Delia's Frugal Food.

[bluemoon]

I'm not the easiest person in the world to buy presents for, but I read obsessively so everyone knows that book tokens are my default setting. As a result I ended up with quite a haul of them for Christmas. I never buy cookery books though. I was given one as a wedding present which assumed I'd spend the next 20 years 'entertaining' lavishly rather than feeding a family, so it remained unused. I did eventually acquire an ancient copy of Mrs Beeton and I've managed with that ever since. Anyway, I was in Waterstones last week and they had Delia Smith's 'Frugal Food' on offer at £4.99 (reduced from £17.99) so I picked a copy up and I have to say it is rather a good book. It was written for people on tight budgets, but is equally valuable for those of us who grow our own. I'm not sure that a price tag of £17.99 is going to attract the audience it's intended for, but at £4.99 I can definitely recommend a look. Some lovely recipes using seasonal foods, especially useful in the colder months, I think.

[Rocketron]

Thanks for the "heads-up", bluemoon. Does it have a good vegetarian section ?

[kirsty b]

At that price, definitely worth a punt. Wonder if they have it in Smiths and if the sale is still on?

Got the two Carol Kleins for a tenner using my giftcard, was cheaper to buy them separately than in the boxset.

[daleclarke]

Wow a 30+ year old book still selling at £17.99, no wonder she owns football players... I remember a time when people owned racehorses

The book people have Carol Klein's new book 'How to Grow fruit' for £4.99...I am spent out though!

[bluemoon]

At that price, definitely worth a punt. Wonder if they have it in Smiths and if the sale is still on?

When I went in WH Smith (I do have an awful lot of book tokens) it was half price (£9)

Wow a 30+ year old book still selling at £17.99, no wonder she owns football players... I remember a time when people owned racehorses

All the author's royalties are going to CAFOD. I think the reason a re-print of a 30 year old book works for 2009 is simply that it harks back to a time when people used cheaper, seasonal veg rather than buying Peruvian asparagus in November as people tend to consider normal today. This is also why it works well for GYOers. There are no recipes in there that use foods from different seasons so none of them require expensive, imported ingredients.
It does have vegetarian recipes, this is part of the ethos; why should even non-veggies have meat every day?
I saw the Carol Kleine fruit book in Waterstones at £4.99 and the boxed set of her veg/cookery books at £9.99 in WH Smith. I did consider the boxed set, but I've soooooooooo many gardening books that I resisted......... I do still have loads of book tokens left though, so I'm not sure I'll resist for long.

[bluemoon]

Thanks for the "heads-up", bluemoon. Does it have a good vegetarian section ?

I checked out the vegetarian section last night and, to be honest, although it's comprehensive, it does seem to me to be the sort of thing my veggie friend can already turn out in her sleep. Interesting for committed carnivores considering the odd vegetarian meal, but a bit basic for anyone who has been veggie for more than about a week.

[JennieAtkinson]

I have one of the original copies ... and a story with it too. We had just married (1976)and my husband, to save money, started cycling to work, but I complained to my then boss, that it was costing us nearly as much in food as it was in the saved petrol. He was a great friend of Delia's and passed this message on. A copy of the book arrived on my desk the next week - from Delia.

The book today is dog eared and falling apart, but despite the special history, it has remained one of my favourite cook books as the recipes are great - even now when we can afford it!

I would certainly recommend it.