Recommend an Old Style Book?

scrimperjan

Has anyone else read this one ?http://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Relianc...e=UTF8&s=books

It's quite extreme but a really interesting read;)

I love this book, thriftlady, except maybe for the wacky bit at the end about stocking up your bunker. John Yeoman also wrote The Lazy Kitchen Gardener
which has some very novel ideas for growing vegetables. That's another of my favourites.

hornetgirl

I hadn't heard of the Helen & Scott Nearing one before, but have added it to my Christmas wish list.
I usually have something vaguely OS on my chest of drawers for bedtime reading - at the moment I've got the Tesco Clubcard Deals booklet

competitionscafe

Just got the Books for Cooks recipe collections on ebay (new) for about a fiver each - these are by the Books for Cooks bookshop in London, basically a selection of the best recipes from other books sold in their shop and tested in their test kitchen and cafe - a sort of 'best of the best' recipe collection (what a great idea!) Like many people I have a rather large collection of cookbooks but only regularly cook a handful of recipes from each one - however with this top of the pops idea of favourite recipes from other cookbooks combined in one slim volume I want to make just about everything in these books! Their soups in particular are realy yummy sounding and the deserts/cakes too, but some great sounding main courses too! I got vol 1, and 3 (best of in 1 book) and the most recent one (#7). Volumes 4,5 and 6 are now top of my Christmas gift wishlist! (the books are available direct from the publisher @ £5.25 each incl postage): http://www.pryor-publications.co.uk/prices.html )

competitionscafe

The New English Kitchen by Rose Prince is now reduced to a bargaintastic £4 in the Bookpeople sale (not sure if there is still a free delivery code on the vouchers board?):
http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10051_16598_100_27605_27603_category_

vivaladiva

There's a new Just like Mother Used to Make book by a different author (just to confuse everyone - but it does look quite good (I saw it in Tesco yesterday) if you are a real beginner cook. The partner one Cupboard Love looks like it might be good for oldstylers. Has anyone read/got either?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/1844032655/ref=pd_rvi_gw_2/026-6038908-8413224

Quasar

A great book I have is Smart Spending, by Jane Furnival. Not strictly Old Style in all its ways, but definitely good for identifying areas where we may be careless, and for how to make what we have go further. Published by Hay House.

DawnW

Very oldstyle maybe, and a bit far out for many on this thread, but for interest, look (in the library maybe) for anything by John Seymour. He is dead now, but truly inspirational.

lbnblbnb

I like The Tightwad Gazette - true, we don't all live in rural Maine, but I like her attitude and particularly her comments on dealing with kids and spending. Can I suggest "How to Feed Your Family for £5 a Day" by Bernardine Lawrence? I don't know if it is still in print, I got my copy when I was a student (15 years ago!) and inflation means that the title is certainly out of date, but it has very good ideas about healthy food for a family which costs very little. The author's life story is interesting too. Highly recommended.

spiddy100

I've just got a book from the library by Readers Digest called Hints and Tips from Times Past http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hints-Tips-Times-Past-Reference/dp/0276425596. It is absolutely stuffed with OS tips - cleaning, beauty products, making gifts, plus lots of cooking and preserving info etc. I fancy trying bottling pears according to their tips

Unfortunately it's a bit pricey so I'll be using the library copy, will keep an eye out for it in the charity shops too.

Austin_Allegro

Viewers may be interested in the following OS style books I have. All are available used on Amazon.

Enquire Within Upon Everything. I have had this for years and am still finding new things in it. It is utterly fascinating - prepare to waste a few hours when you get it! First published in 1850 but with reprints going on well into the 20th century (mine is from 1923) it tells you all you need to know about OS household management, cookery, sewing, plus stuff on repairs, gardening, ettiquette, grammar etc. Apparently it was this book that inspired Tim Berners Lee to invent the internet.

A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes. By Charles Elme Francatelli. Written by one of the chefs to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, this is a facsimile of an 1861 recipe book. It has all sorts of fascinating OS recipes for soups, main courses, snacks, puddings, beer and wine, etc focusing on the most nutrition for the least price, pretty much everything short of nail and stone soup! Really interesting and useful.

Make Do and Mend Ed by Jill Taylor. Facsimiles of WWII leaflets on repairing and altering clothes, home repairs and fuel economy. This is really interesting, with loads of diagrams on how to patch and repair clothes, make household linen last longer, how to wash things etc. etc. Some of the stuff isn't really relevant, like what to do after an air raid and how to use coupons, but still very interesting. Everything's tairbly, tairbly brayte and charful and jolly despite the hardship. Would that we had that spirit today! Definitely one for people who like sewing. There's also a companion edition on food. Marguerite Patten's 'We'll Eat Again' is also good for this.