I don't use books very often for inspiration, the recipes usually call for lots of things which Mick won't eat. I was going to say that he's a fussy eater but I realise that he's come a long way in the years that I've known him. When I met him he wouldn't eat any vegetables, nothing with a hint of a tomato in it, tomato based sauces were a real no no. I credit getting an allotment with him starting to eat vegetables but even though he'll give many more things a go these days, he's still essentially a plain eater. He doesn't like spicy food so curry and chilli is off the menu. I've found a few things in my cook books which I can adapt though so we'll give them a whirl.
Whilst pulling the cook books off the shelf I came across this Women's Weekly Big Book of Kids Cooking which I bought Eleanor many years ago.
I thought this was a brilliant book for teaching children to cook as there are some really simple recipes in it and recipes for things which children would enjoy eating. You can tell which recipes were enjoyed in our household as the pages are stuck together where something must have dripped on them whilst the book's been open on the worktop. These Pizza Scrolls were a favourite.
I had to look and see which recipe had been earmarked by the page marker, Oven-Baked Chicken with Spicy Wedges, another favourite.
I'm pleased that Eleanor has taken an interest in cooking over the years, it means that I get a night off sometimes now, in fact, her boyfriend's coming over this evening and she's cooking for us all. It will give me a chance to have a good look through my books and pick out some new things to try. I wonder if any of you know of any cookery books with good, plain recipes in which you can recommend.
I don't like chilli so hubby leaves it out of dishes, but like you our food changes in the summer, loads of lighter things, we are having Salmon wrapped in Palma ham and baked with new potatoes and fresh veg tonight.
ReplyDeleteSalmon is one thing which neither of us particularly enjoy but I've got to admit that it sounds lovely the way you're cooking it, wrapped in palma ham. I'm trying to eat more fish these days than I usually do, I really enjoy it but the rest of the family aren't so keen.
DeleteHow nice to have a kid who loves to cook. I really hope mine will as they get older too. We have been doing a lot more cooking with them lately. I think it's a very important skill. I actually have a few recipes that I make often which came from kids' cookbooks. Sometimes the simple, easy recipes really are the best ones!
ReplyDeleteYou're doing the right thing encouraging your kids to help in the kitchen while they're young. The book I bought for Eleanor was really good as there were lots of recipes for, what I would call, kids favourites in it as well as things like roast chicken dinner. It helps if they're cooking something they enjoy to eat. You're right about simple recipes, there are just some days when we don't want to spend hours in the kitchen but we still want something tasty for dinner.
DeleteI'd happily recommend any of the Nigel Slater books, you can find a lot of the recipes online. And he has his own veg patch in his garden, I'm sure you would find something suitable there. I have a stew in the slow cooker at this time of year tsk tsk x
ReplyDeleteI wondered about Nigel Slater. To be honest, he's not a cook I've come across except for catching a couple of his programmes, though I've seen lots of recommendations for his books. I've enjoyed the programmes I have seen, he seems very down to earth with recipes to match. I shall have to look out for one of his books. Enjoy your stew, slow cookers are brilliant for a good hearty meal when you don't have a lot of time to prepare one.
DeleteMy cooking is always basic and simple, and even easier over the coming months as, like you, I have lighter meals. The only cookbook I have is The Allotment Gardener's Cookbook, which I see you have, which was given when I took the allotment on. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy with a salad each evening in the summer months but the rest of the family would kick up a fuss if that's what I served up. It gets harder deciding what to cook each day. The Allotment Gardener's Cookbook is one I refer to when I'm harvesting a particular vegetable, it has some good ideas about how to use things.
DeleteI'd be happy with a salad, but like your family, mine would object. We do eat a lot of pasta and rice in various guises. My kids all have different tastes and it always seems at tea time there's someone complaining about something! Oh well, I just carry on regardless... I'll put my thinking cap on and see if I think you might like any of the things that I cook! xx
ReplyDeleteWe eat pasta too, but rice isn't a favourite thing here unfortunately. I'm happy with most things but the rest of them are fussy. I blame Mick's upbringing and being given in to when he didn't like something, I had something put in front of me and I either ate it or I didn't, there isn't much I don't like now.
