Gift ideas for the widowed grandpop

[milknosugar1987]

Hello All, my grandpop was widowed this year following 70 years of happy marriage. While this has been a big period of adjustment for him he is starting to enjoy being allowed in the kitchen! He is very much a traditional brit who likes eggs on toast, meat 2 veg etc, but i had thought about getting him a nice cookbook as he is showing interest by making things like pasta salads etc (very modern to him!). any suggestions for a good, clear and not too fancy cookbook? or any other gift ideas to encourage his new hobby? thanks x

Delia's books are very good with well explained preparation methods. Or he might enjoy some of Nigel Slater's books, my DH says he learned to cook from those.

I would encourage him to use a microwave for some things, like defrosting, and heating soup and baked beans, and cooking porridge and also frozen or raw veg including jacket potatoes. So much easier to wash a few micro dishes than lots of pans afterwards. The defrost function will be really useful if he makes stews of several portions, then freezes them for future occasions when he doesn't feel like cooking or is busy. Used to do this for my elderly FIL. If he makes a roast he can slice the leftover meat and freeze portions in gravy to re-heat. So perhaps some microwaveable cookware if this is an option.