With the various editions having sold over 38,000,000 copies I think that the only books that have outsold it are the bible, and probably, these days, the Harry Potter books

noonesperfect

I haven't counted mine but quite a lot :rolleyes:

Alot of the recipes I use come from the BBC Good Food mag which my late Mum bought me the subscriptiion for and my partner took over,, bless him!.
My mainstay books are:-

Bero book
Dairy Cookbook C1990's
The Times Cookbook
1001 low fat recipes (occasionally!!!!!:o )

I've got fancy cookbooks (Jamie O., Floyd etc. but don't use them as I rarely entertain)

witchmabel

Wow fab thread :T

My cookerybook shelves are graded top to bottom - with top being the ones I consult and get inspired from all the time So there at the moment are:

All the Nigel Slater books - the only author with this honour
Nigella - Domestic Godess, How to Eat, Express
Tom Norrington Davies - Time to cook
Jamie - Jamie's Dinner, How to cook, Jamie at Home
Diana Henry - Crazy water Pickled lemons, Cooking simple

Plus my precious rescue in a fire recipe notebooks

These are all well thumbed - I couldn't part with my Nigel Slaters!

The rest of the shelves are crammed with those I use less often.

My current 'read while having a coffee in borders' are Bill Granger's Holiday and Moro East by Sam & Sam Clark.

WitchM

sillyvixen

cas clarke books are good for foolproof cheap recipes, they kept me fed through my college years!!

Olliebeak

Pennylane wrote: »

Wow - Olliebeak ... ONE recipe book, that IS impressive! :T I am sure my Mum still has a Mrs Beeton's. I don't think I can get down to just ONE.

Might only have one recipe book but have got all the instruction books that have come with various appliances (eg pressure cooker, slowcooker, microwave etc) and also have sent for lots of leaflets from product manufacturers (tate&lyles sugar, gales honey, breakfast cereals etc) and still have recipes copied out of old baking booklets (very tatty and grease-stained!). I also make sure that I get the Asda magazine every month and cut out any recipes that I like the look of.

I also use any recipe sites that I can check out on-line

I've got a section in 'My Documents' that I've created for recipes and divided them up into sections - can be used straight from the comp screen or printed off and put into plastic wallets.

madge7

Wanted to let everyone know about a fab recipe book I have, I plan most of my weekly meals out of it.
Good Food 101 Cheap Eats published by BBC, its £4.99, totally worth it, its a brill book for dinners on a budget

saving-grace

I have this book too, and other ones in the series... 101 one pot dishes,101 hot and spicy, 101 simple suppers, 101 cakes and bakes.
Good little books, they were £3.99 at Sainsbury's when I got mine.
I've given some as little presents too.