DeleteWe go through phases of just eating the same things and then I will get out the books and we try all sorts of different things, it just depends! We certainly eat different things in summer than in winter though! xx
ReplyDeleteI tend to get a bit stuck in my ways with meals, it's definitely time to try some new things. I must say that I get a lot of inspiration from blogs and websites these days, I like to see what meals people make and it will sometimes prompt me to make the same or something similar.
DeleteI really need to go through some of my cookery books for inspiration as we tend to eat the same things over and over. :o)
ReplyDeleteWe're exactly the same. I love cookery books but if I'm honest, I don't make many of the recipes from them. They may inspire me but I often change things about or look for similar recipes online as many of them are just too fussy for us.
DeleteI tend to find new recipes to try on pinterest and in the free supermarket magazines. Hope you all enjoyed a tasty meal with Eleanor cooking.
ReplyDeleteLisa x
I'm not on pinterest but I do pick up the free supermarket magazines, there's often some lovely things in there to try. Eleanor made a delicious meal, there were four empty plates.
DeleteI can remember my very first cookbook it was the Hamlyn All Colour Cook Book, it had a lot of recipes and the colour photo's were very helpful, it was by Mary Berry ... it was bought for me as a gift back in the 1970's.
ReplyDeleteI do think in the warmer summer months we tend to eat more lighter dishes and of course salads are a great favourite. You can put so many different foods with lettuce, celery, radish, tomatoes, cucumber etc.etc
I think it's so nice that Eleanor is also interested in cooking - it's great when one of the children cook mum and dad a meal!
Have a lovely weekend
All the best Jan
I like cook books with lots of pictures in them, I think it's quite hard following a recipe when you don't know what it's supposed to look like at the end. I ate more salads last year than ever before, and I really enjoyed them. I just wish the rest of the family would eat them. Eleanor will be off to university next year so I'm trying to encourage her to cook a bit more and try new things so that there's plenty of things she knows how to cook when she's away. She already knows many more dishes than Daniel did when he first went to university but he's taken to being away from home like a fish to water, including cooking for himself, so I don't think I really need to worry about Eleanor.
DeleteI've trained David to cook a bit. Sarah doesn't cook, but she does bake which is lovely and deadly for the waistline.
ReplyDeleteSummer time we eat more salmon, and I don't do long oven dishes. I like side salads like potato and coleslaw that are more about slicing and covering in something. Hope we get a good summer this year!
Eleanor's always been more in to cooking than baking, though she does bake occasionally. Salmon is something that none of us care for which is a shame really as I've seen lots of lovely salmon recipes. I think we're due a really good summer after the prolonged bad weather we've had, fingers crossed.
DeleteCan I suggest Fiona Beckett's 'Meat and Two Veg' and 'Sausage and Mash' cookbooks? They have great 'twists' on traditional classics and some nice 'quirky but mainstream' recipes too. I'm making the 'Gin and Juniper' crème fraiche sauce (from Meat and Two Veg) with chicken tomorrow evening. Mark loves it.... and so does Tom (the cat)! Jx
ReplyDeleteThanks for those recommendations, they sound just what I'm after. I've never heard of Fiona Beckett but I shall definitely look out for those books. Enjoy your meal tonight, it sounds lovely, and I hope Tom enjoys it too.
DeleteI'm rather stuck in my ways when it comes to my repertoire of recipes. We either eat Italian or what I call English 'classics' such as a roast dinner. My cook books of British recipes are old ones that used to be given when we bought a new cooker and well used. I also have a box of recipe cards which were my Mum's which I sometimes look at for new ideas. Hubby and I take it in turns to cook and he's more adventurous and I look recipes up on the internet so he can 'experiment' in the kitchen. Thankfully our family are interested in food and enjoy cooking, although they all have different types of food that they like and one daughter is a vegetarian so I have to plan when it comes to cooking for a get together! Two of the grandsons cook professionally, so we often sit back and have the pleasure of enjoying the meals that they cook for us!
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky that Mick cooks too so it isn't all left to me, but because he enjoys eating plain food, that's what he cooks. I know I won't get away with cooking anything fancy but a twist on the old favourites is what I'm really after, something to jazz up what I'm already cooking.
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