Recipe Books

I own many recipe books. In fact, I'm starting to think it's something of an addiction. Whether they're 1970s classics purchased from car boot sales or charity shops, or shiny new volumes full of beautiful photos and complicated dishes I'm never ever going to attempt, I just love them! My favourites are definitely those which deal predominantly with baking, and I have many many examples, most of which I eagerly flick through when I get them and then only get out every so often if I'm vaguely thinking of making something and I'm looking for inspiration.

However, there is one book which I love and turn to on a regular basis. It's one that both Gummie and my mum had - The Dairy Book of Home Cookery (1978 edition). In fact, the only reason I've got my own copy is because my mum wanted hers back so she tracked down a copy for me last Christmas! It's got recipes for everything from lobster to mutton to bread, biscuits and scones. It's the only recipe book that I annotate with my own comments and amendments as I use it, and it's probably one of the few items I would try to save if our house was on fire. All the recipes are dead simple and don't require hundreds of obscure ingredients, so for beginners it's perfect.

So, much to the disquiet of my other half, I shall continue to collect recipe books to act as dust traps on our shelves. But I will always remain faithful to the simple little gem published by the Milk Marketing Board before I was born.