Country Boy and I are both fans of fish and seafood fans. Unfortunately out here, there isn’t a lot of fresh seafood to be found. There is perch in the dam though. When ever we can get our hands on some fresh seafood, this is the book we consult to work out the best way to cook it. I even take it to Magic Beach each year!
My mother had this when I was little, and I can still remember the mint sauce recipe by heart all these years later – it was one of the first recipes I was put in charge of. You won’t find fancy recipes or beautiful pictures in here, but if you want a simple recipe for almost anything, this is THE place to start. I have one copy at home, and another at work. I use it all the time to calculate times and temperatures for roasting different meats. Can’t say I’ve used the offal chapter at all, but it’s all there!
Hi Jo, Im visiting in from Brons linkup. I was sure I'd have one of your choices since I cant resist a shiny new cookbook but truth is I don't have any. I'd be curious to know which is your absolute fav though. Over at ours we use 'Apples for Jam', Jamies 'Dinners' and Nigellas 'Domestic Goddess' for sweets. Yep, first name basis for sure! 🙂
Stephanie is a big favourite here too! Recently, I've had a small cull of my cook books so I could fit them all in the cupboard next to my oven. They were books that had recipes duplicated in my main books, so I op shopped them for someone else to use. One of my main go-tos is one my mum used when I was little, the Nursing Mothers of Australia Association cookbook, otherwise known as NMAA. It has lots of basics in it and treats my kids love too.
I use Stephanie all the time
My other go-to is David Herbert's Perfect collection …simple and perfect!
I also am a fan of the Common sense Cookbook too! I am also fortunate enough to have several of my Mum and Great Gran's cook books that I regularly refer to for baking.
I seem to use my Bill Granger recipe books a lot. I've never actually seen Cook by Jamie before, will have to check it out as I love Jamie Oliver. He's so good for food!
My most used recipe book would be the Edmonds cookbook.
I too have loads of cookbooks collected over the years. The most used are: Womens Weekly Original Cookbook (circa 1983), daggy but dependable, great dinner party ideas and best chocolate cake recipe ever; The Bundaberg CWA Cookbook (circa 1980), fantastic basic baking and jam/chutney/pickles recipes, best patty cake recipe ever; The Isolated Childrens Parents Association (ICPA) Cookbook (circa 1985), absolutely practical no fail recipes with no fancy ingredients, best banana cake recipe ever; Day to Day Cookery (circa 1979) that has the most excellent roasting guide. The CWA and ICPA cookbooks have no pictures, no step-by-step instructions and assume a level of cookery knowledge, i.e. "bake until cooked", it is assumed you will know that is golden brown in a moderate oven on the middle shelf. Out of the "modern selection"; Karen Martini is well used, she has great recipes for cooking for crowds; two giant Marie Claire books, no idea what they are called. And then of course there is the Plastic Box (actually boxes as I have one for mains, one for baking, one for desserts) with all the recipes I've torn out of magazines/newspapers, printed off the internet, cut off packets, photocopied from someone else's books. So no shortage of recipes, you would think I could manage more new dishes…………
My Damm I can not remember how to do that go to cook book is the one I had when I did pre voc cooking at tafe 35 years age Practical Professional Cookery. It is very batted after years of kitchens or as it is known round he as Crack and Kaoff. I have many many others that I use as well.
Gotta go with the Commonsense cookbook for chocolate sauce pudding!
I use the common sense cookbook as well. I also love my small collection of localised cook books from schools and organisations that are filled with recipes that real people use.
Hi Jo, I am a cookbook junkie too. My favourite is a 3 book series by Janelle Bloom "Fab Food for family and friends" (the blonde chef who was on Ready Steady Cook) beautiful, easy to make recipes…but the CWA book is the best of all